Microenterprise development and the entreprenurial poor: including the excluded?

Microenterprise develpment has received much attention as being a participatory strategy that can potentially alleviate poverty by including the excluded in the process of development. But recent controversies regarding the purposes, processes and profitability of alternative microenterprise development techniques suggest that participation means different things to different people. A review of three types of microenterprise development institutions suggests that while some programme policies discourage participation, others encourage ‘inclusion’ only in token. Only a few programmes support genuine participation of the entreprenurial poor. Key policy issues related to the participatory principles, benefits and costs of microenterprise development are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.