-
Roads and Rice: How Innovation and Infrastructure Can Feed the World
As a new diplomat in 1968, I was assigned not to the chandeliered ballrooms of Europe (as I had hoped) but to the Mekong Delta of Vietnam , as a rural development adviser. The green revolution was just beginning to spread around the world, and a new "miracle rice", known as IR-8, developed at the International Ric...
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
Closing the Loop between Sanitation and Food Security for the ?Base of the Pyramid?
If consumers in the advanced Western economies have a hard time swallowing the idea of drinking water recycled from sewage, that may be nothing compared with what those in the Philippines have to go through when they consider eating foods raised from fertilizer recycled from human wastes. But that´s exactly what a local foundation based in the boondocks of Mindanao has been advocating, and is now actively looking for "technology off-takers" who are willing to partner with t...
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
The Path From Charity to Profit
By Tina Rosenberg On Tuesday I wrote about Kedai Balitaku , a for-profit company started last year by the development group Mercy Corps in Indonesia. Mercy Corps took...
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
In ?Food Deserts,? Oases of Nutrition
Poor urban neighborhoods in America are often food deserts - places where it is difficult to find fresh food. There are few grocery stores; people may do all their shopping at bodegas, where the only available produce and meat are canned peaches and Spam. If they want fruits and vegetables and chicken and fish, they have to take a bus to a grocery store. The lack of fresh food creates a vicious cycle; children grow up never seeing it or acquiring a taste for it.&...
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
IDB Providing $3.3b to Help Indonesia Hit Growth Target
The Islamic Development Bank on Wednesday agreed to provide as much as $3.3 billion of financing through 2014 to speed Indonesia’s economic growth. "We are focusing on poverty, health and infrastructure. In line with IDB’s strategic priorities, we are committing to provide soft loans for its member, including Indonesia," bank president Ahmad Mohammed Ali said. The Saudi Arabia-based bank’s Member Countries Partnership Strategy program helps its 56...
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
Foundation commits $2.2 mill for efforts at Hopkins-Nanjing
The Hassenfeld Family Foundation has committed $2.2 million to the Johns Hopkins University Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies to establish a social enterprise competition and fellowships at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center for Chinese and American Studies in China. The Hassenfeld Social Enterprise Fund will enable Chinese, American and other international graduate students to work together to develop real-world outcomes through innovative projects, while the Hassenfeld Fe...
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
Avon Budgets RM100m Micro Credit Loans
Avon Cosmetics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, the largest direct selling cosmetics company in Malaysia, allocates micro credit loans of RM100 million annually to provide business opportunities, especially for women. "Through the Avon micro credit loans financing, we provide loans of between RM1,000 to RM70,000 to distributors without a deposit or interest," said Avon president Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, Mansoor Wan Abdullah. He was speaking to reporters after ...
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
Amid Japan?s Earthquake, Entrepreneurship
By Elmira Bayrasli 700 times. That’s how much stronger, the U.S. Geological Survey says , Friday’s 8.9 magnitude earthquake in northern Japan was than the one that hit Haiti at 7.0 last year. Luckily the damage and the loss of life in Japan, though in the hundreds of thousands, was not 700 times larger. ...
- Region
- Asia Pacific
The Best of NextBillion in Your Inbox Each Week!
Subscribe to NB Notes for news, jobs & on-the-ground insights from the world of emerging markets business.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.