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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
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
“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.
The MasterCard Foundation on Opportunity Ghana’s Agricultural Microfinance Initiatives and Diversification for Smallholder Farmers
The following post was written by Reeta Roy, President & CEO of The MasterCard Foundation, and was published on The MasterCard Foundation blog on Wednesday, April 13, entitled “Financial Services and Diversification for Small-Holder Farmers.” Roy traveled to Ghana with Rewa Misra, Program Manager of Microfinance for The MasterCard Foundation, and Jannalee Anderson, National Director Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Clients, cocoa, Ending Poverty, Financial services, Gates Foundation, Ghana, Global Poverty, Guest Post, Jump for Opportunity, Loans, MasterCard Foundation, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity Blog, Opportunity Canada, Opportunity Ghana, Opportunity International, Poverty, Rural Outreach, Savings, Smallholder farmer, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The MasterCard Foundation, Trust Groups
What We’re Reading: Women’s World Banking Study, Reaching Women in Rural Uganda with Microfinance
On Wednesdays, we highlight an article, book or a 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 Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Banking on Women, BRAC, Clients, Ending Poverty, Finance Trust, Financial services, FINCA, Global Poverty, Loans, MFI, Microfinance, Opportunity International, Opportunity Uganda, Poverty, Pride, Rural Outreach, Smallholder farmer, Uganda, what we're reading, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, Women's World Banking, WON
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
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
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
