Blog

Since the market for “bottom of the pyramid” consumers was identified nearly 20 years ago, product marketing, sales, and distribution have evolved with the help of technology. Here's how two businesses use mobile and cloud-based tools to reach emerging market customers.

The USAID Private Sector Engagement Team is excited to launch the new Finance Wiki on Marketlinks. This resource is intended to help development practitioners deepen their knowledge of development finance.

This post outlines the importance of a business response to COVID-19 and details the ways in which businesses of all sizes are working to combat the spread of the virus.

Blended finance is the strategic use of development funds, such as those from government aid and philanthropic sources, to mobilize private capital for social and environment results, such as improving infrastructure, education, agriculture, healthcare, and more.

Sunday, March 8, 2020, is International Women’s Day. Here are some previous blog posts from Marketlinks that detail the advancement of gender equality worldwide.

The case of Lebanon mirrors what in the MERS handbook is referred to as a crisis stuck in the relief phase. In crisis environments, short term goals focus on stabilizing households and providing basic needs.

This post is part two in a two-part series about market systems resilience (MSR) and highlights three major learnings on good practice for MSR.

This post is part one in a two-part series about market systems resilience (MSR) and highlights new guidance and tools that provide a foundational understanding of how different programs are approaching the topic.

This post shares thoughts from Dr. Michael Kremer on an experimental approach to alleviating global poverty. Dr. Kremer directs USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures program and is a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics.

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.

CIAT supports the development of seed systems uniting actors along the value chain to create sustainable seed systems and spur links with formal seed producers.

At the 2019 SEEP Annual Conference, five finalists delivered seven-minute pitches sharing new approaches to solve a problem and build resilience. The audience voted and selected one winner. Find out which project was selected to win a hypothetical million dollars.

This month, Marketlinks is focused on seed-related enabling environment and market systems. Share your submissions to be included in our round-up.

The AVANSE Program—the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Feed the Future program in Northern Haiti (2013–2019)—shows the value of integrating political economy analysis (PEA) in agricultural programming.

This post is the fourth in a series exploring how a partnership facility can be an interface between donor-funded programs and the private sector. It reflects on how FTF Inova's experience is relevant for other MSD programs.

USAID/Mozambique engaged in programming, assessing, and leading critical climate change technical assistance activities that support low-emission development strategies (LEDS), building climate change resilience, and strengthening local capacity.

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.

KATA Solar is one of a dozen Ghanaian companies offering rooftop solar. Sales of solar products in West Africa’s off-grid energy access market jumped by nearly one-third in the first half of 2017.

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 shares an interview with Roula Moussa, the CEO and founder of Netways and DiasporaID, a digital platform that connects and promotes collaboration among Lebanese diaspora communities.

This is the second post in a two-part blog series. This post explores the methodology to quantitatively measure social connectedness.

Najib Seguya of the Feed the Future Uganda Youth Leadership in Agriculture (YLA) activity’s Strategic Activities Fund team discusses key considerations to keep in mind when designing a pay-for-results (PfR) program, also known as performance-based financing.

Village Enterprise works to end extreme poverty in rural Africa by providing groups of three entrepreneurs with seed capital, training, ongoing mentoring, and support for the formation of Business Savings Groups. This post highlights a $5.32m payment-for-results project in the form of a Development Impact Bond.

In August, Marketlinks is focusing on the Pay-for-Results model in global development. This post from NextBillion offers insights on how and when to use a results-based finance model.

This post introduces an interview with Kristin O'Planick for the System Insight Podcast about a new framework for assessing market systems resilience being designed by USAID.