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By Clare Clingain and Emily Sloane, International Rescue Committee (IRC) If you want to understand something, you probably need to measure it – and measure it well. Chances are, someone has already tried to measure what you want to examine, but if that’s not the case, it’s important to design a tool that’s fit for the intended purpose and to test it out in multiple contexts.

This post is written by Jane Lowicki-Zucca, Senior Youth Advisor, Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, USAID. Welcome to Youth Employment Month featured jointly this September by Agrilinks and Marketlinks! 

Jane Wangige is a rice farmer in Kirinyaga County who has made money and improved her family’s livelihood from her rice farm. Her business prospered due to her membership in Mwea Rice Growers Multipurpose Co-operative Society (MRGM). MRGM is a farmer’s cooperative society that has accessed financing from USAID’s Kenya Investment Mechanism (KIM)—or specifically, a KIM partner financial institution, Co-operative Bank of Kenya.

Third in a series of five blogs on the factors that contribute to sustaining and scaling private sector partnerships from the Enduring Results Study 3.0

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Stephen Leonelli is the Inclusive Development Hub’s LGBTQI+ Program Analyst. Mirna Garcia, summer intern for the LGBTQI+ portfolio, contributed to this article.

About the author: Eleanor Thornton is a Senior International Trade Specialist at the Center for Economics and Market Development in the Bureau for Development, Democracy and Innovation at USAID.

About the Author: Paul Fekete is a Senior International Trade Advisor at the Center for Economics and Market Development in the Bureau for Development, Democracy and Innovation at USAID.

Over 67 million youth are unemployed globally and the majority live in rural areas with limited economic opportunities. The fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmingly impacted youth whose employment fell by more than twice that of adults in 2020.

In March 2020, the Government of Uganda introduced a series of preventative measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the country. These measures, including the closure of businesses and restriction of movement, were anticipated to have an impact on the economy and on agricultural production. USAID/Uganda was interested in understanding the impact of COVID-19 and these government measures on the agricultural market system, to anticipate how resilient the system would be and to identify opportunities to adapt existing programming or introduce new emergency measures.

Authored by Jenn Williamson, Vice President of Gender and Social Inclusion at ACDI/VOCA The negative effects of LGBTQ+ discrimination and exclusion are many. Stigma, lost earning potential, harassment, violence, and homelessness have more than just negative psychological and social impacts; they also take an economic toll on individuals, households, and countries. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: M. Daniel Vazquez is a Senior Standards Specialist at the Center for Economics and Market Development in the Bureau for Development, Democracy and Innovation at USAID.

This August, Marketlinks explores effective programs, strategies, and approaches to ensuring that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex people and other people of diverse genders and sexualities (LGBTQI+) have the tools and opportunities to thrive in local and national economies! Around the world, stigma, discrimination, and exclusion prevent LGBTQI+ people from fully participating in the economy and from accessing social benefits systems.

By Kati Suominen, Founder and CEO, Nextrade Group and Techical Director, eTrade Alliance Ecommerce – the sale and purchase of goods and services online – is booming in developing countries and their export markets, opening new opportunities for developing country micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to grow their sales, export, diversify their markets, and create new jobs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Paul Fekete is a Senior International Trade Advisor at the Center for Economics and Market Development in the Bureau for Development, Democracy and Innovation at USAID.

This post was originally published on Helvetas' website and written by Chalachew Gebeyehu, SKY Project Manager, Helvetas; Bettina Jenny, Head of Skills Development & Education, Helvetas; and Sabrina Würmli, Advisor for Skills Development, Helvetas. 

By William M Butterfield/DDI, Peter Richards/PPL, and Esteban Orozco/USAID Data Services

Regulators in both developed and developing markets are responsible for protecting the public from certain risks to human health, safety, environment, and consumer fraud.

This July, Marketlinks explores current trends and key issues in international trade and offers examples of how to harness USAID’s tools and resources towards achieving economic development goals. Each week will feature a different case study within the international trade context, giving the Marketlinks community an in-depth look at the solutions used to solve current issues.

USAID is launching a new, self-paced version of its Mobilizing Finance for Development (MF4D) course on Marketlinks.

By: Nathan Martinez from the Economics Team in the Center for Economics and Market Development. This is the fifth in a series of blogs around the six principles of USAID’s Economic Growth Policy.

This post was originally published on the Global Waters website and written by Lisa Schechtman, Senior Policy and Partnerships Advisor, USAID Center for Water Security, Sanitation and Hygiene; and Kathrin Tegenfeldt, Climate and WASH Advisor, Economic Growth and Transformation Office, USAID/Ethiopia.

(Second in a series of five blogs about the drivers of sustainability in USAID partnerships with the private sector based on the Enduring Results Study 3.0)

By Carolanne Chanik, INVEST Communications Coordinator About an hour drive outside of the port city of Mombasa lies the coastal town of Ukunda, a modest road stop on the way to Kenya’s Diani Beach. On the outskirts of Ukunda are a smattering of general stores and auto repair shops to serve motorists and day travelers, and a coconut processing plant owned by Kentaste Products Limited.

By Desmond Dodd, INVEST Communications When Tanzania’s government recently began reducing funding, medical supplies, and staff available to faith-based hospitals, Peter Maduki quickly understood the stakes involved for his members. “Some of our hospitals will be at a high risk of closing,” said Maduki, the Executive Director of the Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC), a national ecumenical organization that facilitates health services through member churches.

By Angela Hogg, Regional Environment Office Director, USAID/RDMA