Publication database

This report takes stock of the increasingly pluralistic landscape of agricultural small- and medium-sized enterprise (agri-SME) finance in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, with the aim to establish a new perspective on the market overall - sizing and segmenting the market in new ways, reflecting on the rapidly accelerating imperative around climate, and identifying new priorities for action.

Based on data from 132 GDC members, as well as evidence and insights gathered by the GDC over the last three years, this report explores four major trends in the LMD sector: digitalisation, access to finance, product diversification and consumer financing. Overall, the report finds that, despite significant challenges – not least Covid-19 – the LMD sector is impactful, resilient and increasingly professional. External support, including access to finance, is key to unlocking LMDs’ full potential for impact at the last mile.

This study from the O-Farms program, implemented by Bopinc and Village Capital and supported by the IKEA Foundation, shares key insights on the untapped potential of circular agribusiness to reduce food losses and create jobs in Uganda. It finds that the most promising opportunities for circular agribusiness lie in by-products from horticulture - especially fruit - and the production of cereals, grains, dairy and fish.

Since 2013, the G4AW programme has been supporting 25 partnerships in 15 countries in Africa and South-East Asia that have taken up the challenge to develop digital solutions, using satellite and geodata to improve food and income security at smallholder food producer level. The major lessons learned from the programme (about 8 years) are summarized in this new lessons learned publication. It focuses on the business-related decisions and the steps taken to move towards a sustainable business model and scale to other services and regions.

The significance of strengthening economic growth and sustainable development through financial inclusion is critical for the Asia-Pacific region. Harnessing the advent of digital technology to enable financial inclusion is one of the most promising opportunities to bring millions of unserved and underserved people across the region into the formal financial sector. This is especially true for people who are living at the base of the economic pyramid (BoEP) and for women, who are disproportionately marginalized.

However, while the promise of digital finance is appealing, the introduction of digital services does not solve many of the root causes of financial exclusion and also creates new challenges for those at the BoEP. This policy guidebook aims to support the region’s policy makers and regulators to capitalize on the opportunity to harness digital technology as an effective means to advance financial inclusion and enhance the wellbeing of those at the BoEP, including women.

This white paper presents an overview of the waste sector in East Africa with a focus on waste-to-value startups. The findings highlights gaps, opportunities, and potential solutions that could accelerate the growth of the ecosystem.

This report offers practical guidance to last mile distribution (LMD) companies seeking digital solutions that can help them to scale up their activities. It focusses on five key areas that will enable them to better engage with digital solution providers: understanding how LMDs can benefit from digitalisation, improving accessibility, financing IT, understanding how to integrate different digital solutions, and helping digital service providers to enter new markets.

This snapshot report details how prioritising green and social enterprises delivers triple returns - economic, social and environmental – in both short and long terms. It analyses the status quo, gaps and potentials of green and social enterprises as well as the SME support landscape in different areas and locations. Building on in-depth SEED-conducted interviews with enterprises and enterprise support providers, green recovery contributions and support opportunities were identified to improve the existing support offers for green and social enterprises in a green recovery context.

This guide lists digital tools that deliver remote data collection, information, or training for farmers and farmer organizations. It assesses them on five criteria: demand, value addition, costs, transcending inefficiencies, and interoperability.