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NexThought Monday: How Innovative Financing Mechanisms Are Helping Afghanistan’s Farmers
It’s not easy to improve farmers’ livelihoods in any developing country. Add in ongoing violence, feeble institutions, and some of the lowest living standards in the world, and the task can seem nearly impossible. But in August 2010, a project team from DAI landed in Afghanistan to do just that—by implementing USAID’s Agricultural Credit Enhancement (ACE) program, which aimed to lend $100 million to farmers and agribusinesses to invest in agriculture across the country.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education
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Guest Post: Lifting Africa Up By Empowering its Youth
Voices on Society, an online publication from McKinsey & Company’s Social Sector Office, launched last week. In its first edition, Fred Swaniker, founder and CEO of the African Leadership Academy, writes that Africa is sitting on a time bomb unless it creates its own jobs through the ingenuity, ability, and skill of its own people.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
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Reaping the Demographic Dividend: The Challenges in Creating Jobs for Young India
Six million people are joining the Indian workforce every year, while only 1 million jobs were created last year. In advance of the Sankalp Forum later this month, organizers are hosting a live Twitter chat focused on boosting employment and skill development in the country.
- Categories
- Education, Impact Assessment
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On the Impact Road Trip: How Wakami Value Chains are Weaving Change in Guatemala
Business incubator Communities of the Earth targets women in rural villages throughout Guatemala by teaching them how to make bracelets and necklaces. Women who receive the training work together in small groups (called “Wakami Value Chains”) to craft products for Kiej de los Bosques – a Guatemala City-based business that produces an assortment of handicraft products for both national and international consumption.
- Categories
- Education, Social Enterprise
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Cape Town’s Women Take the Lead in Farm-Focused Social Enterprise
Abalimi’s profitable social business, Harvest of Hope, relies on a community-supported agriculture model that provides customers (who pay in advance) a box of fresh, organically grown produce harvested from community gardens each week.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Education
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Tara Thiagarajan Wants the Poor to Get More Out of Their Micro Borrowings
Tara Thiagarajan believes that microfinance institutions (MFIs) have been pursuing the wrong goal. Instead of scale, they should be looking to make loans more effective. That means borrowers should get more out of their borrowings. Along with credit, they should also get the tools and the benefits of a large network to make the most of the credit.
- Categories
- Education
- Region
- South Asia
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In Egypt, Nebny’s Blueprint for Job Skills, Community Hope
In post-revolution Egypt, one group of young Egyptians, decided to rebuild Egypt through a different sort of NGO. Their vision was to create a youth-centered community development foundation the dual goals of building a sustainable economy, while simultaneously cultivate a sense of national identity and belonging: The Nebny Foundation.
- Categories
- Education
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Bridging the ‘Financial Capability Gap’ to Financial Inclusion
Between 500 million and 800 million of the world’s poor have gained access to finance in recent years. But 25 percent or less of these individuals have received any form of financial training to help them make informed decisions about entire financial future. This represents the ‘financial capability gap." It’s the reason why today we are releasing Bridging the Gap: The Business Case for Financial Capability.
- Categories
- Education