Economic Development

Encouraging youth to pursue farming may be the answer to both unemployment issues and fading crop yields. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatesfoundation/5075935331/in/photostream/">Gates Foundation (Flickr)</a>

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Youth Skills

Rural youth seek greener pastures in the city, but farming could get hot

Even on the farm, it pays to be young, but every year, young people are "escaping" their hometown rural communities to seek the "greener pastures" of city life. Meanwhile, global buyers of commodities such as coffee and cocoa beans worry about the aging farming workforce.

Infographic by Hilton Worldwide and IYF.

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Youth Skills

Hilton's new hospitality: A jobs plan for global youth

Hilton Worldwide and the International Youth Foundation are combining forces to outline a strategy for creating 73 million youth jobs in the next 10 years.

The agricultural sector accounts for a significant portion of Nigeria's GDP, but youth don't find it an attractive job. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/5418217343/">The National Archives UK (Flickr)</a>

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Youth Skills

Waiting for a white-collar job: a sure way to extend unemployment in Nigeria

The Kwara state government in Nigeria is promoting traditional vocations in an effort
to change young minds uninterested in any position outside the glamorous white-collar
realm.

In Kenya, young people open small businesses to improve their communities such as this tea nursery and mushroom farm. Photo: <a href="http://www.mercycorps.org/photoessay/2012accomplishments#photo-10">Salma Bahramy/Mercy Corps</a>

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Youth Skills

Youth-led programs: A fresh perspective to solve youth unemployment

A new set of youth employment programs is built on the proposition that the best people to design such programs are young people themselves.

Indonesian farmers can benefit greatly from information on how to make their products thrive. Photo <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/theworldfishcenter/8199313364/">WorldFish (Flickr)</a>

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Good show! How an NGO convinced commercial TV to serve the poor

Information is power, but only if people have access to it. In 2006, a Swiss NGO teamed with Indonesian media to bring that power to small businesses.

World Inequality Database on Education: Haiti Data <a href="http://www.education-inequalities.org/">visualized</a> helps program designers know who to target.

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Youth Skills

Who needs education most? A new data source visualizes it

In the race to be qualified for good jobs the starting line is jagged-some youth start further ahead than others. The best programs use data to smooth the line out.

With these tips SIB's might be ready to do some globe trotting <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dcgreer/6562841237/">Photo: dcgreer (flickr)</a>

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How to make social impact bonds work for the global South

Social impact bonds are popping up the world over, and consulting firm Instiglio has five tips for investors and governments looking to make them work in developing economies.

The possibility for a strong entrepreneurial market is great in Pakistan. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zerega/4406977310/sizes/m/in/photostream/"> zerega (flickr)</a>

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Youth Skills

Pakistan has every ingredient for growth … except entrepreneurship

Pakistan is at the top of South Asian economies, but by underproducing a crucial product, young entrepreneurs, it's stymied from reaching new heights.

Like this farmer in Kenya, the challenge in Tanzania is connecting smallholder farmers to larger markets. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ciat/5366702717/sizes/z/">CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture</a>

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Value Chains

How a Tanzania NGO scrapped grants to build markets that last

When it comes to solving poverty, sometimes the best way to get more done is to move out of the driver's seat.

Kenyan smallholder farmers. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/38476503@N08/5367334314/">Photo: CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture (flickr)</a>

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Value Chains

Four ways to make contract farming work for the very poor

Will contract farming, done right, serve as the missing link between small farmers and markets?

Heinz sells 80 percent of British beans. That may be exactly why they passed on a chance to do so in a more innovative way. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vek/4226781275/sizes/z/in/photostream/">Kevin Spencer (flickr)</a>

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Value Chains

Why the biggest brand sometimes isn't the best innovation partner

A new case study of the Ethiopian bean industry includes a depressing anecdote reminding us that innovation rarely starts at the top of the market.

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Social Enterprise

Quotable: Social enterprise needs both smart grants and investment

"Philanthropy has more than one tool," writes Felix Oldenburg of Ashoka in Forbes today:

Tienda owners in rural Guatemala stand proudly in front of their store, newly stocked with much-needed health products. Photo: Lindsay Murphy/Mercy Corps.

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Guatemala’s Tiendas de la Salud: Where profit and social impact meet

In Greece, right-wing parties have blamed immigrants for economic trouble. But a survey of the facts shows that migration brings benefits to rich and poor countries alike. Photo: <a href="http://flic.kr/p/bDqGit">Giannis Angelakis (Flickr)</a>

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Would freer migration be even better for growth than freer trade?

After decades of debate, global trade is finally mostly free, and the world is reaping the benefits.

Global migration is another story.

By increasing the amount of food harvested per year, Bangladesh has been able to decrease the number of undernourished people<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldbank/8054518284/sizes/z/in/set-72157603951157081/">World Bank (flickr)</a>

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Financial Inclusion

Fighting poverty without rapid growth: Bangladesh shows how it's done

Bangladesh is living proof that empowering and assisting the poor can sharply cut poverty even without rapid growth.

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