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Agriculture sustains the Ethiopian economy, and access to irrigation here is critical for food security. Now, in the wake of COVID-19, the World Food Programme estimates acute hunger will double worldwide, with concern particularly high for Africa.

At first sight, Lebanon and Uganda might not have a lot in common. Yet when it comes to hosting displaced persons, some similarities start to emerge: together, the two countries host an estimated 2.7 million forcibly displaced, making them two of the largest refugee host countries worldwide. 

Field research from from around the world is finding that resilience to climate-related shocks can encourage rural families to invest more for higher productivity, creating new opportunities for greater prosperity.

For the month of September, Marketlinks will focus on the economic impacts of climate-related shock.

This post was originally published on The Seep Network's blog and was written by Markets in Crises Community of Practice.

Despite the fact that Guatemala is an upper-middle-income country, almost 60 percent of the population lives in poverty. Agriculture is one of Guatemala’s main economic drivers; it has employed at least one in three Guatemalans since 2000; and in 2018, the agriculture value added was ten percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Whilst there is increasing recognition of unpaid care work and its impact on women’s economic empowerment (WEE), there remains little practical guidance on how to foster its reduction and redistribution among society.

In our recent webinar discussing the findings from the Feed the Future Advancing Women’s Empowerment (AWE) landscape analysis and case studies on women and youth inclusion in agricultural market systems, we were joined by RisiAlbania and ELAN RDC, two of the activities featured in the case studies. 

Individuals now have the opportunity to join the SEEP Network.

The White House–led Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative brings new energy and a comprehensive approach to our mission at USAID.

Examining gender-specific COVID-19 impacts and integrating women’s empowerment interventions in agriculture remains essential to COVID-19 survival and recovery.

With support from USAID, the MRR Innovation Lab, The BOMA Project, and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) collaborated on a resilence-focused project in Samburu that helps women to build up and keep their assets in spite of natural and manmade shocks. 

The Feed the Future Developing Local Extension Capacity (DLEC) and USAID Bureau for Resilience and Food Security undertook a study in Rwanda and Uganda to understand how to better engage youth in agriculture through EAS and the private sector.

To strengthen economic prosperity in the Kingdom of Jordan, bolster female employment.

Feed the Future conducted a rapid market assessment of its roughly 150 partner agri-businesses and farmers to better understand the impact of the current crisis and the future outlook for the agriculture sector. 

The Heifer International program in Nepal provided women with goats and training to facilitate sustainable escapes from poverty.

EEFS has developed an analytical guidance document that identifies factors in the enabling environment that support animal source food (ASF) market system success and informs the design of customized field-based enabling environment analysis for ASF systems.

Policymakers and development agencies alike have used Information Technology (IT) as a catalyst for economic development. This technology has been applied to build workforce productivity, accelerate economic development, and improve the business enabling environment.

The shared-value approach makes a strong case for private-sector engagement in the international development arena.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to bear the detrimental effects of poor connectivity. As schools, offices, health organizations, and individuals become more reliant upon the internet, more than 3.5 billion unconnected people around the world are at a significant disadvantage.

Learn how USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures grantees are adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic.

How can programs encourage and enable local commercial banks to lend to companies supplying solar home systems for off-grid customers? This post is part two in a three-part series, and addresses solar photovoltaic systems for commercial and industrial users and providers.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first struck, the data science company Fraym understood its unique product was critical in mounting the most effective global COVID-19 response at scale.

In many developing countries, the companies that build, supply, and sell clean energy solutions have difficulty obtaining bank loans or other financing to expand their businesses or reach new markets. This blog shares how Power Africa is working with the Climate Economic Analysis for Development, Investment and Resilience (CEADIR) Activity to support off-grid energy companies in Rwanda.

In order to analyze the impact of COVID-19 on dairy and beef value chains incorporating food security concerns such as availability, access and utilization, Land O’Lakes Venture37 and Georgian Farmers’ Association conducted a pulse survey in May 2020 of project participants in the USDA Safety and Quality Investment in Livestock project.