Editor's Letter

Shared Responsibilities

The "no man is an island" notion of inter-dependency among men could be taken to a much larger scale—economies and economic development do not function in a vacuum either, but rather depend on the complex interrelations of lively and dynamic forces of economic activities and services involving players at all levels. The sad tendency of these forces and players, however, is to push others out, and some of the players—especially the smaller ones—get behind in the game of successful business as competition increases and producers in other countries enter their markets.

Yet, most people working in development know by now that increasing economic activity among the poorest, including microenterprise, is part of the solution to alleviate poverty, and therefore it makes a lot of sense to ensure that these tiny entities of production and services be given fair access to opportunities.

This fifth edition of the Magazine will dedicate some of its articles to describing ways in which sharing responsibilities for giving microenterprises opportunities to function and grow are applied, and to the presentation of the numerous players involved, from the state or public sector, to the private sector and the individual.

Inclusion in clusters and productive value chains have long been heralded as the key to providing opportunities for micro and smaller producers, and to increasing their competitive advantage. This issue presents remarkable examples of successful inclusion of microenterprises in value chains: of fruits and vegetables being sold in supermarkets throughout Central America, of handicrafts being included in the highly sophisticated and lucrative home furnishing segment, and even of handicraft that make it to the catwalks of Milan. The articles highlight how strategies to promote and organize joint actions among smaller producers have been implemented, so that these producers can compete on the level of productivity and the quality of their products rather than on minimizing wages and reducing profit margins.

This edition also presents a special section on the role of the State—should public entities provide special conditions for enterprises? This section offers interesting articles discussing state interference in interest rate levels, state support to subsidized microlending, and whether the legal frameworks supplied by the state, be it strategies or laws, make any difference at all.

In a more indirect but no less important way, thousands of microenterprises are sharing the responsibility for each other by engaging in microinsurance. Numerous microfinance institutions are now teaming up with insurance companies, to offer microinsurance products to a market segment that has never had access to any type of insurance before. This issue will describe not only regional programs, but also an interesting example from Uganda of very low-price health insurance.

Some of the most controversial and debatable questions of the entire microenterprise development industry will be discussed: Are we having an impact? Are the many programs and projects, not to mention millions of dollars, really making a difference in the lives of the many enterprises and families that these interventions are supposed to reach? This issue will provide a discussion of these questions, if not the answer.

As a more recurrent issue, the Magazine is dedicated to continuing its presentation of the top microfinance institutions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of performance in specific areas.

There are many other fine articles that we hope you will consider both entertaining and informative, and as always we are sure you will enjoy this fifth edition of Microenterprise Americas.