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Resumo: Este trabalho objetiva analisar o surgimento e a trajetória do Projeto Palmas, sua moeda social, seus avanços e limitações. Utilizando abordagem qualitativa, buscou-se apresentar as especificidades do Banco Comunitário Palmas e suas implicações no contexto em que está inserido. Os resultados indicam a importância do Banco Palmas e da moeda social circulante como mecanismo de empoderamento local e impulso para a geração de trabalho e renda para as populações mais fragilizadas. Abstract: This paper aims to analyze the emergence and trajectory of the Palmas Project, its social currency, results and limitations. Using a qualitative approach, we sought to present the specificities of the Palmas Community Bank and its local implications. The results indicate the importance of the Palmas Bank and its social currency as a mechanism of local empowerment and an impulse to generate work and income for the most vulnerable populations. Résumé: Ce travail a pour but d'analyser l'émergence et la trajectoire du Palmas projet, sa monnaie sociale, ses progrès et ses limites. En utilisant une approche qualitative, nous avons essayé de présenter les spécificités de la Banque communautaire Palmas et ses implications dans le contexte dans lequel il apparaît. Les résultats indiquent l'importance de la Banque Palmas et monnaie sociale en tant que mécanismes de l'autonomie locale et conduisent à générer des emplois et des revenus pour les populations les plus vulnérables. Resumen: Este trabajo objetiva analizar el surgimiento y la trayectoria del Proyecto Palmas, su moneda social, sus avances y limitaciones. Utilizando un enfoque cualitativo, se buscó presentar las especificidades del Banco Comunitario Palmas y sus implicaciones en el contexto en que está inserto. Los resultados indican la importancia del Banco Palmas y de la moneda social circulante como mecanismos de empoderamiento local e impulso para la generación de trabajo y renta para las poblaciones más fragilizadas.

This teaching case addresses the digitization of the local social currency Palmas, issued since the beginning of the years 2000 as a paper currency by Banco Palmas, to a new hybrid model of mobile payments and mobile money, named E-Dinheiro. This is a social development and financial inclusion venture in Brazil, having already great national and international recognition. By telling the history of the community bank and some of its initiatives, this case intends to demonstrate the innovation process in a social fintech, addressing issues such as governance, platform management, information technology, business models and strategy. However, as its business model spreads to other community banks, new challenges emerge to ensure the growth and longevity of the project. Este caso de ensino aborda a digitalização da moeda social local Palmas, emitida desde o início dos anos 2000 em papelmoeda pelo Banco Palmas, para um novo modelo híbrido de mobile payments e mobile money, denominado E-Dinheiro. Trata-se de um empreendimento de desenvolvimento social e de inclusão financeira com amplo reconhecimento nacional e internacional. Ao contar a história do banco comunitário e algumas de suas iniciativas, pretende-se demonstrar o processo de inovação em uma fintech social, abordando questões de governança, gestão de plataformas, aspectos tecnológicos, modelos e estratégia de negócio. Entretanto, com a propagação do seu modelo de negócio para outros bancos comunitários, novos desafios se colocam para o crescimento e a perenidade do empreendimento.

Summary: The uncertainty of the COVID-19 crisis is exposing community banks to a severe adverse shock that is arguably greater than the 2008 financial crisis. A stress test for the 1,671 agricultural banks and 2,261 non-agricultural banks in the United States is completed to provide an estimate of the potential effect of the COVID-19 crisis on bank financial status for 2000-2024. The stress test applies chargeoff rates derived from banks’ actual chargeoff rates for 2008 through 2012, which includes the recession and recovery following the financial crisis. The chargeoff rates applied to each bank in a local market are taken from the 90th percentile chargeoff rates for all banks in the market. Non-agricultural banks are projected by the simulation to be more adversely impacted than agricultural banks. A greater share of non-agricultural banks are expected to fail and to have lower profitability than the share of agricultural banks. A key assumption of the simulation is that agricultural loan chargeoff rates are less than non-agricultural loan chargeoff rates was the case during the 2008-2012 financial crisis. For this assumption to hold, it is implicitly assumed financial support will be provided to farmers and ranchers and the support when allocated and distributed will offset the negative impact from the COVID-19 shock experienced by farmers and ranchers. Without the support, more agricultural banks would be expected to have financial difficulties and fail. Moreover, if support is not allocated to match the parts of the agricultural sector most negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, regional differences in the impact on agricultural banks are likely to emerge.

The development of local and regional seed banks as well as the subsequent evaluation of their quality are one of the alternatives that can prevent or minimize the loss of the biodiversity of creole seeds. The objective of this study was to evaluate the physical characteristics of Creole corn seeds stored in the Regional Seed Bank of the Caiana Community in Soledade, Paraiba. In the Laboratory of Storage and Processing of Agricultural Products of the Federal University of Campina Grande, seeds were submitted to physical analysis: water content, thousand seeds weight, seed mass, apparent density, real density, porosity, seed volume, color L *, a *, b *, Chroma C * and darkening index. The Jaboatão maize variety had a higher water content, a thousand seeds weight, grain mass, bulk density and grain volume and the Adelaide variety greater porosity and luminosity. O desenvolvimento de bancos de sementes locais e regionais como também a posterior avaliação da qualidade delas configuram-se uma das alternativas que pode impedir ou minimizar a perda da biodiversidade de sementes crioulas. Assim, objetivou-se avaliar as características físicas de sementes de milho crioulo armazenadas no Banco de Sementes Regional da Comunidade Caiana em Soledade, Paraíba. No Laboratório de Armazenamento e Processamento de Produtos Agrícolas da Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, as sementes foram submetidas às análises físicas: teor de água, peso de mil sementes, massa das sementes, densidade aparente, densidade real, porosidade, volume das sementes, cor L*, a*, b*, Chroma C* e índice de escurecimento. A variedade de milho Jaboatão apresentou maior teor de água, peso de mil sementes, massa do grão, densidade aparente e volume do grão e a variedade Adelaide maior porosidade e luminosidade.

This paper aims to map the negotiation mechanisms used by Banco Palmasin order to make Palmas Digital possible as a community digital bankin the Conjunto Palmeiras’ neighbourhood, state of Ceará,Brazil. Palmas Digital represents an alternative way to offerfinancial services in a network of community banks that was enabled bya digital payment platform called e-Dinheiro. Using a multilevelframework model proposed in Pozzebon & Diniz (2012), we seek tounderstand the interplay between different actors and technologicalartefacts in order to understand the "technology-in-practice", conceptdefined by Orlikowski (2000). The multilevel framework model was builtto understand social consequences of information and communicationtechnologies (ICT) interactions at a community level.

Resumo Os diferentes contextos e usos de moedas sociais no cenário nacional e internacional têm estimulado estudiosos a buscar compreender as especificidades de cada experiência. A moeda social mais conhecida no Brasil, a Palmas, criada pelo Banco Palmas em Fortaleza, encontra- se atualmente em uma situação paradoxal: após quinze anos, sua circulação tem diminuído notavelmente entre os atores do território ao mesmo tempo que o consumo no bairro se mantém elevado. Neste trabalho investiga-se o circuito constituído pelo uso da Palmas para compreender seu fluxo no território e o progressivo processo de desuso. A reflexão sobre a experiência do uso da moeda social baseia-se, aqui, na noção de moeda da antropologia econômica e da teoria da dádiva. Para além da situação são propostas reflexões entendidas como pertinentes para pensar as moedas sociais dos Bancos Comunitários de Desenvolvimento (BCDs) no país. As estratégias da pesquisa assumiram um caminho multimetodológico e estão resumidas em duas fases. A primeira consistiu numa imersão etnográfica no Banco Palmas em janeiro de 2012. A segunda fase consistiu no mapeamento detalhado do circuito monetário alternativo do território por meio da construção gráfica deste utilizando um software de análise de redes sociais. A reflexão delineada com base na investigação aponta para a construção de uma filosofia de uso das moedas sociais apoiada na confiança dos atores locais nas ações do Banco Palmas. No nível mais concreto, identifica-se que a manutençao do circuito tem ocorrido mais pela sua carga simbólica e política do que pela satisfação das necessidades econômicas. Abstract The use of social currency in national and international contexts has encouraged scholars to understand its specificities. The most known social currency in Brazil -Palmas - created by Banco Palmas in Fortaleza, presents a paradoxical situation: after fifteen years, its circulation has significantly decreased within its territory while the consumption remains high. This article investigates the circulation of Palmas to understand its flow in the territory and its gradual reduction of use. The article reflects on this experience based on the notion of currency from economic anthropology and from the theory of the gift. The analysis here goes beyond the case of Palmas and present insights able to contribute to the debate on social currency of the Community Development Banks (CDBs) in Brazil as a whole. The research strategies were multi-methodological and can be summarized in two phases. The first phase was an ethnographic immersion in Banco Palmas in January 2012. The second phase was the mapping of monetary circulation in the territory (network analysis tools were used). The results from this research indicate the construction of a philosophy of the use of social currencies by CDBs. The use of the social currency is supported by the confidence of local actors in the actions of Banco Palmas. On a more concrete level, it was identified that the circulation maintenance depends more on symbolic and political senses than on the satisfaction of economic needs. Resumen Los diferentes usos de la moneda social en los contextos nacionales e internacionales han estimulado a los estudiosos a intentar comprender sus especificidades. La moneda social más conocida en Brasil -denominada Palmas y creada por el Banco Palmas, en Fortaleza- presenta actualmente una situación paradójica: después de quince años, su circulación se ha reducido significativamente dentro del territorio, mientras que el consumo en general se mantiene alto. Este trabajo investiga el circuito constituido por el uso de la moneda Palmas para entender su flujo en el territorio y el proceso gradual de desuso. La reflexión sobre la experiencia del uso de la moneda social se basa, aquí, en la noción de moneda de la antropología económica y de la teoría de la dádiva. Más allá de la descripción de la situación, se proponen reflexiones pertinentes a las monedas sociales de los bancos de desarrollo local (BCD - Bancos Comunitários de Desenvolvimento) en Brasil. Las estrategias de investigación fueron multimetodológicas y pueden resumirse en dos fases. La primera consistió en una inmersión etnográfica en el Banco Palmas, en enero de 2012. Y la segunda, en el mapeo detallado del circuito monetario alternativo en el territorio (con la utilización de un software de análisis de redes sociales). Los resultados de esta investigación indican la construcción de una filosofía de utilización de las monedas sociales apoyada en la confianza de los actores locales en las acciones del Banco Palmas. En un nivel más concreto, se identificó que el mantenimiento del circuito depende más de su peso simbólico y político que de la satisfacción de las necesidades económicas.

The purpose of the paper is to present a more granular view of such projects through the in-depth focus on a limited number of case studies, with a view to understanding what factors in the design of such lending have helped achieve objectives of expanded access, and what forms of interventions may have been less successful. It examines the nature of Bank lending vehicles, the partnering borrower institutions, the country environments in which its loans were extended, as well as broader elements of good practice that make for loan success. It examines the beneficiaries targeted and results achieved. It aims to draws lessons that suggest what factors could lead to success or failure in Bank operations focused on financial access. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows: section two briefly describes the set of the Bank s projects selected for detailed review. Sections three to six contain the core findings of the review. Section 3 focuses on alternative forms of borrower institutions that have served as vehicles for Bank projects, particularly, public sector banks, apex bank structures that include the private sector, rural banks, nonbanks, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and microfinance institutions, in terms of the degree to which the Bank has been able to successfully partner with such institutions to expand financial access. It also looks at alternative forms of Bank loan design, policy-based loans, investment loans and lines of credit, Learning and Innovation Loans (LILs), matching grants, technical assistance and combinations thereof, and reviews evidence on the role of loan structure (including partnerships with other donors/lenders) and project success. Section four considers the effect of the broader business environment, in terms of financial regulation. Section five reviews elements of good practice that have contributed to success in lending that could be applicable to loans with any objective, and examines their application in the present context. Section six tries to construct a bottom line, reviewing available evidence on outcomes and impact; especially in terms of the ultimate beneficiaries reached. Section seven, the final section, summarizes the main messages emerging from the review and concludes with observations about ways forward.