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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
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Press Release: Trade and Development Bank Group Extends USD $100 Million Financing to the Export Trading Group to Support Smallholder Farmers in Africa
In a region where the majority of employment is in agriculture, 285,000 smallholders are expected to benefit from value chain integration.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: At U.S.-Africa Business Forum DFC Announces Active Commitments in Africa Top $11 Billion
DFC announced $369 million in new projects including in health, energy and food security.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Leaning into Resilience: Three Ways Small and Growing Agriculture Businesses Have Navigated Global Crises – And How Investors Can Support Them
COVID-19 and other recent crises have led many investors to pause disbursements to small and growing businesses (SGBs) in emerging markets, due to the increased risk. Camilla Nestor, Maria Raurell and Carolyn Han at MCE Social Capital explain why MCE did the opposite, supporting their investees' efforts to adapt to these challenges. They share three adaptations that successful SGBs in their portfolio had in common, and explore how these approaches are likely to be incorporated into agricultural SGB business models in the long term.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing
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The Warehouse Solution: Why Smart Storage is the Key to Africa’s Food Security
A chain of overlapping crises has raised urgent questions about the state of food security in Africa. This has led to a growing focus on boosting the region's agricultural productivity and strengthening intra-Africa trade. But according to Kamaldeen Raji at AFEX, storage has traditionally been a neglected aspect of these efforts – despite the fact that almost 40% of Africa's food perishes before it reaches consumers. He explores why improving storage infrastructure is an essential step in establishing true food security on the continent.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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From One Crisis to Another: Using Data from COVID to Meet the Looming Challenge of Food Insecurity
Due to a tragic combination of events, countries around the world are facing a widespread and serious food shortage, with the number of severely hungry people projected to swell to 323 million over the course of 2022. Scott Graham, Andree Simon and Anahit Tevosyan at FINCA share data – initially gathered to inform FINCA's COVID-19 response – that shows the impact of this crisis on low-income customers. They explore how financial inclusion organizations can adapt their support to help customers stave off the worst effects of the escalating food crisis.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Environment, Finance
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Acceso Connects Farmers to Formal Markets for Increased Earnings and Food Security
With a business model based on keeping both profits and produce local, Acceso is aiming to reduce rural poverty by providing opportunities and stabilizing local food systems.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Social Enterprise
- Region
- Latin America
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Fonio as a Cash Crop: How an Ancient Grain Can Provide a Solution for Food Security in West Africa – And a Model for Biodiverse Agriculture Around the World
Globally, most people rely on a handful of staple crops – namely, rice, corn and wheat – for sustenance. Pierre Thiam and Philip Teverow at Yolélé argue that, with the escalating risks of volatile geopolitics and climate change, this dependence makes humanity unacceptably vulnerable. They explain why the world must turn to biodiverse crops to achieve lasting food security in the face of these challenges, and explore the benefits of one such crop in particular: fonio, an ancient West African grain that can offer farmers not only subsistence, but a livelihood.
- Categories
- Agriculture
