Methodologies Research: Small Finance, Bamboo Bikes and the New Global South Stephen Surlin April 2013 How can micro-financing be used to overcome high initial costs of sustainable material i.e. Bamboo, in the low income rural fringes of Lagos, Nigeria? This question is meant to look at the contemporary economic systems that have been allowing rural poor to afford the initial costs necessary to start small businesses or invest in basic systems like irrigation pumps. I will be focusing on contemporary uses of bamboo, particularly the use of bamboo to create low environmental impact, locally made bamboo frame bicycles that can create jobs and a cultural product that increases the amount of bikes on the road and creates a culturally significant symbol of local manufacturing. My research question will lead me to examine several key methodologies. I will first analyze several financial institutions that engage in micro-financing and other economic programs that look to serve low income or rural poor populations in developing nations, some involving environmental sustainability based incentives. Second I will look at the implementation of these economic programs by looking at the policies of these loaning bodies and whether my focus area of bamboo based manufacturers, especially of bicycles, can acquire these financial aids. Third, I will look at the acquiring of bamboo and what kind of challenges may arise based on the environment and geographical location of Lagos, Nigeria. Fourth, I will conclude with the potential for research in my local environment by visiting Toronto's Bamboo Bike Studio to learn about their cultural product, techniques and globalized business practices. Looking for big things in small institutions: Micro-Financing “In Lagos, being business-savvy isn't a career choice: it's a survival skill.” 1 When speaking about Lagos, Nigeria, Alex Steffen goes to great lengths to express the intensity and diversity of this bustling “megacity” and how it is “Well on its way to becoming one of the planet's biggest: if it continues growing at its current rate, the UN says, by 2015 only Tokyo and Mumbai will 1 Alex Steffen, World Changing, Revised & Updated: A User's Guide for the 21st Century (New York: Abrams, 2011) 230.