Catalysing social innovation in the Amazon: addressing geographic marginalisation and enhancing social value through innovative banking approaches

The Amazon, one of the world's most biodiverse and culturally rich regions, faces ongoing socioeconomic and geographic challenges. These challenges have led to the marginalisation of local communities, hindering access to essential services and economic opportunities. This study investigates how do community development banks combat geographic marginalisation by promoting other social innovations through microcredit schemes. We adopted a qualitative methodology, utilising case studies and in-depth interviews, to identify the types of social innovation present in the case and discuss how social innovation can be developed within the community to enhance geographic demarginalisation in the Amazon. The practical implications demonstrate that community development banks in remote areas contribute to geographic demarginalisation by connecting isolated communities with broader markets. This is achieved through innovative financial solutions that foster social innovation, promote local business practices, and strengthen community empowerment networks. Our results demonstrate that social innovation can be leveraged to address the challenges of geographic and socioeconomic marginalisation in the Amazon.