NextBillion - A WDI Publication

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

Loose talk saves lives

Access to mobile phones is rocketing, along with its impact on poverty, writes Matthew Bishop. When you get a mobile phone it is almost like having a card to get out of poverty in a couple of years.? So says Muhammad Yunus, the founder of the micro-credit provider, Grameen Bank, and its hugely popular mobile phone offshoot in Bangladesh, Grameen Phone. In rich countries, mobile phones can seem something of a mixed blessing ? particularly if you are stuck on a train next t...

Source

developments - The International Development Magazine (link opens in a new window)

West Africa: Minding the Information And Communication Gap

Dakar As world leaders call for the benefits of new technologies to be shared more evenly around the globe, the reality on the ground in West Africa is a stark reminder of just how much work remains to be done. Gathered together at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis last week, international leaders such as UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and African Union President Olusegun Obasanjo argued for a bridging of the so-called digital divide between regions ru...

Source

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (link opens in a new window)

Banks to tap remittances, microfinance to grow

Latin American banks will eventually channel remittances into small business loans and financial products, thus boosting the use of banking services in the region, officials said at the opening of the Latin American Federation of Banks (Felaban) conference in Miami on Monday. The region received nearly US$41bn in remittances in 2004 and that figure is expected to surpass US$55bn this year, but only 10% will be channeled through the financial system, Inter-American Development Bank (I...

Source

Business News Americas (link opens in a new window)

Banking by Inclusion: Old Wine in New Bottle

from http://www.hindu.com/biz/2005/11/21/stories/2005112100201500.htm The government is set to carry forward some important proposals enunciated recently by the Reserve Bank of India in its credit policy statements to make Indian banking more inclusive. What the RBI has been proposing reflects a fe...

Source

The Hindu