NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Institute in Rural Power Outreach

Rural areas may soon overcome power shortages after the Institute for Scientific Research and Technology (IRST) extends its biogas development project. If we developed biogas, the country would be relieved of rural energy shortage problems, said Ntaganda Jean, a technician at IRST. The institutes’ biogas project is meant to be an alternative source of energy to replace crude methods like wood cutting which degrade the environment, according to the official...

Source

The New Times (Kigali), Willy Mugenzi (link opens in a new window)

Tagum Women Fuel Local Economy

JMD Abangan TAGUM CITY (30 November) -- The women sector has indeed become a significant force to reckon with as a fuel to the local economy and as backbone to prop up household income. Amidst hard times, women now have found financial relief from day-to-day expenditures in micro enterprise ventures like sidewalk vending; hawking goodies; selling delicacies, home-made processed meat, and others. The Savings Credit with Education (SCWE), a micro-finance program of the Credit Union...

Source

Philippine Information Agency (link opens in a new window)

Financial Times Launches Annual Sustainable Banking Awards.

Financial Times Launches Annual Sustainable Banking Awards. The Financial Times reports (11/24) it announced on Wednesday the launch of the first global awards dedicated to recognizing banks that have actively integrated social and environmental objectives into their operations, while still maximizing financial gain for their shareholders. The annual FT Sustainable Banking Awards - created in association with the International Finance Corporation, ...

Source

Financial Times (link opens in a new window)

Rural Finance in Ethiopia is Making Critical Difference in Productivity: Meles

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has said rural finance was playing a critical role in the improvement of agricultural productivity, through the provision of credit for small holder farmers. In his opening address at a Worldwide Congress on Agricultural and Rural Finance here at the UN Conference Centre yesterday, Prime Minister Meles said, currently more than 2.5 million farmers, accounting for 25 percent of the total smallholder agriculture obtain credit annually for the purchase of inp...

Source

The Ethiopian Herald (Addis Ababa) (link opens in a new window)

Telephone Ladies Connect Bangladesh

The Commonwealth Heads of Government are meeting this weekend in Malta. One of the issues they will be discussing is how to bridge the so-called digital divide - the gap between those in the industrialised world who have access to information technology, and those in the developing world who do not. Mobile phones are seen as key in countries with poor landline networks, but the question is how to get them into the hands of the poor. One pioneering scheme in Bangladesh has become famo...

Source

BBC News (link opens in a new window)

St. Jude Empowers 180,000 Farmers With Organic Skills

ST. JUDE Family Projects is training farmers in modern Integrated Organic Farming (IOF). For the past 12 years, the project has equipped more than 180,000 farmers with skills in IOF. Integrated Organic Farming is a process of harmonious co-existence between the various components on a farm - plants, animals, water and soils. Each component contributes directly or indirectly to the other. The centre, located at Busense, Kabonera sub-county in Bukoto Central, Masaka distric...

Source

New Vision (Kampala), John Kasozi And Jennifer Austin (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

Microsoft training program empowers farmers and reduces poverty in Indonesia.

Bojonegoro --- Suhar, 28, a peanut farmer likes to show off the new cell phone he bought two months ago. He could afford to buy the cell phone after he reaped significant profit from his peanut farm using a management and production method based on knowledge Suhar obtained from the Internet. Suhar said his profit had been soaring since he adopted new production techniques and management principles he acquired from an information technology training held by PT Microsoft Indonesia last ...

Source

Jakarta Post (link opens in a new window)

Malawi Pilots Drought Insurance Coverage With Local Farmers

Malawi has introduced an innovative pilot drought insurance program for local groundnut farmers that will help them mitigate the risks associated with periodic droughts. The insurance will help farmers obtain financing necessary to obtain certified seeds, which produce increased yields and revenues as well as greater resistance to disease. The program is currently being utilized through the pilot program by nearly 900 farmers in four areas and, if successful, can be scaled up to other crops and...

Source

World Bank, Washington DC (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa