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Rethinking What it Means to Start a Business: Why Systemic Venture Building Matters for Africa’s Food Future
Africa’s entrepreneurs are often seen as risky investments not due to any limitations of their own businesses, but because of the risks in the systems around them. As a result, as Dieuwertje Nelissen, Eveline Jansen and Rachael Kirui at Enviu argue, it's important for development stakeholders to move beyond de-risking individual businesses and to put greater effort into strengthening and de-risking the systems that support them. They explore this systemic approach in the context of African agriculture, sharing a venture-building model that can help entrepreneurs reduce early-stage risk and scale sustainable impact.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Investing, Social Enterprise
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Press Release: Agros Secures USD 2 Million from EDFI ElectriFI to Expand Solar-Powered Irrigation for Farmers in Southeast Asia
The financing will support Agros’ expansion in Indonesia and Cambodia and scale its “Pay-after-Harvest” model, enabling farmers to invest in high-quality solar water pump systems with flexible payment terms.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Technology
- Region
- South Asia
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Even as Global Crop Prices Fall, India’s Arya.ag Is Attracting Investors — and Staying Profitable
Arya.ag is built around a simple idea: giving farmers more control over when and to whom they sell their crops.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Asia Pacific
- Tags
- agtech, lending, smallholder farmers
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Lula Threatens to Walk Away if Further Delays to EU-Mercosur Trade Deal
Brazilian president says it is now or never after Italy joins France in saying it is not ready to sign trade deal.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Global
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African Agriculture at a Climate Crossroads: Business Risks and Opportunities as the Continent Navigates the Growing Crisis
Africa’s food systems are under mounting pressure from climate change, as droughts, erratic rainfall, floods and heat waves increasingly undermine both crop and livestock production. But as Asamoah Oppong Zadok at Sustaina Harvest explains, despite the emergence of climate-smart innovations and resilience-focused initiatives, many stakeholders still prioritize short-term fixes and reactive crisis spending that leave deeper vulnerabilities intact. He argues that African agriculture faces a choice: remain trapped in a cycle of repeated shocks and emergency responses — or invest in technologies, ecosystems and people that can turn climate risk into opportunity, building healthy ecosystems and inclusive livelihoods over the long term.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment
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Context Instead of Carbon: Why Climate Finance in Africa Must Shift its Focus from Mitigation to Adaptation
Global climate action has long been framed through a binary lens: either mitigation or adaptation. As Sheena Raikundalia at Kuza One explains, this framework shapes how funding flows, how projects are designed and even how “success” is measured: Mitigation attracts the bulk of funding because it produces measurable carbon outcomes and enables high-emitting countries to meet their net-zero targets, while adaptation's local benefits are harder to quantify, commodify or sell. She argues that this imbalance risks turning African landscapes into carbon farms for the Global North, and also obscures the fact that many of Africa’s most climate-smart solutions could be promising investments — if the current financing architecture would support them. NOTE: In celebration of our 20th anniversary, NextBillion is highlighting key guest articles from our two decades online. We’re currently focusing on the healthcare sector: You can read these featured articles below.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Investing
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Press Release: TechnoServe, Bid Lab, and Argidius Launch Initiative to Boost Startups That Support Smallholder Farmers in Central America and Colombia
The VerdeXcelerate program will strengthen startups that are developing innovative tools to tackle the productivity, sustainability, and market access challenges faced by thousands of small and medium-scale farmers in six countries across the region.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Latin America
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Solar-Powered Cold Storage Empowers Smallholder Farmers in India
In Andhra Pradesh and beyond, farmers are adopting solar-powered cold storage systems to help prevent post-harvest losses, reduce transportation costs through on-site storage, and improve incomes.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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