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The Other ‘Shark Tank’: A High-Stakes Effort to Find Solutions to the Global Water Crisis
You've probably seen the TV show "Shark Tank," in which small-scale entrepreneurs compete for funding from a panel of wealthy investors. The Securing Water for Food Grand Challenge for Development took a similar approach – but the stakes were far higher: The goal was to generate solutions to water shortages that already affect over 2 billion people, before population growth escalates these shortages into a perpetual global crisis. Ku McMahan, team lead for the Challenge, discusses its unique approach and surprising impact.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, WASH
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Technology Eases Farming ‘Drudgery’ and Risk as Climate Threats Grow
As climate change makes farming far tougher and more young people reject it as a career, technological innovations to make the work more secure and appealing can help, agricultural specialists told the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in Oxford this week.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Technology
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A New Ally in Cocoa Sustainability
Acumen partnered with Hershey to publish Cocoa Interrupted:The Role for Social Enterprise in Cocoa Sustainability. The report presents an opportunity for the cocoa industry to bring new ideas and new solutions to the challenges facing cocoa farmers and their communities through collaboration with social enterprises.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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OPIC commits $8 million to support small farmer microlending in Myanmar
Proximity Finance, which designs its loans to meet the particular needs of smallholder farmers, is the microfinance arm of Proximity Designs, a social enterprise dedicated to serving Myanmar’s rural families.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Lending to Rwandan Farmers Boosts Financial Position of MFIs
With commercial banks shying away from financing the agriculture sector because they consider it to be highly risky, MFIs remain the biggest lenders to farmers--especially smallholder farmers.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Finance
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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AgroStar raises $27M funding led by Bertelsmann India
"We intend to invest more in data science and strengthen our technology capabilities so that we can provide better real-time and relevant information to more farmers in the country" said CEO Shardul Sheth.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- agtech, data, smallholder farmers, startups
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Coffee, Cocoa, and the Cutting Edge
Deforestation is threatening crop diversity and jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of poor small farmers around the world. But innovative technologies and better access to financing can help farmers to counter some of these risks.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Finance, Technology
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Press release: Hello Tractor and CTA launch partnership to support smallholder farmers access mechanisation
Across sub-Saharan Africa, farmers face some of the lowest rates of mechanisation. Despite the benefits of tractor mechanisation, cost and access have been key impediments to its widespread adoption.
- Source
- Press release
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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