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More weather index insurance for African smallholder farmers
Weather insurance is a financial product aiming to help African farmers manage the volatility of drought and other weather crises. This week (14 Jan), IFC (www.ifc.org) signed 2 grant agreements with MicroEnsure Ltd to make more index-based weather insurance available to small-scale farmers in Rwanda and Zambia. Index-based insurance pays out on the basis of agreed weather data, such as rainfall as measured being lower than an agreed level, and is more efficient risk management tool than traditional indemnity-based agricultural insurance, which runs up high transaction costs and premiums.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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A Whisky-Inspired Solution For Clean Drinking Water
With arsenic in their drinking water wells, Bangladeshi citizens suffer the "largest mass poisoning in history" every day. A new type of filter made from the leftovers from the distillation process could give them a convenient, safer water supply.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care
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Incofin Investment Management endorses need for agricultural finance by launching new $200 million agRIF fund
Incofin Investment Management (IM) is seeking to raise around USD 200 million for its new agRIF fund which will focus on the unmet global demand for financial services that target smallholder farmers.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Small Farms, Big Funding Gap: Local bank financing for smallholder farmers meets only 3 percent of overall demand
New research reveals that local bank lending to smallholder farmers – which should be a main avenue for improving their access to finance – meets less than 3 percent of their estimated financing demand. This gap represents an obstacle to global poverty reduction efforts - and a compelling opportunity for buyers, lenders and other actors in the agricultural value chain.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Tanzania Reaches Out to People Without Accounts
Tanzania wants to capture the 50% of the population who are unbanked by 2016 after the launch of the National Financial Inclusion Framework.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Global Social Entrepreneurship Focus of New Partnership
USAID will commit $2 million to support the project, which will be matched by an additional $2 million in support from General Atlantic, the Newman's Own Foundation, the Pershing Square Foundation, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Echoing Green.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Beyond Technology: Five ways to support water irrigation in Sub Saharan Africa
Despite the growing demand for irrigation technology, the International Water Management Institute found that farmers still face significant barriers to groundwater irrigation success, particularly in Sub Saharan Africa. This is why the relatively low cost treadle pump grew in popularity, but it’s not the only solution.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Coffee shops, farmers and a banker team up to save Latin American coffee
Coffee trees in Central and South America are in danger. They have always been vulnerable to a disease called leaf rust, or la roya in Spanish. But now a warmer, wetter climate is creating the worst outbreak in a generation.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Latin America
- Tags
- impact investing
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