Blog

Boosting Climate Resilience for Senegalese Farmers with Flood Residual Water Cultivation (FRWC)

Agriculture is always a risky business where to a large extent, the output is dependent on the whims of nature. And when you add the accelerating pace of climate change into the equation, the risks become more pronounced. In Senegal, agriculture employs more than half the population, and yet the country relies heavily on food imports to meet the needs of its growing population.

August 16, 2023

Data Validation for GROW2’s Success

Reliable data is the foundation and engine of good programming as it leads to informed decisions and trustworthy results. In this blog, we will discuss the importance of data validation and how the GROW2 Project incorporates validation exercises to ensure effective development outcomes and reporting.

July 28, 2023

Strategies for Integrating Microenterprises into Agricultural Market Systems in Northern Ghana

In Northern Ghana, microenterprises are prevalent in agrifood sub-sectors such as retail, production, aggregation, and processing. Despite the great economic value they bring, these microenterprises face many challenges. They often lack the capacity to engage in formal markets and financial services, primarily due to limited resources and barriers to entry.

July 11, 2023

Impact Investing in Agriculture: Alleviating Poverty and Driving Sustainable Change

The key takeaways from an in-person event, hosted by MEDA and IFAD, that shed light on the potential of impact investing to alleviate poverty and transform agricultural systems for the betterment of society.

June 26, 2023

Pathways to Careers in Development

A Conversation with Helal Ahsan-Ul-Haque, Senior Director, ESCA: “In the 38 years I’ve worked in this field, I have only one thing that I always remember in whatever work I do, which is that I want to see the smiles on the faces of our clients. That is my biggest motivation.”

June 26, 2023

How technology unleashes women’s potential

Delving deeper into the topic of “knowledge is power: harnessing technology for greater gender equality.” Exploring the challenges that women face in accessing ICTs and the opportunities that these technologies provide for empowering women.

April 25, 2023

MEDA releases updated Gender and Environment-Mainstreamed Business Improvement Tool

In 2022, MEDA decided to synthesize learnings and update the GEM Framework based on the feedback received from clients and the changing needs of the sector. The revised GEM Framework and its accompanying manual now include a comprehensive approach that encompasses not only gender equality but also diversity, equity, and inclusion.

April 21, 2023

The voices of AVENIR: What we learned from women and youth producers in Senegal

Last month, MEDA hosted the first Agricultural Value Chains Fair in Senegal. From February 25th to 27th, 2023, it worked with the Biodiversity & CIAT Alliance and the Adaption et Valorisation Entrepreneueuriales en Irrigation (et Agriculture) Rurales (AVENIR) project’s implementing partners.

March 24, 2023

Water is precious: let’s protect it on World Water Day 2023

On March 22, 2023 at the UN Headquarters in New York City, the first global UN conference on water in 46 years will be held. The conference aims to build new commitments, pledges and actions by Governments and all stakeholders towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6, and water-related targets across all SDGs, in order to move us collectively towards the Water Action Agenda.

March 22, 2023

How social norms impact women entrepreneurs’ access to finance

Women’s economic empowerment (WEE) is integral to the growth of any economy. However, women entrepreneurs face restrictive social norms, attitudes, and practices that exclude them from fully participating in the economy, including from accessing financial resources.

March 8, 2023

Bridging the Digital Divide on International Women’s Day

For International Women’s Day, we are pleased to share some of the International Women’s Day events MEDA staff will be participating in. This year’s theme is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.” We encourage you to join us where possible. We hope that our International Women’s Day content and events will give you some useful insights that will shape your thoughts about how we can advance gender equality, at home and beyond.

March 6, 2023

How partnerships drive prosperity for local Haitian businesses

Haitian businesses have the raw talent and ambition to create businesses. But in Haiti, they face an uphill struggle. The cost of borrowing is high. The business development services provided are not tailored to the needs of MSMEs. MSMEs also find hiring a trained and skilled labor force difficult due to few educational opportunities, and many skilled professionals have emigrated to other countries.

February 23, 2023