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A Silver Lining During the Pandemic: Three Financial Inclusion Success Stories in the Age of COVID-19
COVID-19 has had a dramatic negative impact on businesses across practically all sectors. When it comes to financial inclusion, the pandemic has sparked concerns about a widening digital divide, rising gender inequality, growing skepticism over informal financial practices, and the risk of overlooking financially vulnerable customers. But as Anshul Saxena at MSC points out, the crisis has also generated some encouraging success stories. He highlights three businesses that have found ways to thrive during the pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Innovations for Transparency: Disruptive Technology Enters the Carbon Offsetting Space
Carbon offsetting allows a net-positive carbon emitter to pay a net-negative emitter to offset their emissions, by trading carbon credits representing one ton of greenhouse gas. In theory, this system can help the world account for the unavoidable gasses emitted in the transition to a low-carbon economy. But as Kavit Borkhataria at AlliedCrowds explains, in practice, it's hard to confirm if carbon reduction projects are actually delivering the emission reductions they claim. He discusses some tech-fueled innovations that can boost transparency and push the market forward.
- Categories
- Environment, Technology
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Y Combinator-Backed Drip Capital Crosses $1 Billion Milestone in Trade Financing for Small Businesses
Credit and Finance for MSMEs: Drip has recorded a 50 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth in the last three quarters, according to Co-founder and CEO Pushkar Mukewar.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- business development, data, MSMEs, startups
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A Tentative Recovery: Survey Data Shows Signs of Progress – and Warnings of Future Distress – Among Kenyan Farmers During COVID-19
It’s estimated that over 50 million people are in need of immediate food assistance in the Horn, East and Central Africa. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues into 2021, Kenyan farmers’ ability to weather this crisis is at the heart of the region’s recovery, say Venu Aggarwal and Kelsey Jarrett at 60 Decibels. They share data 60 Decibels has collected from thousands of Kenyan farmers, revealing both slight improvements since the early days of the crisis, and the danger of more severe, longer-term financial distress.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Transportation
- Tags
- COVID-19, data, digital inclusion
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Analysis: Data-Driven Social Safety Net Response to the COVID-19 Crisis in Ghana
The government’s social protection authorities augmented and adjusted existing data systems to help inform the design, implementation, and monitoring of the country’s social safety net response to the pandemic.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- data, governance
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COVID-19’s Impact on Indian Agriculture: How Data Should Drive Future Policies
The Indian agricultural economy is made up of complex market linkages connecting approximately 263 million agricultural workers to over 1 billion consumers. When COVID-19 locked down the economy, many feared the sector would be crippled, yet these networks seemed remarkably robust – at least at first. However, analysts at IDinsight share data suggesting that agricultural markets may not be as healthy as market figures suggest, and explore policy prescriptions that could strengthen the sector in the long term.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Transportation
- Tags
- COVID-19, data, food security
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Impact Measurement and Management During COVID-19: Tips and Resources to Help Social Impact Organizations Adapt
As the scope of the COVID-19 economic crisis becomes clear, social impact organizations are scrambling to cut costs. According to Matthew Guttentag and Mallory St. Claire at ANDE, this might lead them to reduce their focus on impact measurement and management (IMM). They explain why this would be a mistake – and how organizations can adapt their IMM activities during the crisis.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Impact Assessment, Social Enterprise
- Tags
- COVID-19, data, impact measurement, research
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A Sector in Transition: How Data and Evidence Can Set India’s Agricultural Markets on the Path Toward a Successful Future
Farmer protests in New Delhi have dominated headlines in India in recent weeks. They come in response to a series of farm bills that were passed into law in September, with the goal of shifting the agriculture sector away from traditional state-regulated markets and toward a more open system. Rupika Singh, Praachi Khera and Tony Senanayake at IDinsight discuss the pros and cons of these new laws, the underlying challenges facing India’s agricultural systems, and the ways that data and evidence can help leaders set these markets up for success.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Impact Assessment, Transportation
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