Blog

This is one of two posts reflecting on private-sector engagement in a complex, thin market system (read the companion post. It relates to a previous four-part series on Marketlinks.

This blog was originally posted on BEAM Exchange and was written by Isaac Cowan-Gore.

Find the new guide from January 20, 2021 In the midst of a global pandemic - the effects of which are likely to be felt for years to come - many millions are at risk of losing their livelihoods and unable to access opportunities to work themselves and their families out of, or away from, poverty.

The Private Sector Engagement Relationship Qualities in a Market Systems Development Activity learning brief provides evidence and learning from the team of the USAID/Honduras Transforming Market Systems (TMS) Activity on how to most effectively engage the private sector and the relationship qualities that influence the achievement of partnership results.

Market systems are inherently social networks, and thus there is an understandable tendency for market actors to do business with those that they know and trust. But neither businesses, nor broader market systems, can perform to their potential by relying only on personal exchange.

This month, our theme is Marketlinks 2021! Throughout January, we will be highlighting relevant policies, projects, initiatives, tools, and other innovations in the sector that have either recently launched or will be launching in 2021. 

In many countries, social norms and laws restrict women’s ability to control property, so female entrepreneurs are often unable to obtain the real estate needed to satisfy traditional collateral requirements for loans. Asset-based lending (ABL) allows businesses to use their company’s moveable assets — such as equipment, vehicles, livestock, and inventory — as pledged collateral. Recently, INVEST and USAID have been exploring the intersection of ABL and women’s access to finance in Colombia.

The term “enabling environment” often conjures a singular focus on policies, laws, and regulations. These formal rules are important and necessary, but they alone are an incomplete picture of the market system. The Feed the Future Enabling Environment for Food Security (EEFS) project recognizes this, and takes a broader view of the enabling environment which holistically considers the incentives and barriers for market actors operating in complex systems.

Companies across Africa are using digital technologies to solve health care challenges. American investment can help them improve their products and reach larger customer bases. With USAID assistance in support of Prosper Africa, Field Intelligence — a U.S.-led, Nigerian-based healthcare technology enterprise focused on strengthening the pharmacy supply chain in Nigeria and Kenya —closed its first round of fundraising. This financing will support the scaling-up of company’s Shelf Life service, which helps local pharmacies manage their inventory and avoid stockouts.

Local textile manufacturers in North and West Africa are pivoting to meet demand for personal protective equipment.

Frenki Kozeli, Julian Guelig, and Dany Khy share three approaches to forming private sector engagement partnerships that can be replicated and tailored across development contexts.

In Somalia, USAID is helping blunt the economic impact of COVID-19 by supporting financial institutions and contributing to Somalis’ ability to cope with, and build resilience to, the COVID-19 crisis.

Agriculture sustains the Ethiopian economy, and access to irrigation here is critical for food security. Now, in the wake of COVID-19, the World Food Programme estimates acute hunger will double worldwide, with concern particularly high for Africa.

At first sight, Lebanon and Uganda might not have a lot in common. Yet when it comes to hosting displaced persons, some similarities start to emerge: together, the two countries host an estimated 2.7 million forcibly displaced, making them two of the largest refugee host countries worldwide. 

Field research from from around the world is finding that resilience to climate-related shocks can encourage rural families to invest more for higher productivity, creating new opportunities for greater prosperity.

This post was originally published on The Seep Network's blog and was written by Markets in Crises Community of Practice.

Despite the fact that Guatemala is an upper-middle-income country, almost 60 percent of the population lives in poverty. Agriculture is one of Guatemala’s main economic drivers; it has employed at least one in three Guatemalans since 2000; and in 2018, the agriculture value added was ten percent of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Whilst there is increasing recognition of unpaid care work and its impact on women’s economic empowerment (WEE), there remains little practical guidance on how to foster its reduction and redistribution among society.

In our recent webinar discussing the findings from the Feed the Future Advancing Women’s Empowerment (AWE) landscape analysis and case studies on women and youth inclusion in agricultural market systems, we were joined by RisiAlbania and ELAN RDC, two of the activities featured in the case studies. 

Individuals now have the opportunity to join the SEEP Network.

The Heifer International program in Nepal provided women with goats and training to facilitate sustainable escapes from poverty.

EEFS has developed an analytical guidance document that identifies factors in the enabling environment that support animal source food (ASF) market system success and informs the design of customized field-based enabling environment analysis for ASF systems.

How can programs encourage and enable local commercial banks to lend to companies supplying solar home systems for off-grid customers? This post is part two in a three-part series, and addresses solar photovoltaic systems for commercial and industrial users and providers.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first struck, the data science company Fraym understood its unique product was critical in mounting the most effective global COVID-19 response at scale.

In many developing countries, the companies that build, supply, and sell clean energy solutions have difficulty obtaining bank loans or other financing to expand their businesses or reach new markets. This blog shares how Power Africa is working with the Climate Economic Analysis for Development, Investment and Resilience (CEADIR) Activity to support off-grid energy companies in Rwanda.