Rural households in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) working in the agriculture sector feed much of the world, bear little responsibility for driving climate change, and are being disproportionately impacted by climate-related shocks. Climate finance represents a critical opportunity to bring investment and innovations to agricultural settings to improve resilience and drive new and more…
Agriculture and energy are high on the development agenda. They are critical in driving the achievement of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) by supporting food security, enabling value addition and reducing poverty. Agriculture and energy are also closely linked to climate change and part of the solution. The African agribusiness sector could reach US$1 trillion…
Today we launch our latest research at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, looking at what is needed to deliver a low-carbon universal energy access in three key markets – Ethiopia, Nigeria and Uganda – and highlighting potentially disruptive ‘game-changers’ for each market. The country deep dives represent the third phase of the research, conducted by…
The “India Covid Response Programme for Agriculture Transition” was formally launched last week with more than 400 people attending a virtual event. The work done by all the programme partners to get the facility over the line was acknowledged and there were insights on the tremendous impact this Programme will have on lending for clean…
KEY FACTS ATG incorporates three funds; two pre-seed and one seed fund including an alternative financial instruments fund Invested in 15+ businesses in under two years amounting to $4m+ Africa Trust Group (ATG) is a holistic early-stage gender lens investor focused on accelerating investment into women-led start-ups in Africa. The start-ups benefit from ATGs women-led…
Successful and inclusive rural economic development needs to be built on long-term understanding of and engagement with rural households. New research, Understanding Rural Pathway Transitions, developed by Shell Foundation (SF) and MasterCard Foundation’s Rural & Agricultural Finance Learning Lab (RAFLL), with support from The UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) – provides a structure…
The impact of Covid-19 on the Access to Energy (A2E) sector has been well documented, with multiple surveys identifying the negative impact on sales, disruptions in supply chains, increased risk in customer collections and the cumulative impact of these factors on working capital of A2E enterprises. Enterprises have had to adapt and evolve operations to…
Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) business models have enabled solar product companies to increase their sales and penetration in low-income markets across Africa and Asia, yet the model still faces challenges of high customer default rates, driven by school fees payment scheduling, low yields and dry seasons. The last two of those default drivers can be explained by…
KEY FACTS Post-harvest losses in Tanzania account for at least 40% of farmers’ production Retailers do not have reliable supply of high-quality produce while farmers waste their harvests Supply chain inefficiencies result are a major cause of these losses East Africa Fruits (EAF) aggregates fresh produce from smallholder farmers, offering them assured market access for…
In 2018 the POWERED (Promotion of Women in Energy Related Enterprises for Development) programme was launched by FCDO India and SF to increase gender inclusion across the energy value chain, which is vital if the UN SDG7 is to be met. S4S Technologies was one of the first businesses supported through the POWERED programme, established…