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NexThought Monday – Test Tubers: Why potatoes in Bangladesh are turning heads in the Andes
If you’re a subsistence farmer of potatoes, cassava or bananas, you’ll often sow your crops by taking cuttings from other plants. An alternative method of in vitro micro-propagation involves cloning plantlets in a laboratory setting. This can lead to dramatic gains in crop yields, but it’s expensive. But there may be a low-tech solution.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Technology
- Tags
- research
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Microcredit oversold as anti-poverty tool, economists say
Microcredit is no panacea for lifting millions of people from poverty, leading economists said on Friday in releasing research from seven countries that challenges a key development tool.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
- Tags
- microfinance, research
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Weekly Roundup – Walking Across the Bridge as You Build It
For companies that seek not only global expansion but sincerely hope to create inclusive businesses that serve lower-income people, much of the low-hanging (profitable) fruit has been taken. The next step for those businesses and their managers might be into some unfamiliar territory, especially given those managers’ educational experiences.
- Categories
- Education
- Tags
- academia
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Can Anything Good Come Out of Playing Poverty?: The Two Dollar Challenge says Yes – if it’s done the right way
A lot of us feel compelled to do something about global poverty, whether it’s through mission trips, buying a pair of TOMS shoes, or starting a non-profit. Some of these approaches are effective; a lot are not. Shawn Humphrey explores the lack of consciousness that causes many anti-poverty efforts to fail, and describes how the Two Dollar Challenge hopes to help people develop this consciousness.
- Categories
- Education
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How an Anti-Tech Teacher Ended Up Creating A Mobile App to Improve Education in Africa
In 2011 I returned to Kenya for a vacation. I wanted to see the community where I had lived just two years earlier, bring gifts to the families I had bonded with, and sing songs with the kids of the rural village that I had called home. I had lived in Muhuru Bay without water and electricity while working with teachers in this community to help students prepare for high school. It was meant to be a break before heading off to the West Coast for business school. I hadn't expected to start a company, especially one in technology.
- Categories
- Education, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Four Ways Big Data Can Improve Financial Lives: CFSI previews its upcoming report on harnessing data technology for the underserved market
Big Data is a buzzword, but it’s also a very real phenomenon: analysts estimate that annual data production will increase by a whopping 4300% between 2009 and 2020. In advance of a new report on the subject, the Center for Financial Services Innovation discusses four key trends driving Big Data innovation that can unlock value for both financial providers and consumers.
- Categories
- Education
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Don’t Cover Everything: Why targeted health microinsurance can work better than full coverage
EA Consultants’ efforts to understand both the business case and client value of microinsurance led to some interesting findings. For instance, catastrophic health insurance represented much greater value than primary or outpatient care for clients, but its behavioral effects skewed against good health outcomes. Barbara Magnoni discusses these findings, and offers some solutions.
- Categories
- Education, Health Care
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A Radio Jingle … Followed by an Economic Transformation
Hernando de Soto, economist and best-selling author, was determined to figure out what was keeping Peruvians in poverty. He quickly found that Peru had a bureaucracy that moved at glacial speeds. His solution? Catchy commercial jingles and a reality TV show featuring the president of Peru.
- Categories
- Education
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