Blog

USAID’s Urban Team is pleased to announce the launch of the new and improved UrbanLinks website.

Nine projects are funded by NWO-WOTRO to strengthen the Netherlands-CGIAR research partnership on generating insights that contribute to improving seed systems in focus regions within Asia and Sub-Sahara Africa.

It is essential that markets actively engage people, regardless of gender, to increase the likelihood of generating value-added solutions for society. In this context, gender inequities are not secondary but are of primary concern.

In Pakistan, promising small and medium-sized enterprises are turning their innovative ideas into reality — and improving livelihoods — with a boost from a special grant fund.

This post summarizes key themes and takeaways from the 2019 Cracking the Nut conference held in Dakar, Senegal from October 14-15.

This report introduces INVEST, a mechanism that uses USAID funding to mobilize private capital for development and overcomes barriers to private sector engagement. INVEST works to build the capability of new and underutilized firms (new partners) by awarding and managing subcontracts.

The ILO Toolkit is a practical resource for organisations and projects to support small and medium enterprises (SME) decide what aspects of SME performance (productivity, working conditions, etc.) to measure, as well as how to measure them.

A partnership with USAID, the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, and the Visa Foundation aims to address barriers that women entrepreneurs face by building supportive entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging markets.

This post explores how USAID is mobilizing institutional investors to develop Africa's infrastructure through an initiative called MiDA, which connects American investors to the local partners.

This post highlights the USAID-funded Cooperative Development Program, which promotes measurable impacts on women’s earning potential and leadership in cooperative organizations in Rwanda.

This is the first in a two-part blog series. It draws on ongoing research in South Sudan funded by USAID/OFDA and implemented by Mercy Corps and the Feinstein International Centre at Tufts University. This post presents research findings on the importance of social connections for coping and recovery.

This post starts an important evidence-based discussion about why diversity and inclusion are central to addressing complex challenges.

This post shares an overview of the Digital Credit and Women's Economic Empowerment Convening 2019 and introduces a resource by the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) that explores four steps in conducting impact evaluations for measuring women's empowerment.

This post spotlights an interview with Lala Faiz and Cameron Khosrowshahi from the USAID INVEST team on mobilizing private capital.

This post introduces a paper from the Market Development Facility that explores the effect of increased household income on women's economic empowerment in the context of household dynamics, and seeks to understand how access to economic inputs, information, opportunities or services impacts agency.

USAID's Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment (E3) Office of Forestry and Biodiversity is now accepting submissions for a case study competition on biodiversity integration across USAID's portfolio.

Learning from an initiative to help private maternity homes in Ghana survive the departure of the primary midwife-owner.

Women lead approximately one-third of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets but remain disproportionately underserved. They often face less favorable terms for financing and limited access to essential resources needed to build, sustain, and grow their businesses.

This blog introduces the Feed the Future Tanzania Land Tenure Assistance (LTA) project, which works with local banks to encourage new loan opportunities to improve farms and small businesses.

Among the entrepreneurs supported by USAID's Partnering to Accelerate Entrepreneurship (PACE) Initiative, those businesses that were owned by women grew both revenues and jobs significantly faster.

USAID is accepting submissions to the annual Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) Case Competition until Friday, April 12.

Watch a new video from The SEEP Network to learn more about their collaborative learning network.

As program strategies align towards inclusive, competitive market transformations, how can we support women’s participation, performance, and benefits as agri-entrepreneurs and agricultural wage workers?

Read about the winners from the Accelerating Women Entrepreneurs Award.

In this post, read about how Feed the Future's Accelerating Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) Prize selected Reel Fruit to receive acceleration services. ReelFruit is dried fruit and nuts packaging and distribution business in Nigeria.