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Cracking the Nut: How a Cashew Enterprise Empowers Women in Rural Bali
Each day, East Bali Cashews (EBC) processes about 800 pounds of raw cashews, preparing them for snack production. The Indonesian company was launched about five years ago after a health care volunteer saw the impoverished conditions many agricultural workers face, and it now employs 400. But the statistic that most impresses Nadia Putri, an MBA candidate at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, is that more than 80 percent are women. After interning there this summer, Putri details how EBC works to advance women by providing training in everything from English to Excel.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
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Giving poor people cash is a good idea. Giving entrepreneurs cash might be a great one
As the country’s population continues to grow—the median age of in the country is only 18—the economy is struggling to create jobs at a sufficiently fast pace.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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The Least Sexy Approach to Development: Why We Need to Focus on Systems Change
Even within the systems-change sector, people joke that it is one of the least “sexy” facets of development work. Focused on addressing the faults in social, economic and political systems that lead to problems like poverty, the approach can be overwhelmingly complex, which has limited its widespread implementation. But as Lexi Doolittle at S3IDF explains, a market-based approach that nudges these systems towards greater inclusivity and productivity is a vital tool to catalyze social change – one that we cannot afford to overlook.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
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Press release: FINCA International and USAID PACE launch FINCA Forward, a fintech innovation platform
Emerging fintech businesses are fundamentally transforming financial services, employing new data analysis solutions and digital delivery systems, in ways that can have substantial outcomes for the world's poor.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship, Finance
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Using Mobile Technology to Fight Disease: Three Tips for Social Startups in the Developing World
In a world where nearly half of the population is too poor to access essential health services, preventable diseases still claim countless lives. Malaria alone is responsible for over 1 million deaths each year, and sickle cell disease also affects millions across the globe. But these diseases can be significantly helped with early diagnosis and cost-effective treatments, says Hemex Health co-founder Patti White. She explores the innovative technology Hemex has developed to address this issue – and highlights three elements of its approach that can help other social enterprises gain traction in the crowded startup space.
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- Entrepreneurship, Health Care
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IBM to Tackle Ocean Plastic and Global Poverty with Blockchain Technology
IBM aired a TV Commercial during an NFL match on September 17, 2018, called Plastic Bank, a new initiative which aims to tackle ocean plastic and global poverty with blockchain technology. The Plastic Bank is backed by IBM Technology which uses the LinuxOne blockchain to encourage entrepreneurs from the world’s most impoverished communities to clean up plastic in exchange for digital credits.
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- Entrepreneurship, Environment, Technology
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What’s the Best Way to Teach Entrepreneurship? Assessing the Impact of Different Business Training Approaches
With countless low-income people running small-scale enterprises, many see entrepreneurship as a viable pathway out of poverty. But what are the most effective methods for teaching business skills to these entrepreneurs? MIT D-Lab's Libby McDonald disseminates research from D-Lab's Practical Impact Alliance working group, highlighting key approaches for transferring entrepreneurial knowledge to BoP business owners, and discussing skillsets that can serve as the primary building blocks for a business-training curriculum.
- Categories
- Entrepreneurship
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Building Markets, Building Cohesion: Lessons from Last-Mile Deliveries
In 2016, Myanmar was a nation emerging from decades of conflict and isolation. Kopernik, the UNDP and Mercy Corps responded with a pilot program that utilized technology distribution as an avenue to strengthen social cohesion in the country's remote rural communities. Tomohiro Hamakawa and Vanesha Manuturi of Kopernik share development lessons learned from the program — lessons with the potential to benefit other emerging market communities making a comeback from histories of conflict.
- Categories
- Energy, Entrepreneurship, Technology
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