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Supporting Rural Farmers, Reducing Poverty and Hunger
The John Deere Foundation recently approved a $2.5 million grant to support Opportunity’s agricultural finance program, which will extend a full range of financial services and crop-specific to smallholder farmers in five countries in Africa. “We are impressed with the progress that Opportunity International has made in increasing access to financial services for African farmers, food processors and retailers,” said John Bustle, vice president, John Deere Foundation. “Likewise, we are Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Banking on Africa, Clients, crops, Ending Poverty, Farmers, Financial services, Food security, Ghana, Global Poverty, john deere, john deere foundation, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, OIC2011, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Poverty, Savings, Smallholder farmer, sub-Saharan Africa
What We’re Watching: John Deere Classic on CBS Sports–John Deere Foundation Partners with Opportunity to Make a Difference
This video clip, which aired Sunday, July 10 on CBS Sports during the 2011 John Deere Classic PGA golf tournament, celebrates John Deere’s partnership with Opportunity International through the Classic and other initiatives. Here, John Deere chairman and CEO Sam Allen discusses the company’s commitment to philanthropy and economic development at home and abroad, ensuring Read more…
Tagged Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Ending Poverty, Farmers, Financial services, Food security, Global Poverty, Insurance, john deere, john deere foundation, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Poverty, Savings, Smallholder farmer, Training
Our Prayers for the Millions Affected by the Drought in East Africa
For the past two years, a drought has affected East Africa and has placed more than 10 million people at risk. The lack of rain, especially in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, has caused crops to fail, food prices to rise, and cattle to perish, reducing food sources and food security for the people. Unfortunately, there Read more…
Tagged Africa, Clients, Crisis, Crop insurance, crops, Drought, East Africa, Farmers, Financial services, Food security, harvest, humanitarian, IFAD, Insurance, Intern, international aid, International Fund for Agricultural Development, Kenya, Microensure, Microfinance, Microinsurance, news, Opportunity International, Opportunity Kenya, Poverty, Weather-index crop insurance
Traveling with Students of the World (SOW): Seeing the Impact of Microfinance on Opportunity Clients in Ghana
The Students of the World (SOW) Boston team is in Ghana all this month visiting Opportunity Ghana‘s microfinance operations and documenting their experiences in a diverse array of photos, posts and more on their blog. You can see all their updates and content on their site, and stay tuned to the Opportunity Blog and our Facebook Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, ashanti, Blog, Blogging, bonsaaso, Cell Phones, Clients, cocoa, Community, Ending Poverty, Farmers, Financial services, Ghana, Global Poverty, Loans, Microfinance, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, Poverty, Social Media, Students, Students of the World, Travel, Trust Group, Youth
Leading the Way in Agricultural Microfinance
Seventy percent of the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty (surviving on less than $1.25 per day) live in rural areas. Two years ago, Opportunity International launched the Banking on Africa campaign, a cutting-edge strategy to address rural poverty by expanding access to financial services in rural areas and to develop an agricultural finance Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Bank Building, Banking on Africa, Community, Crop insurance, Ending Poverty, Farmers, Financial services, Food security, IFAD, IFAD rural poverty report, Loans, market linkages, Markets, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Poverty, Rural Outreach, Savings, Smallholder farmer, Training, Weather-index crop insurance
In the News: Mobile Phone Banking and Opportunity Malawi
“For a farmer, the mobile phone has opened up a world of opportunity.” –Prof. Jenny Aker, assistant professor of economics at the Fletcher School of Tufts University The Financial Times has just published a story online and in print in their World Food supplement about the effects of mobile phone technology on smallholder farmers in Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Aleksandr Kalanda, Aleksandr-Alain Kalanda, Clients, Ending Poverty, Farmers, Financial services, Financial Times, Kenya, Loan Officer, Loans, Malawi, Markets, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, OIBM, Opportunity Bank in Malawi, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Smallholder farmer, Technology
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
Spotlight on Agricultural Finance: An Interview with an Agriculture Finance Officer
“Most of the world’s poor are smallholder farmers and their families. By targeting them, we can dramatically reduce extreme poverty and food insecurity.” -UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, addressing the Malawian parliament on May 29, 2010. Through a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the MasterCard Foundation, Opportunity is now offering greater financial Read more…
Tagged accra, Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, andrew koehler, Ban Ki-moon, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Clients, Community, Education, Ending Poverty, Farmer, Farmers, Financial Times, Ghana, Insurance, Loan Officer, Loans, Malawi, MasterCard Foundation, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Opportunity International, Poverty, Savings, Smallholder farmer, Technology, The MasterCard Foundation, Training, Uganda, 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
Getting to the Source: Meeting Ugandan Farmers and the Nile River
by Alexandra Arch, Writer and Uganda Insight Trip Participant The events of the day center on getting to the source. Not only did we trace the chain of coffee production back to the very farmer who planted the seed, but we also arrived at the source of the famed Nile River. Moving out of the Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agriculture, Agrifinance, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, boda boda, Coffee, Education, Farmers, Financial services, Insight Trip, Kalagi, Kampala, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Nile River, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Rural lending, Trust Groups, Uganda, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity
