Raj Kumar

Financial Inclusion Expert

Raj Kumar is an alumni with MSC and turned into an agripreneur after spending 16 years in microfinance, agri/rural development in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa.

Raj Kumar worked as a Principal Consultant at MSC. Since then, he has turned into an agripreneur after spending 16 years in microfinance, agriculture and rural development in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa.  He has co-founded Vasudha Good Harvest to help the consumers connect with farmers who practice sustainable farming. It aims to bring nature's good harvest to the kitchens of consumers. He also works in the similar areas helping VietED Foundation (Vietnam) in the areas of microfinance, food and agriculture.

Posts by Raj Kumar

Small Finance Banks – Are You Ready? The Opportunities and Challenges

The opportunities and challenges form Small Finance Banks is enormous in the financial inclusion market in India. The authors have elaborately discussed some of them.

Lessons from the Costing Study on BC Networks

The IFN discusses some of the main findings from the costing study done on 4 BCNMs in India.

The Mor Committee – Giving credit where credit is due (Part-II) Priority Sector Lending (PSL) and Credit Pricing

This blog speaks on the Mor Committee’s liberalization steps on price regime could be the next transformational step for small businesses and low-income households.

The Mor Committee – Giving credit where credit is due (Part I) The role of Non Bank Financial Companies (NBFCs)

This blog analyses some of the recommendations of the Mor Committee in the section on credit that the RBI could adopt and implement without disrupting the overall financing institutional.

Agriculture Value Chain Financing: Role of MFIs

MFIs can play an important role in agriculture value chain financing. In this video, MSC’s Senior Specialist Raj Kumar explores the possibility of MFIs performing important functions in the value chain by offering agriculture financing and risk management products for the farmers. He also highlights some of the key considerations and risks if the MFIs […]

Agriculture value chain financing – Regulations

The paper is focused on the institutional framework governing agricultural finance and various instruments available for financing agricultural development at several stages along a specific value chain. Various enabling policy and regulatory aspects that have evolved over the past decade are then discussed.

BPR Arta Kencana – Loan Product Development for Onion Cultivators

This Note briefly discusses How in Indonesia, MicroSave worked with BPR Arta Kencana to design a loan tailored for the needs of onion cultivators Java.

Provisioning for Loan Impairment in MFIs

This IFN delves into the importance of this for the microfinance sector, highlights current challenges, and possible ways forward in provisioning for loan losses for Indian MFIs