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The Future of the Graduation Approach: Taking a Proven Anti-Poverty Measure to Scale
How can the "graduation" approach to fighting extreme poverty achieve a scale commensurate with extreme poverty itself? Increasingly, the answer is to embed graduation within government-run social protection programs that already operate at massive scale. MetLife Foundation's Krishna Thacker explores why the approach works, and how innovative organizations are taking it to the next level.
- Categories
- Education
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Field of View: How a Chilli Cash Crop Helps Subsistence Farmers Shape Their Future
During a three-year process designed to assess the impact of growing a chilli cash crop on small farmers living in southern Africa, it was discovered that when a family earned just $500 more of net income per year, the money materially impacted at least two categories of their basic human needs. But the most profound impact, writes Tanner Methvin, was that of self-determination.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Smartphones: Under pressure from Chinese companies, Panasonic to exit low-end phones segment
Japan's Panasonic Corp, about a century-old powerhouse in consumer electronics, wouldn't sell feature-and entry-level smartphones in India any longer because of the intense competition from Chinese brands. In a strategy overhaul, Panasonic would also bring the distribution responsibility in-house, and pare down the market-share targets to about 5% in two years from initial projections running into two digits.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Seeking the Anti-Poverty Holy Grail: Can a ‘Trust Mark’ Boost Microfinance’s Social Impact?
In an effort to find which microfinance practitioners are most successfully alleviating poverty, Truelift – with the help of other microfinance rating agencies and technical experts – designed an assessment tool and beta-tested it on nine institutions around the world. The result, essentially, is a global “trust mark” for anti-poverty action. Organizers are looking for opportunities to use the tool to support assessment of a variety of service providers.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Opinion: India must break out of its internet connectivity conundrum
India has among the world’s lowest data communications tariffs... But in India, the world’s lowest data tariffs are not resulting in the world’s most connected society. However low data tariffs are going in India, because of the vast numbers of people living at the “bottom of the pyramid” in extreme poverty, India doesn’t seem to be able to catch up with other Asian countries when it comes to progress in democratization of the internet.
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- Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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UN Study: Digitization of Kenyan Farmer Payments Helps Tackle Poverty
One Acre Fund, supported by Citi, enabled farmers to easily make loan repayments via mobile money instead of cash, reducing the uncertainty, inefficiency, insecurity and high costs previously caused by cash transactions.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Study Calls on Impact Investors to Close Educational Attainment Gaps
According to a recent Global Impact Investing Network survey, impact investments in the education sector accounted for only 2 percent of global impact investing assets under management. The report further suggests that foundations can play a catalytic role in ensuring the flow of capital to educational organizations and for interventions designed to boost equitable access to higher education for underserved populations through the provision of "blended capital" (a combination of grants, "patient" or more affordable equity, and/or debt capital).
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Cashless Hospitalization, Premiums of $3.90 a Year … and the Program Pays for Itself
Beset with high levels of preventable illness and avoidable hospital admissions, India needs a risk coverage instrument that shields poor and low-income households. Grameen Koota thinks it's found one; the microfinance organization's insurance plan offers a variety of medical services at an annual premium of $3.90, capturing the pricing benefit of risk-pooling between different households.
- Categories
- Health Care
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