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Press release: IFC invests $100 million in Mahindra Finance for loans to farmers
“Since its inception in 1991, Mahindra Finance has been working in the rural and semi-urban areas of India, catalyzing financial inclusion of the unbanked and under-served communities and also partnering with them in their difficult times. Our focus has been on enabling these customers with innovative financial solutions, tailor made to their evolving needs” said Ramesh Iyer, Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Mahindra Finance.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- South Asia
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Food For Good: 4 Social Enterprises That Are Transforming The Food And Beverage Industry In South East Asia
From compostable coffee capsules to rice berry, these social ventures have made it their mission to create more social and environmental awareness around our food and drinks consumption by empowering local communities and championing sustainable production practices.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education, Environment
- Region
- South Asia
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China’s agricultural paradigm shift
China’s agricultural support policies are moving towards marketised institutions, after a decade of state subsidies for direct production resulted in oversupply.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Press release: Monsanto’s Venture Capital Arm Makes First Direct Investment in Brazil
Start-up company that created a platform to digitize the grain buying and selling chain, Grão Direto, receives investments worth R$ 2.3 million from three companies
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing
- Region
- Latin America
- Tags
- agtech, startups, venture capital
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Blockchain technology is being used in the early disruption of Kenya’s agribusiness
In many emerging markets, food retailers along with smallholder farmers, struggle to secure loans and develop a credit history. And without the proper financing, many of them fail to scale their businesses.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Sustainable crop certification could help world’s poorest farmers
Sustainable crop certification schemes could be missing the poorest farmers who are most in need of their benefits, according to a new Atlas Award-winning paper in Biological Conservation. In their study, a team of researchers from the UK and the US mapped one million of the world's commodity crops, including banana, cocoa, coffee, and tea, showing where they are certified. They suggest that if schemes developed stronger standards and targeted poor areas more effectively, they could make a bigger impact - if they can also increase consumer demand for certified products.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Using big data to link poor farmers to finance
The global growth of microfinance banks has created new opportunities for financial inclusion, with outstanding lending of $100 billion to around 200 million clients. Yet the majority of lending from microfinance institutions has been to urban populations and not to the rural poor or small farmers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
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Gramophone: Farm doctors at your service
The Indore-based startup is leveraging technology to make farming more predictable and profitable for farmers in Madhya Pradesh, India.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- agtech, data, social enterprise