How Farmer Segmentation Can Strengthen Supply Chains and Better Support Smallholder Farmers
Around the world, there are 35 million smallholder farming households participating in global supply chains. Yet, the contributions of smallholder farmers to the global economy are deeply undervalued. Despite playing a critical role in our daily lives and in our economy, as many as 24 million of those households, more than 122 million people in […]
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 […]
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 […]
Supporting Waitrose Workers in Kenya Through the Pandemic
Farm Africa has been partnering with the Waitrose & Partners Foundation in Kenya since 2017 and supports the delivery of projects with 12,000 workers across seven vegetable and flower farms in the Waitrose supply chain. Projects are funded by sales of Foundation produce and supplier farms in the UK and it is the workers themselves […]
Boosting young Kenyan farmers’ incomes through climate-smart agriculture
A six-year partnership between Farm Africa and the supermarket Aldi UK has enabled hundreds of young farmers in western Kenya to develop thriving horticulture businesses and build their resilience to climate change. The Growing Futures project was first launched in 2016, when Aldi UK teamed up with Farm Africa to launch a three-year initiative enabling young farmers in the northern Rift […]
Do procurement teams hold the key to living incomes for smallholder farmers?
Last year, Mars’ Farmer Income Lab estimated that up to 70% of the smallholder farmers in agri-food supply chains – more than 122 million people – may be living below the global poverty line of $3.20 per day. Mars, like any agri-business, relies on the work of these farmers around the world who produce the […]
16 Days of Activism: Essential resources from the Business Fights Poverty resident gender expert
The United Nations is marking the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence under the global theme “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!” The 16 days kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. We invited our resident […]
16 Days of Activism: Essential resources from the Business Fights Poverty resident gender expert
The United Nations is marking the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, under the global theme “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!” The 16 days kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. We invited our resident […]
How COVID-19 has accelerated financial inclusion and reinforced the need for digitalisation
Two billion people across the globe lack access to formal financial services and approximately 90% of these live in developing countries. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated growth but also increased the danger that those at the very margins of society, could get left behind. Comic Relief and Jersey Overseas Aid share findings from a new study, […]
Refocus, retool, reset: insights from a COVID-19 rapid response & recovery programme
MSMEs, especially those led by women, youth, ethnic minorities, and migrants, were significantly impacted by COVID-19 with 70-80% facing major financial difficulties[1]. To support entrepreneurs to survive and even thrive in the pandemic, YBI members and delivery partners provided in-depth services through a rapid response & recovery programme to 145,738 entrepreneurs- with 77% reporting improved […]
The role of social procurement for inclusive value chains
By definition, social procurement leverages the purchasing power of companies to achieve broader social impact objectives. It goes beyond responsible sourcing which integrates and manages ESG criteria into the procurement process. Instead, it focuses on buying goods, materials, or services from social businesses with the explicit intention to create net positive impact. Why is that […]
Creating Economic Opportunity in the Northern Triangle: Breaking Down Barriers to Growth to Stimulate Recovery
The Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Fragility caused by poverty, violence, and corruption are drivers of migration. The COVID-19 pandemic and two back-to-back hurricanes that struck the region in November 2020 decimated weak local economies and increased suffering. A new Center for Strategic […]
The pandemic, supply chains and gendered impacts
The Covid pandemic has had a profound impact on women across all dimensions of economic and social activity, finds briefing paper. From shifting gender roles in the household to the consequences on women’s roles within the economy to the health and well-being effects of the pandemic, the impact on women has been overwhelming. ISEAL, with […]
4 Pillars for Rebuilding Better
Over half of young people think that humanity is doomed, according to a new climate change survey. Since I was born just over 50 years ago, global surface temperatures have risen faster than in any other 50-year period over the past 2,000 years. Clearly, my generation has a lot to answer for. At the same time, the pandemic […]
Gender equality and a human centric approach to the COVID-19 pandemic: Is there a link and is the fashion industry doing enough?
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the world’s most loved fashion brands were quick to cancel or postpone their orders due to a shortfall in consumer demand. With high-street shoppers in lockdown, companies made dishonourable use of their force majeure contract clause to delay or avoid payments to suppliers; leaving the thousands […]
World Population and Gender Equality in the Post-Covid Era
The pandemic has caused international upheaval in terms of development aid and gender equality. At a time when low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) need more support than ever before, it has been even more challenging to get the needed funding and assistance. Girls and women in LMICs have been the most impacted, facing challenges ranging […]
Community-based healthcare for COVID response: option or necessity?
When COVID-19 hit a population of 170 million in Bangladesh, the consequences undoubtedly seemed grim. As of 11 March 2021, there are almost 600,000 confirmed cases of infection and 8,489 deaths. Yet transmission control remains a challenge and cases remain underreported, mainly due to the following three factors: (i) Lack of awareness and COVID-19-compliant behaviour: Afzal, […]
Survivors of Domestic Violence Need More Than Sick Days; They Need Practical Tools to Break Free
The Problem: Today nearly one in three women and one in seven men experience violence inflicted by an intimate partner during their lifetime.[1] [2] Tragically, the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home orders have fostered a dramatic increase to these already shocking rates of domestic violence across the globe. A variety of factors such as the […]
Rethinking global primary healthcare worker education: the value of multi-directional learning
What does it mean to ‘build capacity’ of healthcare workers globally? We know that clinical expertise must be matched with knowledge and appreciation of context – politics, policy, economy, culture. As resources are redirected to economic recovery from COVID-19, most obviously demonstrated in the recent dramatic cuts to UK development assistance, there is now an […]
Collaborating beyond COVID-19: How Business Can Go Beyond the Bottom Line
In our current times, the balance between profit and purpose has never been more tested than during the current global health crisis which we presently face. As much as the pandemic has affected communities, cultures and countries across the world, it has impacted people on a personal level and shifted the perspective on international cooperation, […]
