Blog

Browse recent blogs of interest to the Marketlinks community. Use the search box or the filters on the left-hand side to refine the listing of blogs by keyword, topic, and/or region/country.

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Showing 1291 results

Farmer Cooperatives in the Philippines Boast Key Advantage: Knowing the Local Context

Author(s):

ACDI VOCA
In the way that cooperatives form when people with common interests come together, apex organizations form when several of those cooperatives organize to achieve common goals. Farming cooperatives have the unique advantage of being engrained in the local context and knowledgeable about their sector. Their value is providing farmers with advantages that make them more profitable than they would be outside of the group. Apex organizations take that farmer support a step further by strengthening the cooperative groups on a larger scale. 

Turning the Lights on Is Just the Beginning

Author(s):

Zuraidah Hoffman
The story doesn’t end when the lights come on for the first time in rural communities – electric service is a powerful foundation for strengthening communities. It’s critical to also provide enough knowledge to help them generate more income, improve healthcare services, and access better education. With electricity, farmers can mechanize their mills, coffee growers can process their own harvest, and dairy farmers can chill their milk.

Let Women Work: What She Knows Matters

Author(s):

Anastasia de Santos
The COVID-19 pandemic set women back in labor force participation for (now) well-known reasons: women typically shoulder more care burdens and disproportionately work in less remote-compatible occupations.

Communications as a Change Resource

Author(s):

Jason Eaves
I recently had the opportunity to speak at the 2022 Market Systems Symposium on one of my favorite topics, "Communications as a Change Resouce." Given the global Market Systems Development audience, the conversations delved into how market systems or private sector development programs could better use their communications team and budget to influence change. Programmatic communications tend to think about three distinct audiences of their content - funders, peers, and scalers.

Green Jobs are the Future

Author(s):

Obed Diener
This blog was authored by Obed Diener, Technical Advisor, Economic Participation, Global Education, Employment and Engagement, FHI360, and was originally published on the FHI360 website.

The Market Corner: Market Systems Development Learning at MSS2022 and Beyond

Author(s):

Marketlinks Team
This is the second installment in May’s Market Corner series, written by Holly Lard Krueger, which focuses on the market systems development (MSD) tools and resources being shared at the 2022 Market Systems Symposium and ways for practitioners to engage with the MSD community both at and outside of the annual event.

Introducing: PSE Opportunities Tool

Private Sector Engagement (PSE) is about pursuing market-based approaches and investment as a means to address development or humanitarian challenges. PSE represents an opportunity for USAID to expand its impact and achieve development objectives in a scalable, sustainable way.

The Market Corner: Discovering and Sharing Market Systems Development Tools and Resources at MSS2022

Author(s):

Marketlinks Team
This post was written by Holly Lard Krueger. During the pandemic, opportunities to step out of our day-to-day and into a place of sharing and learning took on greater importance. For many in the market systems development (MSD) community, the annual Market Systems Symposium (MSS) is one of these special opportunities to come together (virtually) to share, debate, and learn.

What is (and isn’t yet) Impact Investing?

Author(s):

Autumn Gorman
To continue developing a deeper understanding of impact investing and finance for development, Autumn Gorman from USAID's Private Sector Engagement Hub discusses what is and what is not yet impact investing in this first installment of a four-part blog series.