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Amakelech Lulu is no stranger to winning. Founder of Gishen Pharmacy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, she won the 2019 Invest2Impact East Africa competition, which included 100 women-led businesses selected based on their potential to achieve growth and contribute to women’s economic empowerment. In July 2022, she also was awarded a certificate of merit in recognition of her exemplary professional service for best Community Pharmacy Practices by the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Association. Despite her success, even her business was not immune to the economic impact of COVID-19.

Inclusion contributes to greater market connectivity, one of the key determinants of market system resilience. People—including those traditionally excluded from or marginalized by market systems, such as women, youth, LGBTQI+ individuals, people with disabilities, and indigenous or other identity groups—are human resources. They are critical for enabling a system to better absorb, adapt, or transform when faced with shocks and stresses.

USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance provides life-saving support to vulnerable and hard-to-reach people. the USAID ADVANCE project supports the mandate of Indonesia's National Disaster Management Authority.

The pandemic and following economic shocks have underlined the importance of resilience at all levels of the economy, from national and local governments to your neighborhood business. Access to appropriate financial services is a key component of a resilient economy. Access to the right financial services at the right time can strengthen economic opportunities and support business growth.

This post was written by Keilah Niyomutabazi, Communications Specialist with Feed the Future Market Systems and Partnerships Activity led by DAI. The Feed the Future Orora Wihaze (Raise Animals for Self-Sufficiency) Activity is working with local partners and private sector actors in Rwanda to strengthen the animal-sourced foods market system.

The case of Honduran tourism provides insights into the needed factors and different roles stakeholders can play in building sector resilience.

We tested different business models and found ways to increase the resilience of both large and small agricultural businesses. Our world is entrenched in systemic challenges, from a pandemic to global warming and supply chain issues. So, how do we respond to these challenges effectively and sustainably? Market-based approaches offer one solution, but not all approaches are created equal. And many questions remain regarding how market systems development programs can support communities facing these shocks.   

Necessity Breeds Entrepreneurship  “I needed to provide for my children.” It’s a simple reason that motivates millions of parents to earn money every day.

This blog was written by Carolyn Barker-Villena, Corus International's Senior Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.

The next three years are expected to be “characterized by either consistent volatility and multiple surprises or fractured trajectories that will separate relative winners and losers,” according to most respondents of a recent World Economic Forum survey. The development industry is seeing this volatility play out through rising fertilizer, fuel, and food prices and worsening impacts of climate change.

By Digital Frontiers Project Staff

On August 4, 2022, the USAID Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Hub held "Platform Work and Financial Inclusion: How Can the Development Community Extend Finance for Gig Workers?"

This blog is written by CV Viverito, ​Director, Global Impact Programs, ​Out & Equal Workplace Advocates.

This blog is written by Anila Behramaj.

This post was written by George Khisa, William Nielsen, and Moussa Traoré.

This blog was authored by the Feed the Future Rwanda Nguriza Nshore team and was originally published on NgurizaNshore.rw

This post was written by Jonah Belser for USAID’s Trade and Competitiveness Activity (TCA). Communities located in border regions are economically significant across the developing world. Border businesses provide vital products and services to people in transit—from international traders to migrant families—especially where cross-border trade and travel procedures are slow-moving and inefficient. These businesses range from customs brokerage and currency exchange services to local restaurants, hotels, markets, and more.

This blog was originally posted on refileweb.

This post was authored by Jay Gilliam, Senior LGBTQI+ Coordinator, USAID.

Digitizing microbusinesses and informal work can help low-income workers and businesses access more and cheaper financial services, but only if the data created by digitization can improve risk evaluation by lenders.

In this blog, originally published on acdivoca.org, Jenn Williamson, Vice President of Gender and Social Inclusion at ACDI/VOCA, collaborated with Ryan Ubuntu Olson, Technical Advisor for Health, Human Rights, and Gender at Palladium, to identify lessons learned from the health and human rights sectors for promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion that can strengthen and inform other sectors, including agr

USAID CATALYZE Private Sector Development Activity Provides COVID-19 Relief Grants to Build Resilience and Adaptability in Sri Lanka's Apparel Sector.

Tailored financial services could help women platform workers mitigate some of the downsides of this growing source of livelihood and translate new opportunities into greater security for themselves and their families over the long-term.

We live in an age of compound disasters where one emergency is layered on top of the next. This gives way to terrible humanitarian consequences that stop development in its tracks. Forced displacement is at record levels with more than 100 million people displaced around the globe for the first time.

Platforms are poised to transform the nature of work low-income people obtain in urban areas of the global South. The digital rails they onboard workers and sellers onto, and the data trails they generate, could transform the kinds of financial services low-income workers can access. But what types of financial services do those workers and sellers really want?