Oxfam has more than 70 years’ experience working with the world’s poorest people. Time and again these people tell us that what they need – more than anything else – is a stable income so they can provide the basics for their families.

The World Bank says the most effective way to reduce extreme poverty in remote rural areas, where most of the world’s poor live, is to create successful, sustainable small and medium sized businesses. A big business has access to bank loans. A small business can access micro-finance. In the middle of these two extremes almost no support is available, and too many families continue to suffer as a result.

Oxfam’s Enterprise Development Programme is helping to fill this gap, investing money donated by entrepreneurs, philanthropists and partners to help promising businesses grow, providing a tailored package of loans, grants or bank-guarantees combined with expert advice, guidance and training.