Blog

This article first appeared in NCBA CLUSA's Co-op Weekly Newsletter.  Peruvian market Thika Thani is revolutionizing grocery shopping in Lima and uplifting co-ops in the process. What started in 2015 as a singular boutique grocery store in Lima specializing in locally produced natural, organic, and artisanal products has expanded to four stores in Peru’s capital city and includes a thriving online marketplace. Thika Thani recently opened a store inside a large shopping center that became profitable in just one month.

This blog, written by Nika Larian, was originally posted on Agrilinks.

A nation’s ability to mobilize resources to combat and cope with climate change is primarily constrained by its resources and financial capacity, which vary dramatically across developing contexts.  While external sources of funding like the Green Climate Fund (GCF) are critical to meeting a nation’s Paris Agreement goals, they are often out of reach without domestic financial systems and processes to absorb such funds and use them productively.

This blog was authored by Jody Delichte, Ben Taylor, Solyana Amsalu. For any new technology, the early adopters are unlikely to be those at the bottom of the pyramid. This is even less likely where adopting that technology requires infrastructure, asset ownership, skills, and other preconditions. For programs that explicitly aim to benefit the poor, there is often a question of whether to support business models that do not immediately appear to benefit them.

How many times this week have you heard someone rave about an amazing mother who is simultaneously juggling her business with childcare, while running a household? This is constantly happening. Everywhere across the globe. We all do it – men and women. Glorifying multi-tasking by women entrepreneurs must stop.

This blog was authored by Tess Bayombong, Maria Adelma Montejo, Emily Janoch, Caitlin Shannon, and Tzusuan Peng. Women entrepreneurs who talk about success in their businesses in the Philippines have fascinating contributions to what success means. Cecile Corio describes an arc of resilience and equality: “I think of ways to recover (my business). Don’t lose trust in yourself. I started from nothing; I can prove that I can lead a better life. … My husband and I have a good give-and-take relationship.”

The relationship between international trade and the climate is complex. In the same way that trade liberalization can create “winners” and “losers,” international trade can mitigate or exacerbate climate change and its impacts. To reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and achieve the commitments of the Paris Agreement, countries need to minimize the negative and maximize the positive effects of trade on the environment.

USAID CATALYZE Partners with Private Equity Fund to Ready SMEs for Private Investors Increasingly, global private investors are eyeing the Western Balkans as the potential for diversifying their portfolios. While private equity financing can raise working capital for a company through restructuring ownership and/or management, few small- and medium-sized business owners in the region are aware of, understand, or desire such a private equity model. In fact, many SME owners resist giving up power and ownership to outsiders.

By the USAID CATALYZE WEE team

Sri Lanka’s socioeconomic situation continues to worsen with rising costs and increased challenges in imports and exports due to ongoing supply chain disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. The country’s traditional artisans and the handloom industry have been hit hard.

This blog was authored by Rhea Dhar and Rachel Levine while interning at Chemonics International.

This post was written by Gillian Caldwell and was originally published on Climatelinks.

By Natalie Alm, Communications Advisor, and Nicole Garcia, Senior Activity Manager, INVEST

By Kendahl Tyburski, Senior Gender Program Associate, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE)

USAID’s Amazon Vision is focused on fostering an environmentally friendly economy so that forest-dependent communities can develop their local economies in a sustainable way. Fishing is an important livelihood for Indigenous and other communities living along the Juruá River in Brazil. Both women and men in these riverine fishing communities play essential roles in the fishing industry: while men fish for pirarucu—the world’s largest-scaled freshwater fish—women process, clean, and sanitize the fish. 

About the Author: Bryan O’Byrne serves as a Senior International Trade Advisor at the Center for Economics and Market Development in the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation at USAID.

This blog was authored by Liz Keller, Senior Specialist, Economic Growth and Trade, Chemonics, and Greg Rulifson, Sustainability Advisor to BHA, ICF International.

Community-based savings groups are impactful mechanisms to build opportunities for entrepreneurship and market development.

An important element of effective markets is strong consumer demand that is recognized in the consumer behavior of purchasing and using products. To utilize latent demand and improve demand that produces significant shifts in consumer behavior will require that market activities continuously cater to evolving consumer needs and values. Failure to do so results in missed opportunities to maximize latent demand, activities, and products that fall short of expected goals because of low consumer acceptance.

CARE and MARS’s Women for Change program works with women and their families in cocoa-growing communities to improve livelihoods so communities can thrive. The program started in Côte d’Ivoire in 2016, founded on CARE’s Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) approach. Between 2016 and 2022, more than 77,000 VSLA members (58,000 women) were supported through CARE’s partnership with Mars.

This blog, written by Vivekan Jeyagaran, Carolina Pimentel Corrêa, Meghan Bolden, and David Byiringiro, was originally published on Agrilinks

This blog, written by Ashfaq Enayetullah, was originally published on Agrilinks. 

For two decades, Abt has spearheaded private sector engagement for better development outcomes, including the recent USAID Sustaining Health Outcomes through the Private Sector (SHOPS) Plus project. Lessons from this—captured in several briefs on private sector engagement—continue to guide our work across sectors, including in agriculture and energy.

Since 2014, hyperinflation, corruption, supply shortages, and violence in Venezuela forced over 6 million people to leave their homes in search of safety and opportunity. Migrants face barriers to finance, have limited collateral and have informal businesses and jobs. This blog summarizes four key lessons learned through the USAID Colombia Rural Finance Initiative.

This brief, based on sustainability research led by Tashfiq Ahsan and Mehrul Islam, was written by Emily Janoch and originally posted on Agrilinks.