Aflatoxin is a poison produced by a soil fungus that can infect crops, threatening food security, health, and trade in many developing countries; contaminating the food value chain; and costing hundreds of millions of dollars each year in export opportunities. In Africa specifically, aflatoxin causes stunting in children and an estimated 30 percent of all…
Roula Moussa is the CEO and founder of Netways. In 2017, she created DiasporaID, a digital platform that connects and promotes collaboration among Lebanese diaspora communities worldwide. As a partner under the USAID Asia and Middle East Economic Growth Best Practices (AMEG) program, Roula shares her experience pitching and scaling DiasporaID to USAID and recommends…
This post originally appeared on Marketlinks. 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. Alex Tekakwo, Anthony Nyende, and Sara Tohamy also contributed to this interview. 1.…
Globally, new momentum is building for the private sector’s participation in alleviating migration crises worldwide and supporting migrants’ and refugees’ integration. From investing in migrant-owned businesses to engaging a migrant workforce or securing resources for optimal basic service delivery for migrants and host communities, private sector engagement offers unique avenues for helping to solve migration…
We’d like you to meet Razan Quossous! Razan is an economic growth expert with 20 years of experience, including private sector development and increasing access to finance. Now the business enabling environment component leader for a tourism project in Jordan, Razan shares her insights on how development work can spur economic growth to improve lives.…
Razan Quossous is an economic growth expert with more than 20 years of experience in the sector. Razan currently serves as the deputy chief of party and commercial sector lead for the USAID Recycling in Jordan Activity. Her technical expertise includes strengthening business enabling environments, economic reform, increasing access to finance, private sector development, investment promotion,…
Imagine you are the sole female provider for a family in Khatlon, Tajikistan, a province in which food insecurity is an everyday reality, and the agricultural sector dominates the market. Your livelihood might rely on your ability to sell your apricots, to feed your children uncontaminated milk from one of your cows, or to churn…
Through the FS Share Task Order, the USAID Bureau for Economic Growth Agriculture and Trade (EGAT) and Chemonics collaboratively identify financial-sector priorities and develop strategies and programs for growing the financial sector. This paper describes the experience of USAID programs in Albania, Georgia, Egypt, and Colombia as they apply to the design and implementation of initiatives…
This primer is designed to convert lessons learned and best practices into effective financial systems that enable long-term economic growth and expansion. It provides an overview of the technical background and rationale for secured financing reform, and a detailed description of the components a reform program should include. The diagnostic checklist is a simple tool…
The goal of this toolkit is to provide a set of standardized lending approaches for the agriculture sector and a reference guide for mid-level bank staff currently or prospectively involved in the agricultural lending process. Target staff includes client relationship staff, loan officers, risk management department staff and their managers, as well as producer associations…
Political developments since the Maidan “Revolution of Dignity” give Ukraine the opportunity to create an open and competitive economy that can sustain growth over time, withstand systemic shocks, and provide economic opportunities to all Ukrainians. The USAID Competitive Economy Program (CEP) promotes a strong, diverse, and open economy by enhancing the business environment for small…