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Smallholder Farmer Adoption of Agtech ‘High but Inconsistent,’ Says New Study From 60 Decibels W/ Gates Foundation
The research team interviewed more than 1,400 Kenyan farmers across 38 counties, using a lean methodology developed and tested in multiple geographies over 2022-2024.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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UK and Uganda Unveil £5 Million Clean Cooking Initiative
This two-year initiative is set to tackle critical challenges in clean energy access and enhance cooking conditions for millions of Ugandans.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Design as a Catalyst for Impact: How a First-of-its-Kind Design Policy in Kerala Could Foster a New Approach to Public-Private Partnerships in India
The Indian state of Kerala recently approved a State Design Policy — the first of its kind in the country. As Manoshij Banerjee and Mohammed Shahid Abdulla explain, design policies aim to increase citizens' quality of life by providing guidance to help optimize the design of everything from infrastructure to government policy. They share examples of strategic design choices that have made a major impact on businesses, governments and the communities they serve, and explore how Kerala’s design policy could lead to new opportunities for public-private partnerships in India.
- Categories
- Technology, Transportation
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Solving the Educational Disparity in India: A Scalable Solution Leverages AI and Behavior Change to Reach Underserved Communities
Around 37 million Indian children lack access to any form of early education service. Vishal Sunil and Sushmita Roy at Rocket Learning discuss how their organization is addressing this issue through its learning platform, which leverages AI technology and WhatsApp to provide free educational tools to children and parents, while offering training and other resources to the daycare workers who play a key role in the country’s early childhood development landscape.
- Categories
- Education, Technology
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Unleashing Women Entrepreneurs by Challenging Gender Norms: An Innovative Approach to Changing Beliefs Around Household Chores
Globally, women and girls are responsible for three-quarters of unpaid care work, due to the still-common belief that a woman’s role in society is to take care of the home. As Trisha Clauson at Bopinc and Annegien Langedijk-Wilms at Growing Initiatives explain, this is preventing countless women entrepreneurs from building their businesses, reducing emerging markets' GDP by trillions of dollars. They explore an innovative program that leveraged mass media to foster more equitable gender norms around household chores in Nigeria, sharing learnings that can be used by other organizations supporting women entrepreneurs.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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Applying Behavioral Science to Program Staff: An Under-Explored Path to Strengthening Global Anti-Poverty Programs
Evidence suggests that applying behavioral science to global anti-poverty programs can increase their impact—typically by encouraging positive behaviors among program participants. But Mukta Joshi and Faraz Haqqi at ideas42 point out that the behavior of program staff has not received the same level of attention, even though staff directly shape a program's potential for impact. They explore how behavioral science can be used to optimize the behaviors of anti-poverty program staff, offering a powerful new channel for improving lives and livelihoods.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
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How Behavioral Science Can Improve Digital Services: Exploring the Impact of an Innovative Accelerator Program on Social Enterprises in Latin America
Though behavioral science is a relatively new field of study in Latin America, it is increasingly being leveraged to address financial inclusion and other needs in the region – and it has particular relevance to social enterprises working in the digital space. Juan Pablo Marichi at New Ventures and Santiago Mesa at Acceso explore how New Ventures' SUMA accelerator program has applied the study of behavioral science to the issues of financial health and inclusion, and share some lessons that participants – including Acceso – have learned in the process.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance, Social Enterprise, Technology
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Avoiding the Downside of Instapay: Five Behavioral Science-Based Principles to Make Paycheck-on-Demand Benefit Low-Income Users
There are numerous apps and employers that allow employees to cash out their paychecks on demand, rather than waiting until their usual payday. But while this may seem like a dream come true for people who need quick cash to deal with financial distress, "instapay" also comes with tradeoffs. Analysts at Common Cents Lab discuss these downsides – and some behavioral science-based solutions.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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