This is a nice idea which, if developed in a particular way, can lead to microcredit. This is the concept of giving small loans to individuals in developing countries, with comparatively little interest rate (though still larger than what we have at developed countries). There has been analysis by the EA community of microcredit, such as this report by SoGive, which you might be interested in.
Another thing that comes to mind is trying to sell products such as bednets directly to locals. They cost about $4-5 per net, which includes all the costs of manufacturing, distribution etc. That means that to get profit and to handle sales would (probably) cost some more. That’s seems like a good bargain, but when the absolute poverty line is at about $2 a day, that makes it tough to save up. I imagine problems might show up because if you want to have bednets in the quality of AMF, these would cost much more than bednets of poorer quality and I’m not sure that the consumers could really tell the difference. Note that it’s not that bednets by themselves save lives, but rather that they help mitigate some risks. For people in extreme poverty there is a wide range of risks to manage and possibilities for investments (say a steel roof instead of straw or an ox for farming), and it is actually not clear that buying a good bednet is actually the best use of money or that they understand it.
From the little I know of life in extreme poverty, the situation around loaning is complicated. Generally, interest rates are sky high—something enormous like 200% per few weeks, if I remember correctly - and there is a big risk that people can’t pay back. There is also a real difficulty in the infrastructure involved, and possible corruption.
I’m interested in hearing out people more knowledgeable than myself.
This is a nice idea which, if developed in a particular way, can lead to microcredit. This is the concept of giving small loans to individuals in developing countries, with comparatively little interest rate (though still larger than what we have at developed countries). There has been analysis by the EA community of microcredit, such as this report by SoGive, which you might be interested in.
Another thing that comes to mind is trying to sell products such as bednets directly to locals. They cost about $4-5 per net, which includes all the costs of manufacturing, distribution etc. That means that to get profit and to handle sales would (probably) cost some more. That’s seems like a good bargain, but when the absolute poverty line is at about $2 a day, that makes it tough to save up. I imagine problems might show up because if you want to have bednets in the quality of AMF, these would cost much more than bednets of poorer quality and I’m not sure that the consumers could really tell the difference. Note that it’s not that bednets by themselves save lives, but rather that they help mitigate some risks. For people in extreme poverty there is a wide range of risks to manage and possibilities for investments (say a steel roof instead of straw or an ox for farming), and it is actually not clear that buying a good bednet is actually the best use of money or that they understand it.
From the little I know of life in extreme poverty, the situation around loaning is complicated. Generally, interest rates are sky high—something enormous like 200% per few weeks, if I remember correctly - and there is a big risk that people can’t pay back. There is also a real difficulty in the infrastructure involved, and possible corruption.
I’m interested in hearing out people more knowledgeable than myself.