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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
The World Food Prize Honors Grassroots Efforts in Hunger and Poverty Alleviation
Congratulations to the 2010 World Food Prize Laureates for their outstanding contribution to the elimination of world hunger. The World Food Prize honored David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, and Jo Luck, CEO of Heifer International, for their critical efforts in mobilizing and empowering everyday citizens to end hunger in communities around the Read more…
Global Agriculture and Food Security Program
We are excited about the news that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United States, Canada and other countries have launched the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program to help the world’s poorest farmers grow more food and earn more to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty. As part of the worldwide effort Read more…
Tagged Africa, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Farmers, Financial services, Food security, Global Agriculture and Food Policy, Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, Microfinance Conference, Roger Thurow, The MasterCard Foundation, Training, Washington D.C.
Opportunity Partners with Two Dollar Challenge: Student Program Makes Poverty a Reality
Opportunity International is pleased to announce our partnership with Two Dollar Challenge (TDC), an organization based out of the University of Mary Washington (UMW) in Fredericksburg, Va. The program, where students live or eat on just $2 per day for one week, raises money for Opportunity Trust Groups in Kenya and Colombia through our peer-to-peer lending website, OptINnow. This initiative Read more…
Tagged College, Colombia, Education, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Fundraising, Hunger, Indiana University, Kenya, ohio northern university, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Schools, Students, TDC, Trust Groups, Two Dollar a Day Challenge, Two Dollar Challenge, University, University of Chicago, University of Mary Washington, westminster college, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity, Youth
This Christmas, Give the Gift that Keeps Giving.
This holiday, OptINnow introduces a great gift idea for all the people on your gift list – even the impossible ones! OptINnow gift cards are a simple and thoughtful way to engage friends, family and business associates in changing the world. When you give an OptINnow gift card, you are helping to end global poverty Read more…
Tagged Christmas, Donation, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Fundraising, Gift Cards, Gift Idea, Holiday, OptINnow
#Mifimon: BRAC’s "Microfinance Plus" Approach
The following is a guest post by Jessica Elisberg from Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX). Interested in learning about microfinance? Follow our biweekly Twitter discussion group #mifimon (because Microfinance Mondays was too long for Twitter’s 140-character limit!) The aim is to host an exchange of ideas about issues relevant to the microfinance industry. You’re welcome to Read more…
