Some 550 million people in sub-Saharan Africa – more than the entire population of the United States, Canada and Mexico combined live on less than $2 a day. For them, each day is a struggle. They simply do not earn enough to meet their needs.

Though the problem may be stated simply, the solution isn't a quick fix. In countries with little or no industry, private sector jobs are extraordinarily rare. Women have to create their own opportunities and, as we all know, it takes money to make money.

In 1991 in a village in southern Niger, CARE developed a way to harness an ancient African practice of group savings, in which community members pooled together their resources to create a kind of village bank.

In 2011, CARE worked to help more than 7 million people improve their household income through increased access to financial and non-financial services, participation in village savings and loan associations, market linkages and diversified livelihoods.