-
What Was 2014’s Most Influential Post?: You tell us – VOTE
In 2014, we published more than 570 blog posts. Now it’s your turn. We need your vote for NextBillion’s annual Most Influential Post contest. Last year’s contest attracted more than 16,000 ballots. That was huge – we’d be thrilled to do even better this year if we can. So please vote early and vote often. You can vote once a day, and for multiple posts if you choose. Please share this link or the contest link itself with your friends, family and colleagues.
- Categories
- Agriculture
-
Tiered vs. Equitable Pricing: Why Access to Medicine Index 2014 takes societal needs, affordability into account
The lead researcher with the Access to Medicine Index, which ranks pharmaceutical companies’ efforts to improve access to medicine for priority diseases in developing countries, explains how and why the Index’s pricing methodology evolved from measuring tiered-pricing strategies to measure what the Index terms “equitable pricing strategies” instead.
- Categories
- Health Care, Impact Assessment
- Tags
- supply chains
-
Cheaper, Faster, Better?: Mercy Corps compares E-transfers and cash in the DRC
International humanitarian agencies are increasingly offering cash and vouchers as humanitarian assistance. But distributing cash carries security risks for agencies and recipients, while presenting accounting and logistical challenges. Electronic alternatives or vouchers could address these issues, but how well do they work? Mercy Corps studied the question in a program in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
- Tags
- digital payments, research
-
More Than Credit: Can microfinance also deliver affordable health care?
Poor people should have greater demand for health coverage than any other market, but the microfinance sector has had difficulty convincing poor people to pay insurance premiums. In response, BRAC launched its own health loan pilot – the “medical treatment loan” – by partnering its microfinance and health programs in Bangladesh.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
-
NexThought Monday – How Latin America Can Feed the World : Our biggest challenge lies in how we work together
Family farms in Mexico and Central America average five acres, and most of these produce only enough to feed themselves. The central challenge is helping these subsistence farmers use their five acres to become small businesses and engines of the local economy.
- Categories
- Agriculture
-
Twitter Top Ten – 12/21/14: Our favorite tweets of the week
2014 has been a good year. Wait, a bad year. ... Turns out, it all depends on whose tweets you happen to read. We attempt to bring clarity to it all with our weekly wrap-up.
- Categories
- Investing
-
Welcoming Cuba as an Emerging Market, ‘Lab’ for Social Enterprise
Insomuch as the Cuban people are underserved by their government on a host of vital services – from transportation to medical devices to Internet connectivity to agricultural development – the opportunities for social enterprises are enormous. Several organizations have been laying the groundwork for a new, pro-business relationship with Cuba’s government and its people.
- Categories
- Social Enterprise
-
November’s Most-Read, Most-Shared Posts on NB
In November, transparency in impact investing – on both the investment fund side and the investee company side – was something worth pondering. As investing with social and environmental purpose continues to grow and bleed into the mainstream, so do the calls for clear standards and open access to what constitutes impact – e.g. who’s really profiting?
- Categories
- Uncategorized