My colleague Vymala Thuron and I were pleased to attend the GIIN Forum 2022 as MEDA representatives. For MEDA, using finance for social and environmental change is critical as we work in agri-food systems where we need to ensure these considerations are mainstreamed in each of our interventions including when deploying capital.
This year’s growing season was particularly difficult for farmers around the world. With supply disruptions caused, in part, by sanctions against Belarus and Russia, synthetic fertilizer prices skyrocketed, doubling their prices at the beginning of the growing season in April and May 2022.
Rural women play a critical role in agriculture, making up more than 40% of the labor force in many lower to middle-income economies. Yet they are disproportionately affected by poverty, perpetuated by unequal access to productive resources, non-participation in decision-making processes at all levels of governance (traditional, government, and household), and other forms of discrimination.
In 2020, MEDA launched a bold Strategic Plan, Towards an Equal World. The plan outlines our ambitious goal of creating or sustaining decent work for half a million people in emerging economies by 2030 by strengthening agri-food market systems, working in partnership with others to drive system-level impact, and most importantly, shifting decision-making from the Global North to the Global South.
Every day, we waste good food. Globally, about one-third of all food produced for human consumption is either lost or wasted. This amounts to around 1.3 billion tons every year that is wasted.
There are very few things in the world as important to life as water. On a molecular level, water can be found inside many cells and allows everything inside the cells to take the right shape.
In our “Pathways to Careers in Development” series, MEDA interviews staff members about their journey towards careers in international development.
MEDA’s Technical Director, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, Jen Denomy co-authored the article “Greater Rural Opportunities for Women (GROW): A Multifaceted approach to poverty alleviation at scale, recently published in the Enterprise Development & Microfinance Journal. Co-written with Jennifer Gurbin Harley, an international development consultant and former MEDA colleague, it features a case study that describes the project’s systematic approach to poverty reduction.
When Gosberth, a 44-year-old father of four children from Tanzania, looks back at his journey as a Cassava Seed Entrepreneur (CSE), it reminds him of what it took to get there: hard work, commitment, and a lot of networking.
Selemani lives in Lindi region, Tanzania. For most of his life, he has been a farmer and grows cassava, sesame, and cashew nuts. At first, he only grew cassava for his food. His perspective later changed when he learned of the many opportunities to grow cassava as a cash crop.
MEDA – Mennonite Economic Development Associates – is an international economic development organization that creates business solutions to poverty.
MEDA International is a Canadian non-share capital not-for-profit corporation incorporated under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act.
Mennonite Economic Development Associates is a 501(c)(3) status non-profit organization in the United States: EIN 23-7398678. Mennonite Economic Development Associates of Canada is a registered charity in Canada: No. 107 691 057 RR0001.
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