Subscribe to the Blog
Subscribe via RSS
Subscribe via EmailBlog Archives
Growing Rural Economies through Agricultural Finance in Africa
In the last decade, Opportunity International embarked on an agricultural finance and rural savings program to spur economic activity and provide enduring resources for smallholder farmers and other rural clients in five African countries, including Uganda, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique and Rwanda. Opportunity’s approach is to help farmers move from subsistence growing to cash crop production Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Breakout session, coffee farmer, Crop insurance, Ending Poverty, Insurance, John Magnay, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, OIC2011, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Opportunity Malawi, opportunity mozambique, Opportunity Rwanda, Opportunity Uganda, Poverty, Savings, Smallholder farmer, Training
A Call for Sustainable Development on Oct. 17, United Nations Poverty Eradication Day
“People living in poverty face increasingly difficult challenges as climate change, environmental degradation and rising food prices threaten their livelihoods and survival.” -United Nations’s Division for Social Policy and Development Today, October 17, is the United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) and this year’s theme is “From Poverty to Sustainability: People Read more…
Tagged Agricultural finance, Alliance to End Hunger, Clients, Climate Change, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Feed the Future Guide, Financial services, Food security, Global Poverty, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, John Magnay, Julie Howard, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Richard Leftley, The Philippines, Tony Hall, United Nations, USAID, Weather-index crop insurance
Breakout Session: Global Food Security: Call to Action
As the hunger crisis persists in the Horn of Africa and elsewhere, the urgent need continues for agricultural development, nutrition assistance and humanitarian response–both short- and long-term. Join this discussion that explores the ethical, economic and global security justifications for a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to address worldwide hunger. Facilitator: Dennis Ripley, senior VP, international Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Alliance to End Hunger, Dennis Ripley, Ending Hunger, Ending Poverty, Feed the Future Guide, Financial services, Food security, Global Poverty, John Magnay, Julie Howard, Loans, Microfinance, OIC2011, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Tony Hall, USAID
Breakout Session: Agricultural Finance: Cultivating Hope
With 65% of the Sub-Saharan African labor force employed in agriculture, which provides 32% of GDP growth, according to the World Bank, the importance of the sector to the economy is clear. Agriculture is recognized as the key to revitalizing Sub-Saharan Africa’s rural regions and significantly reducing the level of poverty. In this breakout session, Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Clients, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Food security, Global Poverty, John Magnay, Loans, Microfinance, OIC2011, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Technology, World Bank
Supporting Smallholder Farmers and Laying the Groundwork to End Hunger
To end hunger, we need to grow more food in the developing world. But as we all know, before you plant the seeds, you must prepare the soil. In order to grow more food in the developing world, we must invest in agricultural training, infrastructure and systems that will empower farmers, countries and continents to Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Congress, Ending Hunger, Feed the Future Guide, Food security, Hunger, hunger fast, John Magnay, Opportunity International, President Bush, President Obama, Rajiv Shah, rural savings, Smallholder farmer, Tony Hall, U.S. Ambassador, UN, USAID
3 Breakout Sessions Not to Miss at Fall Microfinance Conference
At Opportunity’s Fall Microfinance Conference, Oct. 8-9, in Washington, D.C., the days will be packed with breakout sessions and presentations from microfinance experts, international visitors and globally-minded individuals passionate about eradicating poverty. For me, this will be my first Opportunity microfinance conference[/intlink], and I’m really looking forward to hearing from guest speakers[/intlink] like Pulitzer Prize-winner Sheryl Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Banking on Education, biometric technology, biometrics, Board of Governors, Board of Governors Conference, Cell phone banking, Clients, Community, Conference, Daryl Skoog, Dominican Republic, Education, educational finance, educational microfinance, Ending Poverty, fall microfinance conference, Financial services, Ghana, Global Philanthropy, IDP Foundation, IDP Foundation Rising Schools Program, John Magnay, Loans, Malawi, Maria Otero, MFI, Microfinance, Microfinance Conference, Mobile Banking, Mobile Phones, Nobel Peace Prize, Opportunity International, opportunity microfinance conference, Philanthropy, Poverty, pulitzer prize, Roger Thurow, Savings, Schools, Sheryl WuDunn, Students, Technology, Tony Hall, Uganda, 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
Food & Microfinance: Helping Farmers Reap Rewards
Opportunity International is prominently featured in an article entitled “Food & Microfinance: Helping Farmers Reap Rewards” in today’s Financial Times. The article highlights Opportunity’s leadership in providing both agricultural finance and microinsurance to smallholder farmers to help them increase production, support their families and feed their communities. It also references “Feed the Future,” USAID’s new Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Agrifinance, Climate Change, Education, Farmers, Financial Times, John Magnay, Leaders, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microensure, Microfinance, Microinsurance, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Poverty, Roger Thurow, Savings, USAID, Women
