Innovation

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Youth Skills

Why financial inclusion for youth will raise all economic boats

Groups fighting for financial inclusion and youth employment united in Morocco. Will their findings promote progress?

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.

Kenyan dairy farmers using iCow saw an increase in profits and milk production. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatesfoundation/6775839248/">Gates Foundation (flickr)</a>

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In Kenya, a mobile dairy app drives profits skyward

A relatively new mobile app has helped dairy farmers in Kenya increase their profits by 42 percent.

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.

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Sustainable Energy

Sun queens: Barefoot College women turn on the lights in off-grid villages

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.

Billions of dollars are zooming around the world from one wallet to another. Photo: <a href="http://worldbank.tumblr.com/post/36217284197/which-developing-countries-received-the-most?cid=EXT_TWBN_D_EXT">The World Bank</a>

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Mobile Technology

Follow the [mobile?] money

According to a new World Bank report, most remittances are flowing to India, China, the Philippines, Mexico and Nigeria, most of it in cold, hard cash.

SELCO Technician installing solar panels. Credit: SELCO

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Sustainable Energy

SELCO: A shining star in market-driven social enterprise

This article was republished by The Christian Science Monitor

In India, one iconoclastic solar company employs deep knowledge of the ways communities use energy to overthrow the traditional means of bringing power to the people.

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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

Traditional cooking fire in Myanmar. Photo: B. Manser for Mercy Corps.

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Sustainable Energy

Clean cookstoves in Mozambique lure big investors

This article was republished by The Christian Science Monitor .

Crops resilient to climate change are especially important to farmers in developing countries. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/5210265334/">CIMMYT (Flickr)</a>.

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Value Chains

As climate becomes a moving target, 'virtual crops' aim for the future

Climate change is threatening crop survival. Some researchers believe the solution lies in "virtual crops."

Companies are working to empower in the tech sector. Photo: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/unwomenarabstates/7245942414/sizes/m/in/photostream/”> UN Women Arab States (Flickr)</a>

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Youth Skills

Geekery for all: Google chips $6m to youth tech empowerment

With the iLab educating in Liberia and the Switchboard mobilizing health across Africa, Google is working on global technology empowerment.

Mobile phones are one of the ways ADB says will increase microfinance availability among the poor. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/8048414699/">CIMMYT (flickr)</a>.

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Financial Inclusion

MFIs should offer more than just microfinance, study finds

Despite the surging popularity of microfinance in the last several decades, access among the poor in Asia and the Pacific remains low. A new report says technology and livelihood programs will put it in the hands of more people.