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Designing for Social Good, Not ‘Feel Good’
Designing products for multinational corporations and their affluent target markets is very different from designing products for low-income, rural consumers. Jordan Westerberg, industrial designer with social venture development firm Factor[e], has worked in both of these worlds. He discusses a recent project that redesigned a solar conduction dryer for Indian farmers, and cautions against being drawn to simplistic, feel-good products when designing for social impact.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise, Technology
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$40M Palladium Impact Fund to Focus on Agribusiness, Off-Grid Clean Energy
A $40-million fund launched last week by Australia-based global impact firm Palladium aims to invest in agribusiness value chains and off-grid clean energy ventures in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Investing
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Surviving the ‘Valley of Death’: A New Funding Database Aims to Help Agtech Companies Avoid Early-Stage Failure
Population growth and climate change are bringing extraordinary challenges to the agriculture sector in emerging markets. But though small- and medium-sized enterprises are essential to addressing these issues, they remain underfunded – particularly in the period before they become profitable (often referred to as the ‘‘Valley of Death’’). Aarno Keijzer at NpM explores these challenges, and presents a free database that NpM has compiled, highlighting funds that can help early-stage agriculture companies bridge this financial gap.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Tags
- agtech, business development, data, failure
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Press Release: Grant Awarded to Establish Aceli Africa, a Data-Driven Financing Facility to Unlock Capital for Agricultural SMEs
According to the World Bank, agricultural growth in Africa is significantly more effective at reducing poverty than growth in other economic sectors. Agricultural SMEs, including farmer cooperatives and food processors, improve livelihoods by aggregating and linking smallholder farmers to markets and generating employment for low-skill workers, particularly women and youth.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- blended finance
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These Agritech Startups Will Take Southeast Asia’s Emerging Market to the Next Level
Despite the minimum media attention, these startups are building innovation to help their respective countries and its agriculture sector tackle challenges and make progress.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Jamaica Wants To Expand Agriculture, But Agribusinesses Are Finding It Impossible to Access Capital
Due to limited access to financial markets and a lack of legally recognized ownership of land, female-led agribusinesses are even more financially vulnerable.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- North America
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Waterfield Advisors to Launch $15M Development Impact Bond for India’s Farm Sector
In a first in the country, Mumbai-based wealth advisory firm Waterfield Advisors will soon launch a $15-million Development Impact Bond (DIB) for the farm sector.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing
- Region
- South Asia
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Press Release: Untapped Market for Digital Services to Transform African Agriculture Worth up to €2.3 Billion, New Report Finds
“Digitalisation can be a game-changer in modernising and transforming Africa’s agriculture, attracting young people to farming and allowing farmers to optimise production while also making them more resilient to climate change,” said Michael Hailu, Director of CTA.
- Source
- Press Release
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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