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The $450 Billion Opportunity: Catalyzing Smallholder Agricultural Finance
As population growth and rising incomes create unprecedented demand for food, multinational companies increasingly rely on smallholders to secure their supply of agricultural commodities. As a result, smallholders present a compelling opportunity for buyers, lenders, and other actors in the agricultural value chain. However, smallholder production is often characterized by low yields, low quality, poor linkages, and little access to finance. A Dalberg report released Wednesday called “Catalyzing Smallholder Agricultural Finance” suggests that with increased financing, farmers can improve their yields and products and in some cases double their income.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Using Innovative, Low-cost Solutions to Provide Safe Drinking Water in India
P.Venkatesh, a resident of Boduppal village in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, is a carpenter of modest means. The ever-increasing price of essentials has forced him to cut corners to save each paisa as he struggles to look after his family of four. But despite all odds and after much deliberation, three months ago he decided to make provision for yet another non-negotiable in his monthly budget -- drinking water.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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New Dalberg Report Guides Investors on Addressing Finance Demand for Smallholder Farmers
WASHINGTON DC – Dalberg Global Development Advisors has released a new report today identifying innovative and sustainable ways that investors can help fulfill the largely unmet need for smallholder agricultural financing.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Peace Pays: Rebuilding Livelihoods in Northern Uganda
On Friday, the world will celebrate Peace Day, giving this work a special significance. Conflict and poverty are inextricably linked. On the other hand, economic growth reduces the risk of conflict. TechnoServe has seen this throughout our history, in countries such as Nicaragua and Mozambique. Giving people the opportunity to earn a living is one of the best ways to guarantee a lasting peace.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Rwanda: Microfinance Firm Boosts Agro-Mechanisation
A local microfinance institution, Duterimbere IMF Ltd, has launched new products that target the promotion of agricultural mechanisation among small scale farmers.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- microfinance
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World Hunger: The Problem Left Behind
THE drought-induced run-up in corn prices is a reminder that we’re nowhere near solving the problem of feeding the world. The price surge, the third major international food price spike in the last five years, casts more doubt on the assumption that widespread economic development leads to corresponding gains in agriculture.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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BoP Career Paths: A Former TechnoServe Volunteer Starts Investment Fund for African Businesses
Bryan McCoy recently became the CEO of Yalelo Ltd, a commercial aquaculture business serving domestic and regional markets from Lusaka, Zambia. McCoy is also a director of Sustainable Development Capital (SDC), which he co-founded in 2008 in order to invest in Swazi agribusinesses. His introduction to Africa occurred in 2007, when he spent six months volunteering for TechnoServe in Swaziland and Tanzania.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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New alliance for food security would accelerate agricultural development -Namoale
The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, an initiative to lift 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years through sustained agricultural growth, was on Wednesday launched in Accra.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa