Resource Library

Bangladesh has developed significantly in the 50 years since its founding in 1971. It is now globally recognized as a rapidly growing economy with vast market potential. The United States, in the same period, has funded over $9.5 billion in support of Bangladesh’s development and has become Bangladesh’s largest trading partner.

The USAID Women’s Economic Empowerment Community of Practice (USAID WEE CoP) developed this infographic to summarize evidence and recommended actions from a USAID landscaping study conducted on women’s economic empowerment (WEE) and government laws and regulations and business policies. 

In the summer of 2021, the Solid Waste Management Division of the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change of Mauritius requested the assistance of Africa RISE to conduct a comprehensive technical and economic feasibility study for the establishment, operation and management of an end-of-life vehicle dismantling and parts recycling facility. The study was also to consider other options for end-of-life vehicles, and assess the changes that might be required in existing legislation and regulations.

For Food Enterprise Solutions (FES), every day is a day to support persons with disabilities. But on December 3rd, 2022, FES joined with the international community to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities with the theme “Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fuelling an accessible and equitable world.” BD4FS and the Women’s Committee of the Senegalese Federation of Associations of Disabled Persons co-organized four training sessions for over 200 disabled women entrepreneurs in the Senegalese food sector.

The private sector plays an important role in reducing food loss and waste (FLW) because private companies are involved in all stages of the supply chain that generate food loss and waste. While larger food companies may have significant resources dedicated to making their supply chain more efficient and reducing waste, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have received relatively little attention despite their critical role in the food system. Therefore, it is important to understand the costs and benefits of addressing food loss among SMEs.

Dairy farmers in northern Senegal are pastoralists who travel nomadically and seasonally to find greener pastures for their animals. This makes it difficult for processors like Laiterie de Berger (LDB) to collect milk. Therefore, LDB has set up a collection system that allows independent or salaried collectors to collect milk from farmers daily by motorcycle or tricycle. LDB created a subsidiary company, Kossam SDE, that provides milk collection and services to farmers to build their loyalty.

Introduction This case study provides examples of some of the experiences and challenges of implementing a business-to-business (B2B) approach that intentionally incorporates sustainable economic development principles.

Anyone who has owned and operated a business knows that allocating a budget is a rigorous exercise, and every alternative benefit and cost must be carefully considered. Adding funds to one operational area always means taking them from another. And, if some cost can be sacrificed with relatively little pain, a company will likely do it.

The Local Capacity Strengthening Policy guides USAID decisions about why and how to invest in the capacity of local partners to better achieve inclusive and locally led development.

In developing countries, incoherent regulatory environments can undermine economic growth by impeding competition and innovation, discouraging business development, and precluding trade and investment opportunities. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) require a regulatory environment that provides certainty and the rule of law for investors while allowing entrepreneurs and established businesses to innovate, expand their domestic and international markets, improve productivity, and generate profits.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has a long history of designing and implementing trade facilitation (TF) programs that can have a significant positive impact on national economies, but the organization has done relatively little research on how to ensure that the border communities closest to these reforms also benefit.

The Senegal poultry industry has experienced significant growth since 2005 when the country halted imports due to an avian flu outbreak affecting many countries. This exceptional situation played an important role in securing investments, increasing local poultry meat production, and facilitating the vertical integration of poultry activities. A large industry has developed and now dominates the market with Senegalese companies comprising all links in the value chain from breeding and input supply to high-value-added processed products. 

A step-by-step approach to impact assessment can often turn impossible challenges into possible solutions.

Is the development community at risk of losing hard-won diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) gains due to the pandemic? What DEI implications should Implementing Partners consider when designing their future working models? What are development professionals demanding in their post-pandemic careers and what are the DEI implications?

Climate change is a global crisis. As temperatures and sea levels rise, people around the world are increasingly seeing heat waves, droughts, floods, cyclones, and wildfires upend their lives. The effects of climate change are not equal – they disproportionately impact the poorest and most marginalized communities USAID works to support every day. Climate change affects virtually everything that USAID does and threatens the development progress it has supported over more than 60 years.

The USAID Women’s Economic Empowerment Community of Practice (USAID WEE CoP) was established in 2020 to accelerate the pace of change in advancing gender equality and women’s economic empowerment by sharing what is effective and what does not work. Through the USAID WEE CoP, members convene, identify, and share proven, promising, and potential models that advance economic growth through gender equality. 

Through the Women’s Economic Empowerment and Equality Technical Assistance (WE3 TA) task order, Banyan Global produced a toolbox to accelerate women's public procurement.

This training facilitators’ guide provides an overview of a set of USAID’s Leveraging Economic Opportunities (LEO) market development tools that focuses on market facilitation and uses storytelling in the form of storybook comics. These tools are intended to be used with development project staff to build capacity around effective market facilitation strategies and implementation. While the cartoons focus on the agricultural sector, the principles are relevant across sectors.

A Systemic Approach to Inclusive Markets for Refugees and Host Communities

The one-year BMZ-funded project to promote livelihoods of forcibly displaced persons and host communities focused on improving livelihoods in the livestock sector in the Somali Region of Ethiopia using the Approach to Inclusive Market Systems (AIMS) developed jointly by ILO and UNHCR.

Forced displacement is becoming increasingly global in scope and protracted in nature, mak¬ing it critical to devise innovative responses. Entrepreneurship promotion constitutes one such response. This rough guide provides initial practical insights and recommendations for practitioners seek¬ing to implement entrepreneurship promotion programs in forced displacement settings.   

A market system analysis of the horticulture sector with a view to promoting livelihoods of Lebanese host communities and Syrian refugees.

A value chain assessment for the employment of refugee and host communities in Arua

Case study on the ILO-UNHCR Approach to Inclusive Market Systems (AIMS) in Akkar, Lebanon

Since 2019, the International Labor Organization (ILO) has implemented technical cooperation projects aimed at strengthening the socioeconomic and labor integration of migrants and refugees from Venezuela in Peru, with a focus on the inclusion of Peruvians in vulnerable conditions and the promotion of social cohesion.