SEEP Network closing after 36 years in Global Development

by Andrea Mrazova

The Small Enterprise Education and Promotion (SEEP) Network was a collaborative learning platform that supported innovative strategies for inclusion, enhancing the livelihood potential for vulnerable populations, especially women, to participate in markets and improve their quality of life. Founded in 1985, the once small group of US-based NGOs became a global network of active members in 150 countries worldwide.

From its beginning, SEEP was a community where people from all types of global development organisations could discuss ideas, share learning, and work together to improve the way development is done. It was a place where issues were debated and new ideas explored. Their members came to lead, learn, grow, and to simply meet as friends.

Short history and evolution

In 1985, a group of U.S. based NGOs pioneered new strategies for enterprise development and microcredit, seeking to promote economic opportunities for the world’s poor. With support from USAID’s Office of Private and Voluntary Cooperation, they formed the “Small Enterprise Evaluation Project” to champion impact assessments and develop evaluation methods that would inform practice.

Figure 1: The Evolution of SEEP’s strategic focus (Source: SEEP Network)

Figure 1: The Evolution of SEEP’s strategic focus (Source: SEEP Network )

Over the years, they disseminated learning to wide and diverse audiences. The group’s impact came from creating cross-organisational dialogue through practitioner-led research and collaborative learning processes, and developing high-quality learning products, tools, and improved standards of practice. Eventually, SEEP became a global network of nearly 100 organisations working in 150 countries.

Thematic areas

SEEP focused on five thematic areas: Agriculture and Food Security, Resilient Markets, Responsible Finance, Savings Groups, and Women’s Economic Empowerment. SEEP worked to improve the productivity and resilience of small-scale farmers, which is essential to addressing poverty and food security. The group also supported strategies that enhanced the abilities of various communities to learn, cope, adapt, and transform in the face of shocks and stresses, including immediate and slow-onset crises, natural disasters, conflict and instability. SEEP provided organisational and financial support to microfinance associations to address capacity gaps in their successful promotion of responsible finance and of financial inclusion through the use of Savings Groups in marginalised communities. Savings Groups are comprised of 15–25 self-selected individuals who save together and take small loans from those savings. Savings Groups provide members with the opportunity to save frequently in small amounts, access to credit on flexible terms, and a basic form of insurance. They are owned, managed and operated by their members and are, by design, financially and institutionally sustainable.

SEEP was also dedicated to women’s empowerment by addressing systemic barriers to knowledge mobilisation, cross organisational learning, and strengthening partnerships and alliances among diverse market actors.

Sudden Announcement of Closure

On December 13th, 2021, SEEP publicly announced to its members that it would be closing due to financial pressures caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

It is sad that such a wide network focused on support in resilient markets and responsible finance, and that published guidance reports on actions to be taken in response to COVID-19, was not able to overcome their own financial pressures and had to end their activities.

SEEP explained that for the past two years, it had been difficult for them to operate an organisation whose core mission was to create opportunities for people from across the world to come together when it was essentially impossible to do so safely. As a result, they found themselves in an extremely challenging financial situation that compelled them to make this difficult decision.

A participant from one of their women’s economic empowerment conference and network explains the value add of SEEP:

“The SEEP women’s economic empowerment conference was a wonderful way for practitioners to get together to share and reflect upon learning. Market systems programs tend to be very male-dominated and this can be intimidating for gender advisers who are trying to make sense of the role of gender norms in stunting markets. Power inequities in these programs mean gender advisers have to fit into existing structures with limited space to innovate. The SEEP conference and knowledge platforms offered a safe and supportive space for gender advisers to learn. SEEP really helped to advance the practice of women’s economic empowerment.”

— Dr. Kristie Drucza, CEO Includovate

Their expansive community, members, partners and networks will certainly miss them.