A Development Practitioner's Guide

Over the past decades, sustainable development issues have been widely discussed among development practitioners and professionals through various platforms. Offering an innovative integrated approach to rural development in order to effectively address the challenges related to the MDGs is very challenging. The Millennium Villages Project (MVP) argues that in order for economic development to take off, a community must first be able to ensure that all its basic needs are met. In Senegal, the project is assisting economic actors to gain access to financial services with the hope that it will help them to build a sustainable future. However, beyond initiatives and actions, core issues remain to be addressed. How to assist rural populations in order to get the most significant achievements in MDGs through financial services? Using both primary and secondary data, the study evaluates the financial strategy used by a MVP partner in providing financial support to project’s beneficiaries prior to the formulation of a resource mobilization and credit risk management strategy that is adapted to the needs outlined by economic actors.