31–40 of 72 posts
It seems like a system of phone money transfer (something like M-Pesa) would be pretty helpful there.
The problem I suspect is that the local banking system isn’t super great, needing enough money to buy a smart phone in order to accept payment seems risky.
It actually makes tons of sense to invest in non-cash goods to trade later when there's a bust. But no matter what form your profits are in, the big risk in Madagascar (besides the cyclones) seems to be the gangs. Drivers regularly get murdered driving across territories controlled by gangs. There's really not much law enforcement to speak of and the country is insanely poor, considering all this vanilla commerce. Th…
>The vanilla trade often takes advantage of the people living in vulnerable communities and doesn't pay a living wage. If we all want ethical access to quality vanilla, we need to start asking buyers to start sourcing certified fair trade (or better) vanilla, and to work to improve the fair trade system. How will that help if the problem is gangs?
It actually makes tons of sense to invest in non-cash goods to trade later when there's a bust. But no matter what form your profits are in, the big risk in Madagascar (besides the cyclones) seems to be the gangs. Drivers regularly get murdered driving across territories controlled by gangs. There's really not much law enforcement to speak of and the country is insanely poor, considering all this vanilla commerce. Th…
>The vanilla trade often takes advantage of the people living in vulnerable communities and doesn't pay a living wage. If we all want ethical access to quality vanilla, we need to start asking buyers to start sourcing certified fair trade (or better) vanilla, and to work to improve the fair trade system. How will that help if the problem is gangs?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Neat! But does it require a bank account (which was my main concern)? Per http://www.afd.fr/en/developing-mobile-banking-madagascar only 5% of Malagasy had access to a bank account in 2014.
I'm not sure it requires a bank account. People can go by the same stall they bought their sim card from and put money on their account. One of the benefits is that it brings people into the financial system that otherwise don't have access.
The question is how you move physical currency out of a payment system, if you don't have actual access to a bank. Essentially if you have "money" in any kind of non-cashable form you can't use it to buy anything. So being paid electronically in an environment where most people you interact with only accept cash/goods is essentially the same as not having money.
The ability to put money into any kind of electronic payment system is, if anything, less important than the ability to withdraw it, especially if you're in an environment that is still dominated by cash payments.
Though I do feel a bit sorry for the chameleon. It probably wasn't too impressed.
Its common to see this hot money concept in a lot of farming. I cant tell you how many farmers I know who have no money in drought seasons, but they bought a Mercedes in the good years.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure it requires a bank account. People can go by the same stall they bought their sim card from and put money on their account. One of the benefits is that it brings people into the financial system that otherwise don't have access.
People have access to the financial system by virtue of having actual currency. The question is how you move physical currency out of a payment system, if you don't have actual access to a bank. Essentially if you have "money" in any kind of non-cashable form you can't use it to buy anything. So being paid electronically in an environment where most people you interact with only accept cash/goods is essentially the s…