Ramanathan Pararajasingam starts many farmer training sessions in Sri Lanka with a bottle of water. He explains that he must drink bottled water in these communities because the local water supply might make him sick. Why? Although most Sri Lankan farmers use agricultural chemicals to control pest and disease attacks these days, many haven’t been…
According to USAID’s recently released “Guide to the Use of Digital Financial Services in Agriculture,” there are an estimated 1.5 billion smallholder farmers worldwide producing approximately 80 percent of the global food supply, who together face an estimated $430 billion shortfall in critical financial services that are needed to support production. In Uganda, where smallholder…
The timing, approach, and pace of land reform and collective farm restructuring throughout the former Soviet republics has varied dramatically – and in many places is still ongoing. Whether government chose to privatize land, guarantee land use rights, or keep the status quo of state ownership, land and access to it remains critical for millions…
Climate change makes life even harder for subsistence farmers and marginal populations. In the development field, we need to learn how to address tangible problems that block adoption of improved mechanisms. USAID’s Climate Change Adaptation Activity (CCAA) in Mali — a two-year intervention in the Mopti Region — has such an opportunity. In conjunction with…
The success of Kenya’s mobile money system, M-PESA, over the past few years has opened many people’s eyes to the potential of digital solutions to expand access to finance. In recent years, global markets have also taken notice in the lucrative opportunity posed by digital financial services or “fintech” (shorthand for the financial technology space).…
The wine sector holds a unique distinction in Moldova: Wine is one of the only products exported with its full value chain completed in-country. From grape to glass, wine is produced, processed, and packaged in the small eastern European country, an approach that has cemented the sector’s role in economic growth and job creation. As…
This post was originally published by the Better Than Cash Alliance and is cross-posted with permission. Chemonics is a proud member of the alliance. On a recent trip to Uganda, where I assessed Chemonics’ implementation of mobile money solutions, I was encouraged to see mobile money initiatives on the rise, from cardless ATM withdrawals and…
Before COP 21 kicked off in Paris, heads of state from 20 countries who make up the Climate Vulnerable Forum adopted the Manila-Paris Declaration, which outlined concerns, priorities and plans for addressing climate change. The declaration enumerated how the threats we see in the news everyday — rising sea levels, cyclones, drought, and others —…