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Mobilizing TB Lab Services: Portalabs offer high-quality diagnostic capacity at less cost than traditional facilities
TB laboratories are expensive to build, staff and maintain. New portable facilities address these problems and might offer scalable lab services in low- and middle-income countries.
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- Health Care
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Proliferation, Dominance, Evolution & Impact: Helix report examines the status of mobile money agents in Kenya
Kenya is the world leader in mobile money services, and these services depend largely on the strength of their agent networks. The Helix Institute of Digital Finance explores that topic in its third Agent Network Accelerator country report. It focuses on the proliferation of agents in the country, the effect of Safaricom’s dominance, how the agent network is evolving, and the impact it is having on financial inclusion.
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- Education
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SMART-er Ways to Plant Profitable Crops
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When you’re a subsistence farmer in drought-stricken regions of East Africa, gambling on what crop to plant is a life-and-death wager for your family. Ellen Metzger, with Village Enterprise, details the organization’s new SMART system - an Android phone enabled program designed to help farmers in Uganda and Kenya make planting decisions based on what’s likely to be most profitable.- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
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Expanding Impact, Replenishing Hope : Why it’s time to ‘vaccelerate’
Last month in Geneva and Brussels, global immunizations celebrated their tremendous past and set the stage for an even more promising future. At the World Health Assembly, the world’s health ministers recognized four decades of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI), and in Brussels the GAVI Alliance kicked off its ambitious plan for its fourth phase, 2016-2020. Together, the EPI and GAVI have saved the lives of millions of children, and their potential for impact has never been greater.
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- Health Care
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- supply chains
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Six Foods You Thought You Knew: The complicated past of our newly favorite foods
The latest fad foods - luscious pomegranates, nutrient-packed quinoa, and refreshing coconut water - have complicated pasts. Farmers and communities that depend on western appetites must contend with global consumption trends, international conflict and climate change. Here’s the farm-to-fork backstory for six of our favorite foods.
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- Agriculture
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Bitcoin and the Bottom of the Pyramid: How cryptocurrency can make good on its promise of financial inclusion
The buzz behind cryptocurrency is remarkable. With persistent momentum, and despite both spectacular collapses and temporary setbacks, Bitcoin and other digital currencies are seeding their own startup ecosystem. What significance, if any, does cryptocurrency have for financial inclusion and the socioeconomic base of the pyramid? Paul Breloff and Nathan Krishnamurthy of Accion Venture Lab explore the risks and possibilities.
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- Uncategorized
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Weekly Roundup – 6/21/14: Impact sourcing gains, a ‘herd mentality’ in impact investing and what Tesla’s patent giveaway can teach social biz
In the weekly roundup, some increased buzz around impact sourcing, charting a ‘herd mentality’ for India’s impact investing community and what social entrepreneurs might learn from Elon Musk’s announcement that Tesla will give away its patented tech secrets.
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- Technology
- Tags
- impact investing
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Start Small, Stay Small: Can better finance help Latin America’s microenterprises take the next step?
According to the World Bank, 60 percent of Latin America employees work for businesses with five or fewer employees. And its new companies grow at a much slower rate than similar businesses in other middle-income regions. In part 3 of our Impact Investing Insights series, we speak with Venture South’s managing director George Petty about how better finance can help.
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- Uncategorized
