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Bill Gates to UN: Find new ways to help poor farmers; announces $200 million in grants
ROME — Current approaches to global agriculture are outdated, inefficient and don’t give small farmers in poor countries the help they really need, Bill Gates told U.N. food agencies Thursday as he announced nearly $200 million in grants. The Microsoft founder brought his campaign to fight poverty and hunger in Africa and Asia to a forum of the U.N. International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), one of three Rome-based U.N. food agencies.Much of some $2 billion spent over the past five years to fight poverty and hunger in Africa and Asia by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has gone toward improving agricultural productivity.
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- Agriculture
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On World Day of Social Justice, the Role For Business
Jake Walter is the country director of TechnoServe/Mozambique. Since 1998, he has led TechnoServe’s efforts to create a competitive and sustainable commercial agricultural sector that promotes opportunities for small-scale producers and creates jobs for the rural poor. Prior to joining TechnoServe, Jake was a vice president for ABS Global, a bovine genetics and technology company.On the World Day of Social Justice, Jake discusses how TechnoServe’s work in Mozambique contributes to a stronger society, and how business can be a means to promote social justice.
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- Agriculture
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Between Multinational Buyers and Small Farmers, Root Capital Looks to Manage Growth
Willie Foote, founder and CEO of the social investment fund Root Capital, said it is poised for significant growth in the next five years. The challenge, he said, will be in managing that growth.Root expects to triple its portfolio in the next five years to $170 million and build credit up so that it can disburse $284 million in one year.
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- Agriculture
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Climate, Poverty, Gender, and the Spaces in Between
This past week in Nairobi, PopTech convened a diverse and illustrious group of innovators from technology, gender analysis, development, micro-insurance, mobile, water, agriculture and funding to have a conversation about community-based adaptation to climate change in rural Africa.
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- Agriculture, Environment
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Welcoming NextBillion’s Content Partners
Each of these organizations are recognized leaders in their arenas, from enterprise development to financial inclusion and education, from micro and small business lending to patient capital partnerships. While they may have differing missions, they all contribute financial support, expertise, and mind share - and usually combinations of all three - to the cause of poverty alleviation through enterprise.
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- Agriculture, Investing
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From Our Partners: TechnoServe – the Year Ahead
This is one in a series of articles featuring NextBillion’s 2012 Content Partners in which leaders offer their views on important trends impacting their work and new initiatives to alleviate poverty through market-based solutions. Today we hear from Simon Winter, TechnoServe’s senior vice president for development, who answers questions about TechnoServe’s direction in 2012.
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- Agriculture, Education
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NexThought Monday: Land Rights for Women – a Ripple Effect
Many developing countries, from Liberia to India, are rife with women without land rights, who upon the death of their husbands are thrown off of their land and left with no way to support themselves or their children. National economies continue to suffer from the effects of these children, who are robbed of an education and a future. From 2002 through 2009, Landesa partnered with the Rwandan government to help ensure Rwandans would have secure rights to land and receive land titles.
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- Agriculture
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IDA to Help Improve Irrigation System in Pakistan
The World Bank’s concessional lending arm is providing $250 million to help improve water and agricultural productivity in the Pakistani province of Punjab.
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- Agriculture, Impact Assessment
- Region
- South Asia
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