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Microlenders in India See Light at End of Tunnel; Collection Rates Inch Back To Pre-COVID Levels
Collection rates are picking up, so are disbursements of small loans. Rural entrepreneurs, who suffered most due to COVID, are tweaking their small business strategies to adjust to the new normal.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Viewpoint: Can Economics Trump Politics To Usher in Agricultural Reforms in India?
Indian agriculture has a fundamental problem: around 50 per cent of India’s work force in the agriculture sector contribute only 17 per cent to India’s GDP. This low productivity is the root cause of the low income and economic hardships of farmers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Samunnati Raises $20 Million Direct Debt From U.S. International Development Finance Corporation
U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has committed a $20mn direct loan to Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Pvt. Ltd., a non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India to help the company expand financing and technical assistance to low-income farmers and enterprises throughout the agricultural value chain in India.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance, Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Viewpoint: Palm Oil: Sustainability Is a Shared Problem
Oil palm producers have for the last 15 years become the lightning rod for the public’s growing anger on issues relating to deforestation, global warming, subpar labor practices and transboundary haze.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment
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COVID-19 Hits East African Agri Value Chains
With increased global food, financial and health crises plaguing the world, about 1.3 billion people are not able to access sufficient or nutritious food, and close to a billion people suffer from chronic hunger.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Scaling Solar Irrigation to Fight the Global Food Crisis: Why Subsidies Could be the Solution
COVID-19 has triggered a global food emergency, as the number of people facing starvation could double to 265 million by the end of 2020. Samir Ibrahim at SunCulture explores how solar-powered irrigation systems can help smallholder farmers combat this crisis by drastically improving their yields – and discusses three reasons why smart subsidies can address the affordability barrier.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Energy
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Meet the Agritech Entrepreneurs Who Just Raised $6 Million to Help Farmers in Kenya Grow Their Business
Our research Powering Youth Employment through the Mobile Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2025 found that as of 2018, the mobile industry directly employed 1.2 million youth (three out of five people) in the informal sector, in roles predominantly associated with distribution (e.g. airtime resellers). We also estimated that by 2025, total direct employment in the sector will grow by 26%, accounting for 2.4 million jobs, 500,000 of which will be new jobs.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: Boost for Farmers in Africa as Food Security Platform Ujuzikilimo Partners With Venture Capital Firm
Small scale farmers in Africa are set to enjoy Kshs 18million worth of technical support as part of a social-economic recovery initiative by an agricultural technology solutions provider.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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