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First Fund to Help Smallholder Farmers with Long-Term Loans
Incofin Investment Management, Fairtrade International (FLO) and Grameen Foundation will establish a ‘First Fund’ to focus on the unmet demand of smallholder farmers for long-term loans.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Latin America
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NexThought Monday: Combining Commercial Opportunity With Environmental Sustainability
The greatest potential for productivity gains lies in the millions of small-scale farms in Africa, Latin America and Asia. But as the pressure grows to produce more food, unsustainable practices like slash-and-burn agriculture and excessive tilling of cropland threaten ecosystems and contribute to climate change.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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NexThought Monday: Land Rights for Women – a Ripple Effect
Many developing countries, from Liberia to India, are rife with women without land rights, who upon the death of their husbands are thrown off of their land and left with no way to support themselves or their children. National economies continue to suffer from the effects of these children, who are robbed of an education and a future. From 2002 through 2009, Landesa partnered with the Rwandan government to help ensure Rwandans would have secure rights to land and receive land titles.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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East Africa: Boost for Agriculture
The fight to secure food and income for millions of small holder farmers in eastern Africa, a region that experiences severe food shortages from time to time, is poised to get additional ammunition with the construction of a science research block by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Promoting Innovative Agricultural Businesses in Zimbabwe
Brighton Makuvaza is the administrator of TechnoServe’s Agro Innovation Zimbabwe business plan competition in Harare. He has helped coordinate every aspect of the program. The experience has shown him the promise of the agricultural sector to change lives in poor areas of Zimbabwe, which is rebuilding after the collapse of its agriculture sector.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Outgrower Systems Hold Promise for Smallholder African Farmers
African agriculture is poised for a boom. Investors are buying large tracts of land as commodity prices rise and Africa’s business climate improves. But will this mean higher rural incomes and a better quality of life for smallholder farmers? A new joint report from IFAD and TechnoServe highlights the promise and challenges outgrower schemes.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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After Mother’s Day, Lets Talk About The Human Leaky Faucet
Drip, drip drip. This isn’t a loose pipe ... it’s your body. Try as you might, you can’t stop the urine and feces from dripping down your legs. With your private parts torn apart, you now have a steady stream of human waste trickling out of you. You have a fistula. It’s time this cringe-worthy word becomes a part of the anti-poverty conversation.
- Categories
- Agriculture