Back in 2015 while designing our approach for USAID’s Colombia Rural Finance Initiative (RFI), a Colombian colleague and I visited a sugar smallholder who had settled in the Meta department, fleeing the civil war. On his adobe walls hung a photograph of the farmer smiling proudly next to Colombia’s President Santos, who had visited their…
Before any medical commodity reaches the shelf of a clinic or the palm of a patient, it takes a journey. This journey is a supply chain. Along the way, every stop matters — from the supplier to the central warehouse to the service delivery point. And without accurate data, the whole journey is at stake.…
Innovations in technology have enhanced development impact across all sectors — from agriculture to education to health. From May 8 to 10, public, private, and civil society organizations from around the world will convene for the 2018 Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) Conference in Lusaka, Zambia. Now in its 10th year, the conference…
Have you ever asked yourself “did the person who built this software system ever even remotely talk to anyone that has to use it?” I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that you (like me) have. Digital transformation efforts are littered with cautionary tales of designing tone-deaf systems that don’t meet the…
On April 19, representatives from our Feed the Future Uganda Youth Leadership for Agriculture (YLA) activity, along with partner Equator Seeds Limited, joined USAID for an event entitled “USAID Youth-Led Innovations: The Journey to Self-Reliance.” The event, held in Washington, D.C., and hosted by USAID, YouthCorps, and the Global Development Lab, brought together partners, donors,…
Which digital tools show the greatest promise to maximize development impact around the world? How can organizations and governments make sure that these tools are part of an inclusive approach to development? These are the kinds of questions that participants will discuss at the Digital Development Forum: The Next 10 Years event, hosted by USAID…
From March 6 to 8, the Chamber of Digital Commerce and Georgetown University’s Center for Financial Markets and Policy will host the third annual D.C. Blockchain Summit, which Chemonics is proud to sponsor. The summit will bring together a diverse audience from the private sector, government, and media to discuss applications for blockchain and cryptocurrencies.…
Down-and-dirty politics and political roadblocks have thwarted the success of agricultural development projects for decades. To achieve greater success, we need to consider how we can better understand and break down such blocks. Whether we like it or not, international development efforts are inherently political. Within the agriculture sector, the relationships and power dynamics among…
To improve access to high-quality health products worldwide, the USAID Global Health Supply Chain – Procurement and Supply Management project employs cutting-edge technologies and industry best practices to make global health supply chains more efficient and reach more people.