The modern microfinance started with microloans granted to poor entrepreneurial women in Chittagong. It was later institutionalized by the creation of the Grameen Bank in 1976. Following the success of this local bank, many microfinance actions and studies were carried out to replicate or develop the activities of microfinances at the micro and macro levels. These activities include: lending to the poor, households, and micro entrepreneurs, and setting up of national microfinance strategies and financial inclusion programs by governments etc. On the contrary, at the meso level, few initiatives were undertaken to show the contributions of microfinance at the local level that is at the scale of regions, villages, communities and sectors of activities. The changes introduced by microfinance in local environments are termed local development (Sekula et al., 2002). They are economic, social, cultural, political, legal, territorial and institutional. Thus this special issue entitled: Microfinance and Local Development will work towards establishing the link between the activities of microfinances on the one hand and local level activities on the other hand. This should not only situate microfinance operations at the center of local development but determine new microfinance practices and models for local development.

Aims and Scope: