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The BIG Smallholder Opportunity: ‘Growing Business with Smallholders’ practitioner workshop is Nov. 19-20 in Germany
It’s clear that smallholders are important partners for improving food security when considering that, with 500 million farms worldwide, they cultivate most of the land in developing countries. To achieve food security, effective mechanisms to equip smallholders with the right inputs and tools.
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- Agriculture
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The People Want Business with a Purpose (Will Social Intrapreneurs Deliver?): Ashoka and Accenture are looking for changemakers inside large multinationals
Ashoka and Accenture have teamed up to launch a new competition that seeks creative fixes for business and society: “The League of Intrapreneurs: Building Better Business from the Inside Out.”
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- Education
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Voices from ANDE 2012: Building a Stronger Ecosystem
At the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs Conference last month, a good deal of focus was placed on developing the ecosystem to help social entrepreneurs connect with investors, business infrastructure and one another. One ANDE session took a close look at early stage incubation services, and the role they play in helping small and growing businesses, helping them to shape their business models along the way. Afterwards, I had a chance to meet with three leaders in this arena who are focused on social business development in India and Southeast Asia.
- Categories
- Investing
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Why Should Banks Reach Out to Social Entrepreneurs? : That question will be front and center at the world’s largest banking conference
On Oct. 30, in Osaka, 8,000 bankers will convene for the world’s largest banking conference, SIBOS, and for the first time enter into a dialogue with social entrepreneurs about the future of their industry – based on concrete ideas for new business with social impact.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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The Dashboard Shift: A New Way to Present Data, Impact: Several new dashboards are blending data and storytelling in new ways
Data from which nothing is learned is wasted. At SOCAP 2011, Steve Wright, director of Social Performance Management at Grameen Foundation, shared his “8 rules of (social) enterprise efficacy measurement.” One of these rules is: metrics should be made public to encourage cooperation, alignment and emergence. In recent months, several dashboards have emerged as a popular way to share metrics.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment, Technology
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World Food Day: Availability, Access and Use : Stronger agricultural inputs, tools and financing are key
In much of the world populations are expanding dramatically with demand for food increasing in-step. Food security is composed of three facets; availability, access and use, and in many of the countries where we invest we see challenges across all three. At Acumen Fund we believe that a critical way to improve food security is by improving smallholder farmers’ access to stronger agricultural inputs, tools and financing. In a sector where innovation abounds, millions of smallholder farmers are still struggling to produce decent crop yields, resulting in poor nutrition, bad health and stagnant growth. For the last decade Acumen has been addressing this issue through a series of innovative investments in agriculture in Africa and South Asia.
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- Agriculture, Health Care
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Science and Technology: The Next Frontier of Inclusive Business
Latin America and the world have already demonstrated that inclusive businesses not only exist, but are capable of growing accelerated and profitably. What is missing is showing rates of return that exceed that of the market to attract investors and the traditional actors of economic and entrepreneurial development. Science and technology might be the solution.
- Categories
- Technology
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Off the Grid Solutions in Mobile, Solar Schools: Four mini case studies of business, nonprofit, CSR, models
Beep beep! For some students, hopping on the school bus is hopping into the classroom. Four communities are using solar-powered mobile classrooms to overcome inaccessibility to the power grid.
- Categories
- Education, Energy, Impact Assessment
