Millions of villagers in developing countries continue to live in poverty. Rural communities face a profound and sustained lack of access to vital technologies, products and services that address problems such as pulmonary and gastrointestinal illnesses, visual problems, malnutrition, energy deficiencies, educational resource gaps, productivity loss, and lack of income generation. Microfinance can improve access to services and products, but credit carries inherent risks, especially when demand is unpredictable. There continues to be a need for an efficient and effective model that is less risky than micro-credit, but more sustainable than outside relief solutions. While working in rural Guatemala ten years ago, Greg van Kirk sought a sustainable means to delivery high-quality, improved cookstoves to some rural villagers. He recognized that there was a need for a new, entrepreneurial solution due to a developmental/market failure. He identified a vacuum between donation and credit-based solutions. This was the genesis of the development of the MicroConsignment Model. Through consignment rather than loans, CE Solutions trains, equips, and supports first-time women entrepreneurs to create greater access to vital technologies, products and services at prices affordable to the rural poor in the developing world.
MCM entrepreneurs offer a growing number of appropriate solutions, such as eye glasses, water purifiers and improved cook stoves, which address the real and perceived needs of populations at the base of the pyramid. Such products are well suited for MCM because there is no existing market for them and awareness about them can be extremely limited in the communities they service. The MCM entrepreneurs travel to different rural communities for two-day campaigns when they publicize and explain products during the first day and focus on sales during the second day. One advantage of the MCM is that it intervenes at all levels by creating a symbiotic ecosystem whereby needs are diagnosed and solutions are identified. Through the MCM, individuals who lack experience but possess entrepreneurial qualities can start their own business through sweat equity and earn profits within the first month. There is no financial downside or risk to the entrepreneur. The MCM is a highly scalable local distribution network of entrepreneurs, and is thus uniquely positioned to provide essential products to rural villagers in their communities. This distribution network is a sustainable mechanism for solving myriad healthcare and income/expense obstacles that confront the most vulnerable rural populations, which could potentially improve the lives of million.
Web site:https://microconsignment.com/ Health in the developing world A woman from Ecuador The model in 3 minutes
