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Press Release: New off-grid technology helps developing world farmers access markets and sustainable business opportunities
New off-grid technology gives farmers in the developing world the means to access markets and sustainable business opportunities. When more than 30% of your harvest is lost due to environmental exposure and pests, your focus isn’t on entrepreneurship or creating employment opportunities for your community, it’s on survival.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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KickStart and VisionFund to Bring Affordable Irrigation to African Farmers
Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are set to benefit from a new partnership between World Vision’s microfinance arm, VisionFund International (VisionFund) and non-profit social enterprise, KickStart International (KickStart). The partners have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to provide an integrated solution to enable farmers to access, purchase and implement irrigation systems. With ambitious targets, the partnership anticipates 100,000 farmers (and 400,000 children) will benefit from greater access to water for their crops over the next five years.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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National Microfinance Bank to digitize agricultural sector in Tanzania
National Microfinance Bank Pic (NMB) has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Mastercard to ensure the digitization of the agricultural sector in Tanzania with the roll-out of eKilimo, a mobile solution developed by the Mastercard Lab for Financial Inclusion.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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This Superfood Fuels Social Good
Lisa Curtis learned about moringa, the tall leafy plant that she's trying to push as America’s next super food craze, while working as a Peace Corps volunteer in a small, rural village in Niger, West Africa. Food was scarce and Curtis, a vegetarian, felt constantly tired. So when some people in the village suggested she eat the tree’s leaves, she decided to try it.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Impact Assessment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Exeo Capital Agri-Vie Fund II Attracts Over $100 Million
EXEO Capital, the pan-African private equity investment firm, has announced the first close of the second Agri-Vie Fund, focused on the food and agribusiness sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, after attracting commitments of over $100 million, one third more than the initial target.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- impact investing
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Gates, Mastercard Launch New Platform for Smallholder Farmers
Digital technology has long been touted as the key to helping smallholder farmers around the world overcome barriers that have kept them trapped in poverty, though initial innovations did not always deliver on this promise. Now developers of digital tools for agriculture are trying to refine their offerings, focusing on products that farmers want to use and that align with their priorities. And at the top of that list is getting fair prices for their products.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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MasterCard Thinks Small With Microcommerce Platform in Africa
For some financial-services giants, the next big thing is micro, and unbanked customers are the entry point. The latest example is MasterCard, which is getting into microcommerce in Kenya with the launch of a new mobile platform that lets consumers buy goods with cash, mobile money, or bank transfer using their phones. The service, called 2Kuze, is aimed at Kenyan farmers and their customers and may mark the beginning of a deeper journey into mobile money products.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mastercard Delivering Financial Inclusion: One Small Kenyan Farm At A Time
The problem with building financial inclusion — particularly in a developing world context — is that it is a tough goal to pursue directly. While there isn’t much in the way of disagreement that more should be done to connect the approximately 2.5 billion adults who are totally (or nearly totally) detached from formal financial services, actually implementing a plan that actually makes a difference is often a very separate matter.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa