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The Ecological Disaster of Palm Oil: Why It’s Time to Embrace Climate-Friendly Alternatives
Palm oil is in so many products that it’s quite hard to avoid. But as Jim Richards at milkadamia points out, tropical forests are being burned at an alarming rate to produce it, contributing greatly to global deforestation – which contributes 15% of the planet’s total carbon emissions. He makes a passionate case for the need to switch to palm oil-free products, and discusses some sustainable alternatives.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment
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Avoiding Another Crash: How Global Standards Set after the 2008 Crisis Prepared the Financial System to Weather COVID-19
International standard-setting bodies have been working to strengthen global financial stability ever since the 2008 crisis. And according to Robin Newnham at the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, they are now playing vitally important roles in the global response to COVID-19. He explores how the global financial system is seeing the benefits of the reforms of the past decade – and how these efforts can expand in the future.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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A Well-Timed Investment: How Investing in Tech-Driven Healthcare SMEs Is Boosting Africa’s COVID-19 Response
COVID-19 has highlighted the urgent need to strengthen healthcare systems in countries around the world. And according to Kristin Kelly Jangraw at USAID INVEST, funding promising healthcare technology companies is one way to do so. She explores how an investment in an innovative local enterprise is improving the pharmacy supply chain in Nigeria and Kenya.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Investing
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Survival, Recovery and Resilience: 12 Recommendations to Help Financial Institutions Weather the COVID-19 Crisis
COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the 300 million-plus enterprises operating in emerging economies around the world. It has also harmed their financial institutions, which are dealing with poor asset quality, liquidity pressure and reduced profitability as clients struggle to repay loans. Analysts at MicroSave Consulting (MSC) share 12 recommendations to help these institutions survive and recover in the wake of the pandemic.
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- Coronavirus, Entrepreneurship, Finance
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Tackling the COVID-19 Hunger Crisis in Africa: How Digital Networks Can Empower Small Farmers and Avert a Looming Disaster
COVID-19 is bringing even wealthy nations to their knees, but it’s dealing the deadliest blow to the world’s most vulnerable people – including smallholder farmers in Africa. And as Leesa Shrader at Mercy Corps points out, this is rapidly turning a health crisis into a hunger crisis. She explores how tech-powered solutions can help them survive the pandemic and build resilience for the future.
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- Agriculture, Coronavirus
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India’s Self-Help Groups Need Help: How to Strengthen a Proven Model to Support Women’s Recovery From the COVID-19 Crisis
Women’s empowerment is a growing focus in the development sector, but COVID-19 is putting the hard-won progress women have made in recent years at risk. Moin Qazi highlights one way to support women in emerging countries: the self-help group model. He discusses how these groups operate in India, their strengths and weaknesses, and how they could be leveraged to address the current crisis.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Education, Finance, Impact Assessment
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A Sector in Ruins or ‘Building Back Better’? Findings From e-MFP’s Covid-19 Financial Inclusion Compass
With the COVID-19 pandemic and the global recession it has triggered, the financial inclusion sector is facing perhaps the greatest crisis in its modern history. In response, the European Microfinance Platform repurposed this year's Financial Inclusion Compass survey for this critical moment. Sam Mendelson discusses the results, and what they say about the sector's priorities, challenges and prospects for recovery.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Investing
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Digital Identity and Financial Inclusion: How Digitizing Customer Due Diligence Can Strengthen Providers During COVID-19 and Beyond
Customer due diligence requirements are a major barrier to financial inclusion, since in some countries up to half the adult population can't open a bank account because they lack the necessary identity documents. With COVID-19 placing this obstacle in the spotlight, analysts at Cenfri explore how digital ID systems can benefit providers and customers, during the pandemic and beyond.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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