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Do We Know Who These Smallholder Farmers Are? And Do We Care?
Francis Mamati. Leonida Wanyama. Rasoa Wasike. Zipporah Biketi. Roger Thurow, author of The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change, implores us to get to know these farmers–and to support their development–if we are to meet the challenge of doubling food production by 2050 to meet the Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Chicago, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Children, Clients, Community, Crop insurance, Drought, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Enough: Why the World's Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty, Financial services, Global Food for Thought blog, Hunger, Kenya, Loans, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Opportunity International, Poverty, Roger Thurow, Savings, Smallholder farmer, The Last Hunger Season, Training
What We’re Reading: The Launch of Roger Thurow’s New Book The Last Hunger Season
If you’re looking for a summer read that inspires, Roger Thurow just released his new book, The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change. The Last Hunger Season gives you a look into the lives of four smallholder farming families in western Kenya as they work to move from subsistence Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Ending Hunger, Enough: Why the World's Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty, Farmer, farming, Food security, Global Agriculture and Food Policy, Global Food for Thought blog, Hunger, Kenya, Loans, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Poverty, Roger Thurow, Smallholder farmer, what we're reading, Women, women farmers
Obama Announces Food Security Partnership at Chicago Council on Global Affairs Symposium Before the G8
Last Friday, agricultural finance took center stage at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs symposium, “Advancing Food and Nutrition Security,” in Washington, D.C. on the eve of the G8 Summit. President Obama announced a partnership among the G8 member nations, African countries and the private sector called the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, which has a Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Alliance to End Hunger, Board of Advisors, Bono, Cargill, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Ending Hunger, Food security, G8, Global Agricultural Development Initiative, global hunger, Hillary Clinton, Hunger, Microfinance, Monsanto, ONE blog, Opportunity International, President Obama, Tony Hall
Meet Our Staff: Why Do I Believe in Opportunity?
In May of 2010, I attended a luncheon hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs where Melanne Verveer, the first-ever U.S. ambassador-at-large for Global Women’s Issues, spoke to the significance of investing in women as a means to drive economic growth in the developing world. Equally as captivating as Ambassador Verveer’s remarks was being Read more…
Tagged Ally Lynch, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Global Poverty, Meet Our Staff, Melanne Verveer, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity-US, Poverty, Women, Women's Philanthropy
Innovation to Aid the Horn of Africa: USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs
Last Thursday, USAID administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah spoke at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs lunchtime talk entitled “America’s role in Food Security and the Horn of Africa Famine.” Administrator Shah began with slides and stories from the amalgam of refugee camps that make up the Dadaab camps in Kenya. The camps, which were built for Read more…
Tagged Africa, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, China, Dadaab, Dr. Rajiv Shah, Ending Hunger, Facebook, famine, Feed the Future Guide, Haiti, Horn of Africa, Hunger, Kenya, Rajiv Shah, United Nations, USAID
What We’re Reading: Roger Thurow on Bill Gates at the Symposium on Global Agriculture & Food Security
The following post, “Expert Commentary–The Importance of Innovation” by Roger Thurow, was published today on the Chicago Council on Global Affairs‘ Global Food for Thought blog about the Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security that took place today in Washington, D.C.. Bill Gates came to the Chicago Council’s Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Events, Feed the Future Guide, Food security, Global Agriculture and Food Policy, Global Food for Thought blog, Innovation, market linkages, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Poverty, Roger Thurow, sub-Saharan Africa, Technology, Twitter, Washington D.C., what we're reading
“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.
What We’re Reading: Roger Thurow Interview on Hunger, Microfinance and More
On Wednesdays, we highlight an article, book or blog in our “What We’re Reading” series. We feature works that are noteworthy, inspiring, educational or relevant to the microfinance work we do at Opportunity. We welcome your comments in the comment field below–-tell us what you’re reading, or respond to the piece we’ve highlighted. The following Read more…
Tagged 2010 fall microfinance conference, Africa, Agricultural finance, Banker to the Poor, Changing the Face of Hunger, Chicago, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Enough, Enough: Why the World's Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty, Financial services, Global Agriculture and Food Policy, Global Poverty, Grameen Bank, Green Revolution, Hunger, Interview, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Muhammad Yunus, OIBM, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Bank of Malawi, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Opportunity Malawi, pulitzer prize, Roger Thurow, sub-Saharan Africa, The Bible, Tony Hall, Washington D.C.
Global Food for Thought Blog: “Extending the Reach” by Roger Thurow
The following post by Roger Thurow, “Extending the Reach,” was published on the Global Food for Thought blog on March 4, 2011 as part of Thurow’s Outrage & Inspire series. Thurow is Senior Fellow for Global Agriculture & Food Policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize in international reporting, and co-author of Read more…
Tagged 2010 fall microfinance conference, Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Clients, Community, Ending Poverty, Enough, Enough: Why the World's Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty, Feed the Future Guide, Financial services, Global Food for Thought blog, Global Poverty, Kenya, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Poverty, pulitzer prize, Roger Thurow, Rwanda, Smallholder farmer, Tom Vilsack, US Department of Agriculture, USAID, USDA
Chicago Event: Empowering Women and Rebuilding Afghanistan
I frequently visit the Chicago Council on Global Affairs website to peruse their schedule of multidisciplinary programs, always hoping to find programs on microfinance. When I saw that the Women and Global Development Forum was hosting a program called Rebuilding Afghanistan: A Civilian and Military Perspective, I knew it would be an event not to Read more…
Tagged afghanistan, Canada, Chicago, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Children, Community, Education, Ending Poverty, Events, Family, Financial services, global security, Government, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, nation-building, NGO, Opportunity International, peace, Poverty, Women, Women and Development Forum, women for women international, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, Women's rights, WON, Zainab Salbi
