Blog

Can diasporas really serve as bridges to global markets for their countries of origin? A closer look at tourism and trade during the fifth Diaspora Engagement Seminar seems to imply exactly that. Dr. Manuel Orozco from the Inter-American Dialogue and Dr. Gaynelle Henderson-Bailey, President of Henderson Travel Service, were featured in this month’s seminar titled, "Heritage Tourism and Nostalgia Trade.”

What one almost never expects is the dance that Malian mothers do to support their families during this time.

Geoff Chalmers interviews Greta Greathouse about her presentation during the session, "Value Chain Financing" session at the USAID Learning Event, "Meeting the Challenges of Value Chain Development" on February 7-8, 2012.

During USAID’s Microlinks After Hours Seminar, Geoffrey Chalmers from ACDI/VOCA and Jason Agar from Kadale Consultants Limited discussed various challenges financial services in the rural and agricultural sectors as well as innovations.

Curtis Hundley of DAI discusses strategies for improving the competitiveness of enterprises, promoting a healthy business enabling environment, and facilitating public-private partnerships from DAI's MSME Project in Cambodia.

Two main objectives of the NAFAKA program are to improve the competitiveness and productivity of maize and rice value chains and to expand the benefits from the growth of the maize and rice subsectors, especially to women and youth.

Increasing small farmers' income comes down to creating the connection to a market, which creates incentives for farmers to innovate and increase production. But the more difficult proposition is how we go about doing that.

Mathew Titus, of Sa Dhan, on the convergence of business and development initiatives

Michaël De Groot, Rabobank Foundation, on the foundations agribusiness initiatives

In their research on the Ghanaian citrus and the Kenyan sweet potato value chains, Jennefer Sebstad and Cristina Manfre were focused on the barriers and development constraints that especially prevent women from upgrading.

Technology panelists share their insights from the plenary "How Is Technology Causing Breakthroughs in Youth Economic Opportunity?"

The panelists jumped right into the session with their thoughts on the most exciting technology-related breakthroughs in the field.

"Tourism done well," according to Kristin Lamoureax, means that issues of sustainability, local engagement, job creation, cultural sensitivity, and policy issues are all taken into account.

Cracking the Nut Interviews: Viktor Ezenwoko, Executive Director Diamond Bank Plc

Kris Ozar, CRS, on Agroenterprise in Ghana

In 2010 Shari Berenbach, the new Director of USAID's Microenterprise Development Office, filmed a video segment for the 2010 SEEP Annual Conference with former MD office directors Beth Rhyne and Kate McKee.

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.

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.

Power Africa teamed up with USAID INVEST to increase access to solar home systems and mini-grids across Kenya. Through Azuri Technology's pay-as-you-go-model, they are projected to provide 390,000 new connections and 6,000 upgraded connections across the country.

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

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.

Feed the Future Cambodia Harvest II is a five-year project, now at its halfway point, working to help Cambodia accelerate horticulture sector growth and strengthen the horticulture market system. This case study describes Harvest II’s blended buyer-led and market systems development approach, citing examples of progress to date and posing several learning questions about the project moving forward.

The Feed the Future Malawi Ag Diversification Activity worked with partners to develop an input bundle and a loan package to help farmers increase their soybean and groundnut yields.

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.

The vast majority of food grown in Africa is by smallholder farmers. Implementing these four recommendations will speed up the process of putting improved seed in the hands of Africa’s food growers permanently.