Addressing the Future of Work for Young Africans in a Post-Covid World
Covid-19 has undeniably changed the way in which we understand the world of work coupled with unemployment numbers that have increased globally. We have undoubtedly read horrifying statics about youth unemployment and the scarcity of traditional job opportunities. It is estimated that we will witness a global figure of 73 million unemployed youths by the […]
Network of Small-Scale farmers in India Tackle Climate Change
“It was a turning point for me,” said Ruchi Jain, Founder and CEO of Taru Naturals, about her trip to the villages of small-scale farmers in India struggling with the effects of climate change. “I realized that if you want to make a big impact on the world, you have to be grassroots-based—it has to be […]
Effective Support for Women Entrepreneurs Goes Beyond Skills Training
Effective Support for Women Entrepreneurs Goes Beyond Skills Training Bernadette Sambo is an entrepreneur, wife, and mother of three in Maputo province, Mozambique. The challenge of balancing these roles is only made more difficult by restrictive gender-based social and familial expectations. “It had been very difficult to work and negotiate with my husband,” she recalls. […]
If We Want to Meet the SDGs, We Need to Ditch Empty Rhetoric and Invest in Young People
‘Youth is the future. The leaders of tomorrow. Youth will change the world’. This is all true. But the rhetoric banded around at leadership events is not being matched by actions that enable youth’s full and meaningful participation. Last month’s International Youth Day (12 August) serves as a powerful reminder that this needs to change. […]
New Report: Women Champion Forest Conservation in Bale, Ethiopia
A new report outlines how Farm Africa and SOS Sahel Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains Eco-region REDD+ forest conservation programme in Oromia, Ethiopia has achieved impressive results in reducing deforestation, cutting greenhouse gas emissions and increasing household incomes and gender equality. Since 2012, Farm Africa has been working in partnership with the NGO SOS Sahel Ethiopia, with […]
The Business Case for Collective Landscape Action
Throughout the tropics, rates of forest and biodiversity loss are accelerating while the global impacts of the climate crisis are escalating. If tropical deforestation were a country, it would rank third in global emissions, behind only China and the United States. Much of this deforestation is driven by commodities such as coffee, timber, palm oil, […]
Greater Investment Imperative as Climate Disasters Become More Frequent
Pakistan’s catastrophic floods have so far caused at least 1,134 deaths, submerged a third of the country and upended the lives of 1.2million people (according to news reports). This is the human cost of the climate crisis and our thoughts are with those affected by the disaster. (Fairtrade statement on Pakistan floods – Fairtrade Foundation) […]
On The Difference Between Us and Them as Opposed to Us vs Them
On The Difference Between Us and Them as Opposed to Us vs Them The words “us” and “them” typically are used to characterize problematic opposition. There is a good reason for that. But we all need an “us.” If you have an “us,” there is going to be a “them.” That’s not a bad thing. […]
Real-time information for famers enables climate change adaption
How does Lentera use data to enable farmers to adapt to climate change? We use satellite and weather data to provide farmers with crop specific advice with regards to fertilizers, pests and diseases, and water management of their farms. This helps farmers adapt their agronomy practices in line with changing climate patterns. We also use […]
Steps for improving incomes in banana supply chains
Banana producers face an ever-tightening financial squeeze, caused by soaring export costs, plummeting import prices, climate change, Covid-19, supermarket price wars and the fusarium TR4 fungus. Add to this rising food prices and shortages of farming inputs like fertiliser, and you have a perfect storm. These challenges threaten the prospects of smallholder banana farmers and […]
The Importance of Nudges & Bridges in an Increasingly Conflicted World
A Kelley School of Business Center for International Business Education and Research Interview with Tim Fort As part of the series of Nudges & Bridges, it is worth taking a step back from time to time to remember the main themes of the idea. Or maybe one could think of it as remembering the forest […]
How can young people from low-income countries get the best from financial services?
How can young people from low-income countries get the best from financial services? With goals that range from “[being] financially stable”, to “being an established business tycoon”, young people from low-income communities have big ambitions. However, due to an interwoven mix of financial barriers, they currently lack the information, infrastructure, and knowledge to pursue such […]
The Great Divergence: Academic research and Ground Realities
The Great Divergence: Academic research and Ground Realities In a rather disarming article titled ‘On Research and Action’ published in 2002 in the Economic and Political Weekly, the economist Jean Dreze expands on some of the limits of research and embarks on one of the foundational expositions of ‘barefoot research’. Reflecting on a campaign to […]
Boosting Learning Gains for Children Living in Underserved Communities
Boosting Learning Gains for Children Living in Underserved Communities A Nobel Prize-winning economist has confirmed among the largest learning gains ever measured by a major study in international education. The groundbreaking study, led by Professor Michael Kremer, the 2019 Nobel Prize-winning economist, suggests that children living in underserved communities receive 53% more learning in NewGlobe-supported schools […]
Progress in closing the gender gap in mobile internet use has stalled
Progress in closing the gender gap in mobile internet use has stalled More than 3.2 billion people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) now access the internet on a mobile phone. Mobile is the primary way men and women access the internet in LMICs, accounting for 85% of broadband connections in 2021.[1] Despite the critical […]
Advancing Gender Equality through Inclusive Distribution Networks
Advancing Gender Equality through Inclusive Distribution Networks Women play a vital role in fast-moving consumer goods, or FMCG, value chains. Much of the focus on accelerating gender equality in this space, however, has been limited to supporting women suppliers. Women can also play key roles in FMCG value chains, both as distributors and as retailers. […]
Three critical actions to lift smallholder farmers from coffee ‘limbo’
Since launching our sustainability ambition for the future of coffee two years ago – Coffee LENS – we’ve seen coffee prices swing from a four-year low, to record highs. The current spike will be offering some respite to the world’s 12.5m smallholder producers. But as the coffee cycle goes, high prices induce oversupply from the […]
Uncovering the true cost of stunting to the private sector
Uncovering the true cost of stunting to the private sector – and how tackling it can save lives, as well as boost profits With global food, fuel and fertilizer prices soaring, WFP predicts that the 276 million people already facing acute food insecurity, could rise to 323 million by the end of the year. The […]
Nudges & Bridges: The Sporting Life
Certainly, when we play on a team or cheer for a team, we want our side to win. Yet, in the midst of that desire and any team’s (or fan’s) competitiveness, acts of sportsmanship can draw both sides together. Sportsmanship demonstrates the bonds that players and fans have that extend beyond the final score. In […]
Social inequality has become an investor priority
When the European Union embraced the concept of double materiality in the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, mandating that investors consider risks corporations externalize onto people, the business and human rights movement notched a significant win. Now the notion of double materiality is also taking shape in a different guise beyond Europe: in rising investor concerns […]