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From One Crisis to Another: Using Data from COVID to Meet the Looming Challenge of Food Insecurity
Due to a tragic combination of events, countries around the world are facing a widespread and serious food shortage, with the number of severely hungry people projected to swell to 323 million over the course of 2022. Scott Graham, Andree Simon and Anahit Tevosyan at FINCA share data – initially gathered to inform FINCA's COVID-19 response – that shows the impact of this crisis on low-income customers. They explore how financial inclusion organizations can adapt their support to help customers stave off the worst effects of the escalating food crisis.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Environment, Finance
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Putting Outcomes Above Ideology: Why the Development Sector Must Recognize the Critical Role of Low-Fee Private Schools in Addressing the Global Learning Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the global learning crisis, with up to 70% of children in low- and middle-income countries unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10. Yet Corina Gardner and Stephen Caleb Opuni at the IDP Foundation argue that, despite the urgency of the situation, the development sector remains locked in an ideological debate over whether non-state schools should play a role in the global education landscape. They urge the sector to move past its resistance to private education options and instead work to ensure that these schools are properly regulated, integrated and supported.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Education
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Bringing a Gender Lens to Technical Assistance: New Research Reveals the Benefits and Costs of Gender-Smart TA to SMEs and Investors
There’s growing momentum behind gender lens strategies in impact investing. But according to Yaquta Kanchwala Fatehi at the William Davidson Institute and Lisa Willems and Ladé Araba at the AlphaMundi Foundation, investors tend to apply a gender lens to their investing and pipeline development activities – but not to technical assistance and other types of post-investment support. They share findings from a recent study from the Gender-Smart Enterprise Assistance Research Coalition (G-SEARCh) consortium, which explores the business case for gender-smart technical assistance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing
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An Overlooked Path to Health Impact: Four Tools to Increase Consumption Frequency for Beneficial Consumer Goods
Fast-moving consumer goods like fortified food products can improve nutrition in low- and middle-income countries. But as Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath and Louise Berthault at Hystra point out, they can only deliver health impact if they are consumed every day or every other day. They explore how increasing the consumption frequency of these products can boost their nutritional and health impact and drive companies' sales growth, and share four tools that can motivate consistent and frequent consumption patterns among low-income consumers.
- Categories
- Health Care, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- distribution, nutrition
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Designing an Impact Measurement Strategy: What’s Your North Star?
As impact investing evolves, there are a growing number of impact measurement solutions available to investors and the ecosystem at large. But as Shruti Goel at Upaya Social Ventures and Sachi Shenoy at Calidris explain, the deluge of impact measurement data, frameworks and methods can be confusing. They share some key lessons Upaya has learned in its 11 years of supporting impactful entrepreneurs, and explore how investors can develop a robust measurement strategy that helps them understand the breadth and depth of their impact.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Why Credit is Key to Unlocking Africa’s Consumer Markets and Boosting Economic Growth
Africa’s consumer market is one of the fastest-growing in the world. But as Fehintolu Olaogun at CredPal points out, this growth has primarily occurred without consumer credit, as most sub-Saharan African economies remain cash-driven at the retail level. He explains why African markets need the kind of organized credit systems that are enjoyed by consumers in more developed markets, and explores the impact that credit access can have on e-commerce, informal commerce and overall economic growth in the region.
- Categories
- Finance, Telecommunications
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Climate-Resilient Architecture: The Key to Combating Heat Stress in India
Global warming has increased the intensity of heat waves over the last few decades. And in India and other emerging countries, extreme heat is a particularly serious problem, as only 8% of the 2.8 billion people living in the world’s hottest regions have air conditioners. But according to Krati Airan and Rohang Mishal at Villgro Innovations Foundation, the problem won't be solved by simply expanding access to air conditioning, which is expensive and energy-intensive. They explore the impact of climate-resistant architecture in addressing heat stress in the world’s hottest – and most economically vulnerable – countries.
- Categories
- Environment
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Nora’s Digitalization Challenges: What the MSE Sector Can Learn From the Digital Journey of a Woman Entrepreneur in Peru
Women entrepreneurs are a driving force for digitalization, showing less resistance and a higher level of trust toward digital business tools than their male counterparts. Gianmarco Cheng and Juan Navarrete at Fundación Capital share some key initial results from an ongoing study in Colombia, Mexico and Peru, which highlight ways to promote the adoption and use of digital tools by micro and small enterprises (MSEs). They discuss the impact these tools have had on Nora, a microentrepreneur in Peru, and explore the challenges and opportunities presented by digitalization efforts across the MSE sector.
- Categories
- Technology
