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Tech Helps Cashmere Herders, Hazelnut Farmers Fight Soil Erosion in Asia
Nakimo benefited from a programme by social enterprise Mountain Hazelnuts that aims to find sustainable uses for fallow land and prevent soil erosion - an increasing challenge for small-scale farmers in the Himalayan nation.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Viewpoint: Coronavirus Shows Smallholder Farmers Need Help to Thrive
The Covid-19 has revealed how vulnerable the agri-food value chain is to abrupt external shocks, hence the urgent call for stakeholders to help build resilience in the sector.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Scaling Solar Irrigation to Fight the Global Food Crisis: Why Subsidies Could be the Solution
COVID-19 has triggered a global food emergency, as the number of people facing starvation could double to 265 million by the end of 2020. Samir Ibrahim at SunCulture explores how solar-powered irrigation systems can help smallholder farmers combat this crisis by drastically improving their yields – and discusses three reasons why smart subsidies can address the affordability barrier.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Energy
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Who Should Get COVID-19 Funding? How MIT D-Lab’s ‘Urgency Index’ is Helping it Deploy Grants to the Entrepreneurs Who Need Them Most
Entrepreneurs in emerging markets face unprecedented challenges during COVID-19, and there are many organizations working to support them. But as Jona Repishti at MIT D-Lab and Sagar Tandon at Moonshot Ventures explain, it can be hard to determine which of these enterprises are most in need. They explore the process that D-Lab's Bridge fund uses to target its grants for maximum impact.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Investing
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A New Test for Old Technology: How COVID-19 is Sparking Innovation in PayGo Financing for Biodigesters
Biodigesters transform animal manure into high-quality fertilizer and biogas, replacing the need for wood-burning cooking stoves – and PayGo financing enables smallholders to afford them. But as Laura Harwig at Feed the Future explains, COVID-19 has made it harder for farmers to make their payments. She explores how the biodigester company ATEC* has adapted its PayGo model to help farmers weather these challenges.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus, Technology
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This Agricultural Enterprise Is Helping Nigerian Farmers Expand Their Business
In 2015, farmer Sule Yohana joined Babban Gona, a social enterprise organization with a focus on providing expansion services to smallholder farmers in Nigeria.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Press Release: DFC Approves $1 Billion of Investments in Global Development
Projects support developing countries reeling from COVID-19 and include first transactions using equity and technical assistance
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Viewpoint: COVID-19 Response Must Target African Ag and the Rural Poor
Agriculture contributes to 65 percent of Africa’s employment and 75 percent of its domestic trade. Now the rich potential of agriculture as a tool to promote food security and fight poverty is at risk from the effects of COVID-19.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Coronavirus
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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