Finance: Getting Women from Micro to Mezzo

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Country and donor-government policies that make the right social investments, prioritize trade and investment in certain areas, and incentivize inclusive and sustainable growth are the foundation upon which private enterprise can be built. Eventually, we want to be in a place where aid is no longer needed but the right institutions and structures are in place for the local economy to flourish and for the poorest women to meaningfully participate in it.

There are things both the U.S. government and American businesses can do now to ensure that as the global economy recovers, women are participating in that recovery.

Start where women are and invest in scaling up. It's past time for women to move beyond micro to owning small and midsize businesses. Such women-owned businesses could generate a real income for the women running them as well as create employment for other women. With more employment and income, local economies start to flourish, creating more demand and more business. For women's businesses that have hit a ceiling with local demand, we need to help them access regional and global markets. Women need the training, the legal reforms, and the capital it will take to move beyond micro.

Focus where women do the most work. The vast majority of the world's women live in rural areas and focus on agriculture. While Americans might think of agriculture as "a man on a tractor," in fact, most of the world's food is grown by women on plots of land no bigger than the average American suburban yard, often irrigated one watering can at a time. There is much talk of a second "green revolution" that's needed to feed a growing global population.

But much of that could focus entirely on agribusiness and completely bypass women unless it encompasses areas that affect them: land and legal reform, too, so women can legally own title to land; training; access to seeds, technology, and water; opening up local, regional, and global markets to agricultural products; and investing in cooperatives and other successful agricultural business models so that the only options for women are not either subsistence farming or low-paying jobs in industrial monoculture.

Create market access for women's products. There are a number of industries where women workers dominate—textiles, for example, where one woman's job is said to support families of up to six or seven members. Global trade has the potential to help lift millions out of poverty through the creation of decent sustainable jobs for women, but only if government policies incentivize the creation of such jobs. And when changes in global trade cause women to lose their jobs, be displaced, or need new skills, they must receive transitional assistance and support. Right now, the U.S. still imposes heavy import taxes and quotas on agricultural products that women make, and this should change.

Create places where women can safely keep their money. That money stashed under the mattress is not a way forward for women; it gets lost or stolen and generates no interest. In addition to microcredit, there is a big need for micro-savings, banking, micro-insurance, and a whole range of financial services for the poor, especially women. Women's control over their own income is critical to creating a virtuous cycle of local economic development and poverty reduction.

Many of these things are starting to happen. Agriculture-assistance programs, trade-capacity building programs, and larger-scale finance are beginning to include women, owing to the realization that doing otherwise is ineffective. But their scale is minuscule compared with the demand. Women deserve a chance to access the global economy in a way that betters their lives. And this actually works better for all of us. More money in the hands of the poorest women translates directly into creating the kind of sustainable economic growth that the global economy needs. They have been waiting long enough.

Ritu Sharma is co-founder and president of Women Thrive Worldwide, the leading organization advocating in Washington for U.S. assistance and trade policies that benefit the world's poorest women.

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