What is financial inclusion? Financial inclusion seeks to increase the number of individuals who are able to access formal financial services, with a focus on providing access to marginalized populations such as youth or women. According to the World Bank, almost 40 percent of the adults in the world do not use formal financial services,…
This blog post originally appeared on SEEP’s blog. Chemonics is a proud member of SEEP. Picture this: Your market development program is going well. Your strategy aligns with the national government’s objectives. Your donor is happy. Business owners are happy. People are getting jobs and earning income. The market is growing. And then a crisis…
Tajikistan is a country known for its rugged terrain. Mountains make up the majority of the landscape, and the people who have lived there for centuries have learned how to make do with limited resources. Despite the lack of arable land, agriculture accounts for 75 percent of employment opportunities. Atokhuja Muslimov is one of the…
USAID’s Maximizing Agricultural Revenue and Key Enterprise in Targeted Sites (MARKETS II) project in Nigeria aims to improve the performance, income, nutrition, and food security of poor Nigerian rural farmers or smallholders in an environmentally friendly manner. Why is social inclusion important for the development of Nigeria? In Nigeria, 68 percent of the population lives…
In Uganda, agriculture is king. Almost as if it were designed for farming, Uganda boasts nearly half the arable land in East Africa, abundant rainfall, and two growing seasons throughout much of the country. Its agriculture sector employs more than two-thirds of Uganda’s workforce, and most of the country’s poorest rely on small farms for…
Uganda is home to the world’s largest youth population, with more than 78 percent of its total population below the age of 30. Although unemployment poses a challenge to this vast demographic, the agriculture sector is ripe with opportunity. It contributes approximately 26.3 percent to the country’s gross domestic product and drives food security. But…
By creating new channels to collect, distribute, visualize, and understand information, the “data revolution” is transforming sustainable development efforts across sectors and among stakeholders. To share perspectives on the role of data in global development, Devex is hosting the Data Driven campaign. Starting on July 11, the Data Driven will lead weekly conversations that explore data…
Mainstreaming resilience has catapulted to the top of the development agenda in recent years. It is now an integral part of climate change strategies at the local, national, and international level. Resilience, once a secondary outcome, has become a principal objective in designing and measuring the results of both climate adaptation and mitigation in addition…
When I was a Peace Corps volunteer, I worked with female artisans in Morocco and witnessed firsthand the barriers they faced in economic development. Poor education, which prevented many from completing paperwork; low self-confidence or hope for a better future; lack of capital to invest in business licenses, equipment, and training; and a lack of…
Why are science, technology, and innovation essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals? How can we make proven solutions more readily available to those who need them most? To highlight promising innovations at the frontlines of global development challenges, the United Nations Economic and Social Council is convening the first annual Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science,…
Nigeria has plenty of fertile land but struggles to feed itself. Seeing an opportunity to make the agricultural sector more productive and profitable, the Nigerian government partnered with USAID and Chemonics in 2012 to launch the Maximizing Agricultural Revenues and Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites (MARKETS) II project. MARKETS II is the third iteration of…