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“Why Farming?” Today’s Symposium on Global Agriculture & Food Security in Washington, D.C.
Today in Washington, D.C., the Chicago Council on Global Affairs‘ “The Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security: Progress to Date and Strategies for Success” with noted experts in agricultural policy, global development, philanthropy and more. Keynote Speakers: Bill Gates, Co-chair and Trustee, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Rajiv Shah, Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Agriculture Microfinance, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Dr. Rajiv Shah, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Food security, Gates Foundation, Global Agricultural Development Initiative, Global Food for Thought blog, Global Poverty, Loans, MasterCard Foundation, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Rajiv Shah, Roger Thurow, Rural Outreach, Smallholder farmer, The MasterCard Foundation, Tom Vilsack, USAID, USDA, Washington D.C.
Agricultural Advisor John Magnay Talks Food Security in Africa, and How Agricultural Finance Can Feed a Continent
“Africa is capable of sustaining its food needs,” said John Magnay, Opportunity’s senior agricultural advisor. “[But] if you look at [crop] yields in Africa, it is at 40% of what it should be.” Magnay, a British-born, 33-year veteran of the agricultural development sector in Africa, has worked with several African governments to develop agricultural advancements, and Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Agriculture Microfinance, Agrifinance, Clients, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Financial services, food, Food security, Food Sustainability, Ghana, Hunger, John Magnay, Loan Officer, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mozambique, northwestern university, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Opportunity Rwanda, Opportunity Uganda, Rwanda, Technology, Uganda, UN
What We’re Reading: World Finance Magazine Discusses Opportunity’s Agricultural Finance Program
Amosi Kasamira’s face lights up as he shares his plans for the next season. ‘My vision is to replace the grass roof of our home to better protect us from the sun and rain,’ he explains, ‘and I intend to cultivate ten acres next season.’ –Excerpted from: ‘There is Still a Lot of Work Ahead,’ World Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Agriculture Microfinance, Agrifinance, Blog, Blogging, Blogs, Clients, Community, credit life insurance, Crop insurance, Education, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Financial services, food, Food security, Global Poverty, Hunger, hunger and undernutrition blog, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microensure, Microfinance, Microfinance Video, OIBM, Opportunity Blog, Opportunity International, opportunity international UK, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Professional training, Savings, Technology, the true impact of crop insurance, Training, Weather-index crop insurance, world finance magazine
Melinda French Gates on the Impact of Agricultural Finance
Want to do more to impact global poverty? In an interview in the August issue of Smithsonian magazine, Melinda Gates outlines the techniques the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is using to fight global poverty in the 21st century. (“Melinda French Gates on Saving Lives,” by Terence Monmaney) It’s part of the magazine’s 40th-anniversary issue, featuring ”40 Things You Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Agriculture Microfinance, Agrifinance, Asia, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cell phone banking, Clients, Community, Crop insurance, Education, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Farmer, Farmers, Financial services, Green Revolution, Healthcare, Hunger, Insurance, Loans, Malawi, MasterCard Foundation, Melinda Gates, MFI, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Mobile Banking, Opportunity International, Savings, Schools, Smallholder farmer, Students, Technology, The MasterCard Foundation, Training, Weather-index crop insurance, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
What We’re Reading: “Reaching the Unreachable” on Hunger & Undernutrition Blog
On Thursday, we wrote a guest blog post on The Hunger and Undernutrition Blog, talking about the impact of innovations in agriculture finance, including crop insurance, savings accounts and lending–which all mitigate the challenges and risks of lending to smallholder farmers. But we are not the only organization to want to discuss agricultural sustainability. Go deeper and check Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, agriculture finance, Agriculture Microfinance, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Blog, Blogging, Bread for the World, Education, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Food security, Food Sustainability, G8, Hunger, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Millennium Development Goals, Opportunity Blog, Opportunity International, Technology, the micronutrient initiative, Un millennium development goals, United Nations
Harvesting Hope for Tomorrow: Women’s Role in Transforming Uganda
Guest blogger and Women’s Opportunity Network (WON) member Julie Hindmarsh sends us this report while on WON’s “Mothers, Daughters and Sisters” Insight Trip to Uganda. What is your greatest challenge in farming? That was the question we posed to a group of rural farmers in Buwenda, Uganda, when we visited them on Thursday. “Transportation,” one Read more…
Tagged Agricultural finance, Agriculture Microfinance, Children, Daughters, Farmers, Girls, Insight Trips, International Women's Day, irrigation, Microfinance Institution, Mothers, School fee loans, School fees, Sisters, Trust Group, Uganda, Weather-index crop insurance, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON, WON Uganda Insight Trip 2010
