-
Can Pay-As-You-Go Help Clean Up Clean Cooking?
Since 2015, the global focus on clean cooking has grown substantially, bringing more funding, research and attention from policymakers to the sector. But according to Tash Perros at the University of Liverpool, Iwona Bisaga at Loughborough University and Julia Tomei at the UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources, progress remains slow, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. They examine some of the reasons behind the inertia that is plaguing clean cooking access, and explore whether pay-as-you-go business models could catalyze progress.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Technology
-
Press Release: A $7 Million Gift from MacKenzie Scott Will Help Village Enterprise End Extreme Poverty for 20 Million People in Africa
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, Village Enterprise is thrilled to announce a gift of $7 million from MacKenzie Scott.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Health Care, Technology
-
Outgrowing the Flower Pot: Why Just Selling Productive Equipment to Smallholder Farmers is Not Enough
A new wave of companies are bringing equipment powered by renewable, decentralized energy to smallholders, and these devices can significantly boost farmers' yields and product quality. But as Daniel Waldron, Christopher Emmott, Priyanka Dudeja, Paraag Sabhlok and Chris Wayne at Acumen explain, just like a tree growing in a flower pot, this new growth can become a burden if it has nowhere to go. They argue that productive equipment must be combined with market access interventions to truly benefit smallholders, and highlight two innovative companies that are demonstrating the impact of this approach.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
-
Bringing Agricultural Insurance to Climate-Vulnerable Farmers: A Unique Pilot Program in Nepal Shows How to Unlock the Benefits of Index-Based Insurance for Smallholders
Nepal's topography and climatic conditions make it uniquely prone to natural disasters. As Maria Perdomo at UNCDF explains, these disasters threaten the country's economic development, and smallholder farmers and rural women are disproportionately affected. She discusses a UNCDF pilot program that brought agricultural insurance coverage to Nepali smallholders, and shares learnings from the program that could inform efforts to deliver insurance to farmers in other climate-vulnerable countries in Asia and beyond.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Finance
-
Some Things Have to Die for Others to Live: Why Scaling Down is Just as Important as Scaling Up in the Transformation of Global Food Systems
Multiple crises have exposed the fragility and inequity of global food systems. But according to Eva Valencia and Lennart Woltering at CIMMYT and Frédéric Goulet at CIRAD, strategies to transform the world's food systems typically focus on introducing or scaling up new innovations and programs, while failing to scale down the habits, mindsets and institutions that are perpetuating the problem. They explore a key example of this issue — the ongoing use of unsustainable farming practices like tilling — and discuss how farmers can move toward more sustainable "no-till" practices that protect soil health.
- Categories
- Agriculture
-
LeapFrog Invests $70 Million in Kenya-Based Solar Home Systems Provider Sun King
The recent investment will help in the expansion of Sun King, enabling them to accelerate rural electrification.
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Simba Telecom to Invest $1 Million in New Year Investment Plans to Boost Its Market Presence
The investment will allow Simba Group to reach wider geographical zones and ultimately improve speed to market.
- Categories
- Finance, Technology, Telecommunications
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
India’s SarvaGram Closes Oversubscribed Series C Round at $35 Million
SarvaGram Solutions will expand its impact with the funding, empowering rural India’s aspirations through a carefully devised data-driven distribution.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific