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Can data-driven solutions change Africa’s agriculture sector?
Despite accounting for 65 percent of the labor force and making up 32 percent of its gross domestic product, Africa’s agricultural sector gets less than one percent of commercial bank loans.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Sustainability Certification Dramatically Improves Smallholder Farms’ Access to Credit, New Study Finds
Smallholder farmers suffer from a lack of credit access, but sustainability certification can help change that, according to a new study published by the Rainforest Alliance and funded by the Citi Foundation.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Sustainable Farming Needs Sustainable Finance: How Rainforest Alliance helps the environment by helping farmers get loans
Lenders consider agriculture to be particularly risky. Farms are often located in remote areas, crops are vulnerable to pests and unpredictable weather, and prices are susceptible to rapid changes. To help address these challenges, the Rainforest Alliance launched its Sustainable Finance Initiative, which helps farmers and SMEs access different types of loans.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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USDA, TechnoServe Sign 3-Year, $15M Grant Supporting Cashew Farmers
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and TechnoServe intend to enter into a three-year grant agreement to support small-scale cashew producers, processing factories and the Government of Mozambique’s ongoing efforts to reduce poverty. This $15 million Food for Progress-funded project will support the cashew industry by harnessing global market demand for premium cashew kernel and addressing obstacles throughout the value chain, including in the areas of inputs, production, processing and marketing. In total, this project will support 30,000 smallholder cashew farmers by increasing their productivity and competitiveness as well as connecting them to new markets.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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NexThought Monday – Want to Help a Bolivian Farmer?: Eat their quinoa
Andean farmers have enjoyed an economic bonanza from growing quinoa, a superfood beloved by foodies and vegetarians in the West. But the farmers’ success may prove their undoing, as farmers in the United States and Canada have begun growing the grain.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Indian Farmers Hate Tomatoes: Why this social enterprise is helping them connect to larger customers
Because of high variability in prices and a lack of storage, Indian farmers sometimes prefer to trash the tomatoes than sell at low prices. Social enterprise Krishi Star is partnering with farmers to develop farmer-owned processing units, connecting them with the wider market.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Re-imagining Farmers as Knowledge Entrepreneurs: Three thought leaders in agricultural innovation on how to reverse harmful trends in food production
Unsustainable agricultural practices and poor land management are threatening the world’s food supply. Marzena Zukowska at Ashoka Changemakers sat down with three thought leaders in environmental and agricultural innovation to explore how we can reverse current trends in food production.
- Categories
- Agriculture
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Seeking Scalable Solutions to Promote Nutrient-Rich Food: Insights from young innovators in Ashoka Changemakers’ Nutrients for All idea exchange
To have widespread, affordable access to nutrient-rich food, we need to work with the food industry, and take advantage of advances in science and technology. But how can this work in practice? Ashoka Changemakers and Thought for Food hosted an idea exchange with several young innovators, who discussed their work and the challenges of making nutritious food widely available.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Health Care
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