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3 Ways COVID-19 Could Actually Spark a Better Future for Africa
A lack of essential healthcare supplies has triggered a debate about the necessary industrialization of Africa.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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What More Could Donors Be Doing on COVID-19?
Development professionals in Latin America and the Caribbean are most frustrated with donors’ response — 88% of respondents based there feel donors are not doing enough, followed by 79% in North America.
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Chickens Are an Overlooked Risk to Child Health: Here’s Why We Have to Get Poultry Promotion Right
Bill Gates once wrote, “It’s pretty clear to me that just about anyone who’s living in extreme poverty is better off if they have chickens.” But despite the critical nutrition and income poultry can provide, Chris Prottas at the Water Trust raises a key concern: Chickens pose a significant threat to children’s health. He explores why the development community needs a better approach to poultry promotion.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care, WASH
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New Era, New Data: Why ‘Financial Inclusion 2.0’ Will Require a Different Approach to Measurement
Financial inclusion is entering a new era, says Grant Robertson at FinMark Trust. The movement’s first era focused largely on boosting financial access – but its impact on poverty and wellbeing was limited. The new era – "financial inclusion 2.0" – will focus more on expanding real economic opportunity. But to support this goal, the sector will need a new approach to data.
- Categories
- Finance, Impact Assessment
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A Look at How UN Development Funds Are Recalibrating SDG Funding
COVID-19 funding will likely impact the long-term financing prospects of the Sustainable Development Goals, experts say. For now, U.N. development funds are relaxing restrictions so agencies can accommodate the necessary reality of joining COVID-19 with SDG work.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- Tags
- global development, SDGs
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The Informal Economy is Complicating Government Responses to COVID-19: Will the Crisis Push Millions Toward Formality?
As COVID-19 devastates the global economy, many governments have designed support measures to help businesses and workers survive. But as Jill Lagos Shemin and James Dailey point out, this support may be ineffective in lower-income countries, where most small businesses and their employees work in the informal economy, lacking bank accounts and even valid ID. They explore some solutions governments can pursue – and trade-offs they will have to accept.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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IFAD Makes Landmark Investment in Impact Fund Helping Rural SMEs
In a continuation of its efforts to help small-scale farmers and micro-, small and medium size rural enterprises in developing countries create jobs and increase incomes, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) announced today an investment of US$9 million (€8.4 million) into the Agri-Business Capital (ABC) Fund, a blended capital impact fund.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Solving the Credit Impasse: How Big Data and AI are Generating Funding Opportunities for Smallholder Farmers in Africa
Smallholder farmers provide over 80% of the food in much of the developing world, making a major contribution to poverty reduction and food security. Yet as Iftin Fatah at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation points out, in Africa, less than 3% of total bank lending goes to the sector – even though it accounts for about 70% of all employment and over 40% of GDP. She explores some innovative, tech-driven solutions to this perennial problem.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
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