A major challenge is to get good, straight, slow-burning firewood of a small diameter, and to grow it without much investment of time, manure, land or cash. See my/our articles for solutions based on improved direct seeding methods of nitrogen-fixing trees like Caliandra calothyrsus.

The methods can also make microcredit more reliable. Some farmers are not having time or motivation to go to many meetings to learn and proof their commitment as expected in the classic Grameen model. It also costs much to organize. Teaching farmers how to make the investments in their farms more secure and sustainable without significant extra costs can be a good start and test too. It can now be done with new, reliable, low-cost methods for direct seeding multipurpose trees fixing nitrogen, giving drought tolerant feed, wood and feed to sell in emergencies, soil-and-water conservation, fences, and land-demarcation. See our articles at my profile. Agricultural bank and micro-credit specialists in Africa, and farmers, have liked the idea.
The function of the meeting has not only been personal contact and peer pressure, but also to test who is able and willing to save a small amount regularly for the future. Learning and implementing direct seeding of trees with low input and maintaining them also give indications of who is able and willing to pay back on loans (and reduce risks in unpredictable climates and fragile soils etc.).