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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
Rwandan Women are Crucial to Economy — A Story on CNN.com
Check out CNN.com where Lisa Desai wrote a piece, accompanied by a video, that highlights the integral role that women play in the growing economy of Rwanda since the genocide in 1994. Today, women outnumber men in and, according to the piece, “there are more women in Rwanda’s parliament than any other country in the world. Read more…
Tagged 10000 women initiative, Africa, clementine uzabakiriho, CNN, CNN.com, Community, Education, Emerging Leaders, emerging leaders program, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Gahaya Links, Goldman Sachs, Kigali, Loan Officer, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Mothers, Opportunity International, Opportunity Rwanda, Poverty, Rwanda, Savings, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
What We’re Reading: Roger Thurow Encourages Rwandan Farmers to “Keep Up the Momentum”
This week, Roger Thurow, Senior Fellow on Global Agriculture and Food Policy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, posted a blog reporting on an unusual situation for farmers in Kirehe, Rwanda — an agricultural surplus. Thurow examines the situation, interviewing Agnes Kalibata, Rwanda’s minister of agriculture, and discusses the positive impact of USAID’s Feed Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Conference, Enough, Enough: Why the World's Poorest Starve in an Age of Plenty, Feed the Future Guide, Financial services, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Microfinance Conference, Opportunity International, Opportunity International Microfinance Conference, Poverty, Roger Thurow, Rwanda, Savings, Technology, Training, USAID
Don’t Miss the Chance to See Microfinance Work Firsthand in Tanzania
“It was exciting to see how quickly Opportunity is growing in Tanzania. We met so many of its inspiring clients when we visited — real people working hard to improve their lives.” -YAO member and 2009 Insight Trip participant Anne Edwardson On September 4-11, 2010, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity (YAO) will offer a unique opportunity to Read more…
Tagged Africa, Arusha, Clients, Financial Access, Insight Trip, Kilimanjaro, Loans, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Poverty, Rwanda, Students, Tanzania, Tarangire National Park, YAO, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity, Young Professionals
Can you have fun when addressing global poverty? YAO says YES!
Can you have fun when addressing global poverty? YAO says YES! This past month, 30 YAO (Young Ambassadors for Opportunity) members gathered at the Board of Governors conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. For some of us who had traveled to Tanzania and Rwanda together last fall on the YAO insight trip it was a sweet reunion. Read more…
More Than a Loan: Investing in Holistic Approaches to Microfinance
The following is a guest post from Betsy Perdue, Chair, Women’s Opportunity Network: Tomorrow, I will be participating in a panel with two other Opportunity International supporters at the Chicago Global Donor Network’s 6th annual conference, “Opportunity in Tough Times.” Our panel is titled “More than a Loan: Investing in Holistic Approaches to Microfinance.” Read more…
Tagged Chicago Global Donor Network’s 6th annual conference, Chicago Global Donors Network, Hotel Rwanda, Microfinance, Microloans, Paul Rusesabagina, Rwanda, Savings, Women's Philanthropy, Women’s Opportunity Network, WON
Equipping Countries to be Agriculturally Self-Sustainable
There is a green revolution occurring in the developing world led by passionate individuals with a heart for change. Within this revolution, Opportunity International is equipping nations to do something radical–to feed themselves. In honor of www.blogactionday.org, I would like to introduce Lucas Chingore. Lucas is a farmer in Mozambique. His desire was to farm Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agriculture, Agrifinance, Blog Action Day, Climate Change, Community, Enough, Farmer, Financial Access, Financial services, Food security, Food Sustainability, Ghana, Green Revolution, Kenya, Loans, Lucas Chingore, Malawi, Mozambique, Roger Thurow, Rwanda, Savings, Scott Kilman, South Africa, Sustainable development, Tanzania and Uganda
“The Girl Effect”: What an Effect!
The following is a guest post from Young Ambassadors for Opportunity supporter, Suzie Hofert: It was just another class (at least that’s what I thought). It started at a grueling 8:30 in the morning, but the class was for my major, so I had to push through. My goal: figure out how to get an Read more…
