 It is widely recognised that poor clients need more than finance to break out of conditions of poverty. Thus an ideal situation would see rural households receiving a coordinated combination of services to improve their health, nutrition, family planning, education, business activities and so on. Many development organisations that have moved into the provision of microfinance, do also provide other services. However, the need to cover costs and remain financially viable raises questions about whether or not non-banking services can be provided on a sustainable basis. Despite this there are a number of successful "credit with education" models, which use the group-based approach to microfinance as an opportunity to provide low-cost education services to clients. There has also been a growing interest in providing business development services as a commercial enterprise in recent years and experience and innovations have been increasing in this field. |