The moringa tree is known in many parts of the world for its nutritious leaves and protein-packed seeds. For Amina Abdullahi, a widowed housewife and mother of six in Nigeria, the tree inspired a life-changing idea. When Amina’s husband died five years ago, she lost her only source of household income. Unable to get support from her…
Imagine growing up as a small girl or boy and struggling to find stories written in the language you speak at home with your family. It is easy to find books in other languages or for older children, but there is nothing appealing and approachable for a seven-year-old. Would that make it more difficult for…
Land conflicts among villages in Côte d’Ivoire have very real political and economic repercussions. In most regions, the village committee, made up of individuals selected based on family and ethnic lineage, decides land ownership. In theory, as long as this local governance structure remains stable, land disputes can be solved peacefully. However, in the western…
In Mozambique, saving lives can be as simple as sending a text. Although most of the country’s population lives in coastal cities, which are vulnerable to natural disasters like tropical storms and cyclones, residents sometimes lack access to early-warning information on approaching storms or potential flooding zones. Because of this lack of information, they are…
Today, buying fashionable, high-quality locally made products resonates with Moldovans and evokes a sense of national pride. But it was not always this way. Although Moldova has always enjoyed a vibrant apparel industry, local companies face tough competition from well-known international brands. Moldovan consumers have historically been skeptical about buying Moldovan-made clothing, footwear, and accessories,…
When approaching retirement, having a stable pension in place makes an enormous economic and psychological difference. Without that financial stability, however, it is easy for the elderly to fall into poverty. In Armenia, the risk of poverty is 1.2 times higher for households with two or more elderly people (over 60 years of age). This…
The Middle East is among the fastest-growing regions in the world for international tourism. Although Jordan is seen as an island of peace and stability in the region, it lags behind its neighbors as a tourism destination. For a country that depends on tourism for 10 percent of its gross domestic product and a large…
For many people, land is not merely a source of survival; it also evokes a deep sense of community, identity, history, and belonging. In Tajikistan, land is owned by the state, and citizens must apply for “use rights” to farm it. Even if farmers are successful, those rights can later be confiscated without warning. This…
The villagers looked at one another and then looked away. Uneasy laughter and flushed cheeks spread quickly through the small group of volunteer trainees who were standing in a circle around a pile of human excrement, placed there by a trainer’s shovel. These volunteers were in the midst of a community-led total sanitation (CLTS) training…
Over the past five years, the rapid expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in low- and middle-income countries has reduced the number of HIV-related deaths by 25 percent. Today, an unprecedented number of patients — 13 million — are receiving lifesaving antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). Under the USAID-funded Kenya Pharma project, Chemonics streamlined and expanded the reach…
Although Zambia has greatly expanded access to early grade education during the past decade, near universal access has come at a cost to the quality of education. Consequently, learners’ test scores have remained low across the country, particularly in literacy. The challenge of raising literacy is difficult, yet crucial to improving the financial prospects of Zambian children.…
In Quibdo, the departmental capital city of Choco in the northwest region of Colombia, a pervasive, yet unspoken, crisis has affected the lives of generations of women and girls living amid violence, fear, and a sense of hopelessness. In an area of Colombia where poverty index rates are double the nation’s poverty index — at…