October 19, 2015
Idrissa Kamara receiving the first vaccine in the EBOVAC-Salone trial in Kambia, Sierra Leone (Photo: Alexandra Donaldson, LSHTM)
By Monica Amponsah, Regional Program Manager, EBODAC Project, Grameen Foundation
This is a summary of our five-year report on the MOTECH Ghana project's experience using mobile technology to help reduce preventable maternal and child deaths.
Mobile health is a technology with enormous potential, just a fraction of which has been tapped so far. Among our efforts to realize this potential, the MOTECH program in Ghana is one of our proudest innovations.
Though mobile financial services offer microfinance institutions an important new channel to serve clients, their staff remain their most valuable asset. This is an important consideration for institutions as transitioning to mobile-based services will require all of their departments to navigate change.
Despite the large sums of money being poured into digital financial services around the world, enrollment and usage remain low and few services reach those who need them most. Grameen Foundation worked with two institutions that offer microfinance services in Uganda to help increase the adoption of digital services among current and potential clients.
With the rapid growth of mobile money services, financial providers are testing ways to use this distribution option. The infrastructure offered by mobile money operators allows financial services providers to reduce distribution costs and increase staff efficiency, while customers benefit from having more convenient and lower-cost financial access points.
Though agriculture is the main livelihood for most Kenyans, more than 75 percent of the country’s agricultural outputs are still produced by smallholder farmers on small plots of land using traditional technologies—and mainly for consumption rather than sale.
March 16, 2015
By Caroline Mwende
Dorcas Wanjiru is a small-scale farmer from Banana, an area in central Kenya that is rich in agricultural production. When we arrive at her home, she is in the farm but quickly comes over and gladly welcomes us into her home.
It is a small piece of land; less than an acre. She lives here with her husband and four children and also carries out her farming activities here.
January 21, 2015
Photo Courtesy World Vision
This study identifies challenges and opportunities of using mobile money with savings groups as it assesses: