Sustainable microfinancing: improving microenterprise\u27s traditional measures of success

Microfinance has over three decades of experience serving the needs of the poor on earth. Unfortunately, academia and the secular world are divided on its effectiveness to lift the impoverished from the bottom of the economic pyramid. India is the focus of this paper, but measures of microfinace success are essentially universal. This paper examines the metrics used to evaluate programs and their benefit to India\u27s poor. Current estimates find 2.8 billion people survive on less than $2 per day. Subsistence living impacts nutrition, shelter, sanitation, transportation and access to healthcare and education. India\u27s caste system creates discrimination and overpopulation causes high unemployment. Women\u27s rights and empowerment become major issues in the developing world, as well as the status of orphans. The literature review covers case studies, outcomes, and best practices that have evolved to help the under-privileged. Can government and non-government organizations stimulate the economy of the poor? Will teaching job, life and entrepreneurial skills elevate standards of living? Ultimately, it is the poor who must lift themselves from poverty with incentives, education and motivation