microfinance

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Value Chains

Quotable: 20 years ago, fighting poverty felt futile. Not so today.

"Twenty years ago we spoke about the poor with a sense of futility, and I think now when you talk about the base of the pyramid, more often than not you're talking about markets and opportunities."

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Value Chains

5 ways to support farming irrigation in sub-saharan Africa: Beyond technology

Big government-funded irrigation projects in Sub-Saharan Africa are often expensive and inaccessible, so farmers are taking matters into their own hands.

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Financial Inclusion

Faith and Finance: The director of "Kompanion Invest" discusses the challenges of mixing business and religion

In Kyrgyzstan, over 85 percent of citizens are followers of Islam, and many seek to run Halal businesses. So offering Shari’a compliant financial services just makes sense. Easier said than done. Read this frank Q&A with the country's only Islamic microfinance institution.

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Twitter and international development: Who to follow and why

Here's a list of three interesting users to follow for each of Global Envision’s six beats.

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Mobile Technology

Short film: Uganda’s love of mobile money

In just over four years, 9 million Ugandans have jumped aboard the mobile money bandwagon-- buying, selling and saving with their mobile devices.

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Mercy Corps mobilizes emergency response team to Philippines

Mercy Corps is mobilizing a team of emergency responders, including experts in water, sanitation and logistics, into the areas devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan.

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Global Ideas News Brief: Pyramid schemes + Complex stories

Face to face contact works for Africa's poorest customers, the promise of small-scale Ag and why NGOs should tell complex stories. Staff picks: what we're reading this week

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Financial Inclusion

Cash cows: Why making bank accounts function like livestock will help the poor

In an age of mobile banking and digital transactions, many poor people still shun basic banking services and put their extra money in livestock. Why?

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Global Ideas News Brief: Hope in Congo + Another Kiva

Cash transfers are working, a look at income inequality and hope in the Congo. Staff Picks: What we're reading this week

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Sustainable Energy

Free trials and payment plans: Innovative ways to market clean energy products in rural Uganda

Families in rural northern Uganda who cook over open fires and use kerosene as their primary light source face numerous health and safety issues - they should be rushing to buy fuel efficient cookstoves and solar units. Why aren't they?

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Financial Inclusion

Microfinance in the crosshairs: Will Kyrgyzstan's usury bill backfire?

Microfinance has become a subject of controversy, as predatory lenders and unfair interest rates have tarnished its image and led to government interventions. But in Kyrgyzstan, a country with little financial regulation and no sovereign credit rating, increasing regulations may soon have negative consequences for the very clients they're intended to protect.

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Global Ideas News Brief: Should business solve society's biggest problems?

Why business can be good at solving the world's problems, escaping the cycle of scarcity, and the data revolution reaching further. Staff picks: What we're reading this week

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Financial Inclusion

Insurance against financial catastrophe? The poor aren’t buying it

Microinsurance is the darling of economists looking for a new way to alleviate poverty. For a pittance, they argue, the very poor can be saved from financial ruin in the event of a medical emergency or crop failure.

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Financial Inclusion

Day 1 at Mobile Money: Technology to Transform Transactions

What’s the best way to deliver on the promise of mobile money to bring financial inclusion to the BoP? The Center for Effective Global Action hosted dozens of telecommunications, banking, research and mobile money experts to explore that question.

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Value Chains

Is charity: water the Expedia of philanthropy?

Aid agencies and their donors debate: Is it more effective for a charity to build and maintain wells or help people get loans to buy materials for wells and their upkeep? The decision might be made by the charity with the biggest coffers.