How going digital will keep us well fed and make our farmers rich
In this op-ed, Raphael Wolf highlights the importance of digital technology and Grameen Foundation's work in Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Kifaa Cha Kidigitali Kuwawezesha Wakulima Wadogo Nchini Kuongeza Kipato
This is Swahili coverage of the launch of our new digital lay-a-way program in Tanzania. Click here to read the press release on our website.
Boosting Resilience Means Families Can Maintain Nutrition and Income
Poor, rural families in developing countries are less insulated and feel variations in climate and weather more keenly as their nutrition, health and income depend on their immediate environment.
Leveraging Services to Create New Pathways
Freedom from Hunger’s three-year initiative Building the Resilience of Vulnerable Communities in Burkina Faso (BRB), features the innovative use of community-based women’s savings groups (SGs) as a platform for providing a multi-sectoral integrated package of agricultural, nutrition, financial services, and women’s empowerment programmingto help thousands of SG members overcome many of the geographic, cultural, social and economic constraints that hamper their resiliency in the face of shocks and disasters.
Continuing Ebola vaccine research is still an urgent need
June 30, 2017 by Monica Amponsah
It has been five weeks since the latest Ebola outbreak and we are still holding our breaths. Four people died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (one confirmed case and three suspected cases of the Ebola virus); eight people have been infected. Although the cases were found in a remote area of the country, it is a constant reminder that Ebola is still with us and can spread beyond African borders.
3 Ways to Increase Financial Inclusion in West Africa
May 19, 2017 by Sybil Chidiac
As M-PESA, the popular mobile phone-based money transfer service in Kenya turns ten this year, the progress towards financial inclusion in East Africa is evident. In Kenya and Tanzania, it is easier than ever to access financial services with only a mobile phone. But it is far different in West Africa, where the slower pace of development of mobile money has meant limited financial inclusion for some of the poorest communities on the continent.
Resilience and Health Shocks: The Potential of Health Savings Accounts and Health Loans
In Burkina Faso, households have access to few resources for facing numerous health and environmental shocks. Economic games were used to introduce health savings accounts (HSAs) and health loans to participants, mimicking real-life products by a local financial service provider (FSP).
The Role of Financial Services in Building Household Resilience in Burkina Faso
To fill some of the gaps in knowledge about how financial services contribute to household resilience, a series of financial diaries and qualitative data were collected among 46 women in rural Burkina Faso. Results from the study revealed that the demand for financial services to anticipate and cope with shocks appears widely unmet.
How do you know “Resilience” when you see it? Characteristics of Self-perceived Household Resilience among Rural Households in Burkina Faso
The primary goal of this paper is to identify the characteristics of self-perceived resilience among a small sample of women in rural Burkina Faso. The findings from this paper provide unique insights into the set of factors, if reinforced by financial institutions and development practitioners, that are likely to strengthen household resilience.
Designing Financial Services to Respond to Household Shocks: A Case Study of RCPB’s Health Savings and Loan Product
This case study follows the experience of Reseau des Caisses Populaires du Burkina Faso (RCPB), a credit union network based in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in designing a health savings product and health loan (which could be accessed only when a health savings account was in use and depleted of funds) that clients could use to address health costs.