innovation

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Value Chains

Farmer phones, smart forests, and “poo profits”: Our 5 most-read posts from 2014

From deforestation to “poo profits,” these most well-read posts of 2014 remind us of the of the incredible people and programs that fought for global development over the past year.

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Social Enterprise

Designing new solutions for the world's poorest

Board games in the Philippines, nail salons in Zambia, and subscription clinics in the Democratic Republic of Congo: These are just a few of IDEO.org's poverty-fighting weapons.

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Sustainable Energy

Jellyfish to Shut Down Power Plants, and Other Weird, Ominous Predictions from the UN

The UN just came out with a massive report on climate change, and the outlook is bleak. An interactive website called Global Weirding summarizes it and relays the strange, scary details.

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Social Enterprise

When aid fails - and what failure teaches us

Sometimes, good intentions aren't enough.

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Social Enterprise

Polio Surge in Pakistan: A cautionary tale for global health

On the 50th anniversary of Jonas Salk's discovery of a vaccine against polio, the disease has faded from the headlines - but a flare-up in Pakistan proves that polio is not going quietly.

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Global Ideas News Brief: Typhoon evacuation saves lives

A weekly round-up of mainstream news about the context in which Mercy Corps works, focused on economic development and innovations.

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Social Enterprise

Five ways social enterprise is changing the world

According to the experts, social enterprises are seriously cool.

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Financial Inclusion

Innovations Explored: How insurance protects pastoralists in Kenya

An unconventional insurance program developed by Mercy Corps is helping pastoralists in Kenya preserve their way of life, despite the threat of annual drought and the associated loss of livestock. Because of its innovative design, the insurance encourages drought mitigation techniques and is profitable for the insurer.

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Social Enterprise

Mercy Corps' Chief Innovation Officer tapped to lead USAID Global Development Lab

Mercy Corps' Chief Innovation Officer, Ann Mei Chang, will be leading the U.S. Global Development Lab as its first executive director.

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Global Ideas News Brief: Education = jobs

A weekly round-up of mainstream news about the context in which Mercy Corps works, focused on economic development and innovations.

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Financial Inclusion

Quotable: Jeffrey Sachs on sustainable growth

Economist Jeffrey Sachs wants to help the poor escape what he calls a "poverty trap," and has spearheaded a project that, he hopes, will help.

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Mobile Technology

Monopoly No More: New Players Threaten M-Pesa's Mobile Money Dominance

M-Pesa’s mobile money-transfer service has been a sweeping success story in Kenya. But advances in the banking sector are catching up and new rivals are joining the race with their own mobile platforms.

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Social Enterprise

5 great development solutions coming out of the Clinton Global Initiative

Rather than simply discussing “what should be done,” the Clinton Global Initiative asks participants to create specific, actionable steps--putting money where their mouths are.

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Social Enterprise

Companies target billion-dollar potential by marketing to the poor

Creating and marketing products to sell to the poor is a tricky business, a game of trial and error. There appears to be no formula for success, only a few guiding principles. And the products that sell are not always what we would expect.

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Value Chains

Why GDP doesn’t explain economic development: Measuring progress in the Amazon

Though Brazil has grown leaps and bounds in the last decade, many of its citizens still struggle for basic human needs. This is particularly true in the Amazon, where poverty often drives the destruction of precious rainforests.