Poverty is a symptom of a wider problem: lack of access to opportunities. Microcredit has offered one solution to this problem; access to capital. But so far no one has implemented at scale a model that creates access to economic, health and environmental solutions for a wide spectrum of issues, including chronic conditions such as pulmonary and gastrointestinal illnesses, vision problems, malnutrition, water scarcity, and lack of energy. "Soluciones Comunitarias", which implements the Community Enterprise Solutions-designed MicroConsignment Model (MCM), has solved this access problem.
Through the MCM, "Soluciones Comunitarias"'s entrepreneurs deliver essential products and services at affordable prices to the rural poor through empowerment. Through the MCM, individuals who lack opportunity and experience, primarily young women and homemakers, can start their own ventures through "sweat equity" and earn profits within the first month. THROUGH CONSIGNEMENT RATHER THAN LOANS, MCM entrepreneurs can overcome high uncertainty and are trained, equipped and continuously supported to provide solutions that were previously only addressed through donations. They address the basic needs of populations through village campaigns in an appropriate way at the appropriate price. MCM entrepreneurs "bridge the last mile" by providing solutions to health problems, save families money, help individuals increase their productivity, and help protect the environment, all while earning incomes that were previously impossible. MCM entrepreneurs get the "what" to the "who" by creating a "how": a highly scalable distribution network that diagnoses and addresses the most basic needs of low-income families.