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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
Top 5 Posts About Technology
Cell phone banking, smart cards featuring biometric technology, land-mapping using GPS: technology innovations are expanding the reach of microfinance in the developing world. Learn and go deeper into microfinance with five of our all-time favorite Opportunity blog posts about technology: Chicago Microfinance Conference: Can Technology Innovations Transform Microfinance? (5/10/10) Ask a Microfinance Expert: M-Banking (2/9/10) Read more…
Tagged Africa, biometric technology, biometrics, Cell phone banking, Cell Phones, Chicago Microfinance Conference, Ending Poverty, Loans, M-banking, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, Mobile Phones, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Smart cards, Technology
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
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
Global Poverty: Melinda Gates Discusses What Can Be Done
In an interview with Melinda French Gates in the July/August issue of Smithsonian, the co-chair of the world’s largest philanthropic organization discusses what can be done and what is being done about global poverty and health. As part of the $22.7 billion the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given to development, education and health Read more…
Tagged Africa, Agricultural finance, Agriculture, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Children, Clients, Community, Education, Financial services, Health, Healthcare, Kenya, Malawi, MasterCard Foundation, Melinda Gates, MFI, Microfinance, Mobile Banking, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Savings, Schools, Students, Technology, The MasterCard Foundation, Women, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
The Potential of Cell Phone Banking
Wondering if cell phone banking can reach the unreachable? CGAP Technology Blog has published the results of a discussion with Daryl Collins (co-author of Portfolios of the Poor) and Olga Morawczynski (of Grameen Foundation) from June’s Mobile Money Summit, an examination that highlights some of the keys to effective cell phone banking. Blog author Mark Read more…
Tagged biometric technology, biometrics, Cell phone banking, Cell Phones, CGAP, cgap technology blog, Grameen, Grameen Foundation, Insurance, Kenya, Loans, M-banking, M-PESA, Malawi, Mobile Banking, Mobile Phones, Opportunity International, Opportunity Kenya, Opportunity Malawi, Portfolios of the Poor, Portfolios of the Poor: How the World's Poor Live on $2 a Day, Professional training, Savings, Technology, Training
YAO Hosts an Expert Panel: The Microfinance Landscape Today
YAO-New York core member and event co-organizer Sheila Ramachandra sends us this report from the panel discussion YAO hosted on Tuesday evening, which examined the current microfinance landscape. On Tuesday evening, YAO-New York hosted a panel discussion entitled “Trends and Challenges in Today’s Microfinance Landscape.” The panelists included Sarah Buitoni, senior associate at Women’s World Read more…
Tagged Cell phone banking, Dan Yu, Deutsche Bank, Jennifer Mitrenga, Loans, MFI, Microensure, Microfinance, Microfinance Club of New York, Mobile Banking, Opportunity China, Opportunity International, Poverty, Savings, Technology, Women's World Banking, YAO, YAO-New York, Young Ambassadors for Opportunity, Youth
UN Secretary-General Visits Opportunity Malawi Mobile Bank
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Opportunity Malawi’s mobile bank in the UN Millennium Village of Mwandama on Sunday, May 30. “The secretary-general took time to talk with one of our customers who had just made a deposit. She had her smart card [bank card using biometric technology] in her hand and explained how she uses Read more…
Tagged Africa, Ban Ki-moon, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Cell Phones, Financial services, Kiosk, Loans, Malawi, MFI, Microfinance, Millennium Village, Mobile Banking, Mwandama, Opportunity International, Opportunity Malawi, Poverty, Satellite bank branch, Savings, Smart cards, Technology, Training, United Nations, Women's Opportunity Network, Women's Philanthropy, WON
A Closer Look: Opportunity’s Work in Colombia
Opportunity International’s very first loan was made in Colombia in 1975. Since then, Opportunity Colombia has been working to provide stable financial systems to reduce unemployment, social unrest and violence in the country. And it’s working to become a national-scale bank offering loans, savings, insurance and training to Colombians living in poverty. Opportunity Colombia’s current initiatives: • Launching Read more…
Tagged Clients, Colombia, Entreprenuership, Financial Access, Financial services, Insight Trip, Insurance, Loans, Microfinance, Opportunity Colombia, Opportunity International, OptINnow, Poverty, Savings, Technology, Training
