Publication database

This case study explores SunnyMoney, a market-based initiative of SolarAid that seeks to eradicate kerosene lamps from Africa by 2020. It reviews the initiatives impact on children aged eight and under who are gaining access to a clean, good-quality source of solar lighting.

This study applies a base-of-the-pyramid impact assessment (BoP IA) framework to an enterprise providing sanitation services to urban slums in Kenya, with a focus on its poverty-alleviation impacts on children five years old and under. The analysis shows that assessing changes across multiple dimensions of poverty, including capability, economics, and relationship well-being, improves understanding of the effectiveness of a sanitation intervention.

This report is based on a research project which examined the impact of competition in four product markets - sugar, cement, beer and mobile phone services - in five countries. This edition focuses on Zambia and assesses how the policy framework in the country affects the degree of competition present in a given product market; and how the degree of competition affects market outcomes such as prices, competitiveness, innovation and access to services.

This report assesses the impact of Standard Chartered’s business on Africa’s economies; it focuses on four countries: Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya and Ghana (markets representing over half Standard Chartered’s African revenues), and it assesses the impact of the bank’s operations in terms of economic value added and employment supported. Chapters cover each country, plus quantitative and qualitative impacts, concluding with recommendations on how Standard Chartered further strengthen its economic contribution, particularly supporting SME growth.

This publication outlines how the SDGs offer a compelling growth strategy for African business, pointing to an economic prize of at least US$1.1 trillion by 2030 for the African private sector and the potential to create 85 million new jobs. The report highlights opportunities in four sectors: food and agriculture, energy, health and cities.

This brief reviews CARE's work on Mobile Transactions in Zambia which led to the creation of an e-voucher system to improve asset transfer programmes targeting rural smallholders. It outlines the results of the system including: dramatically reduced costs, increased efficiency, and an expansion of a network of over 500 enterprises dedicated to providing Zambian farmers with affordable access to quality inputs.

This case study explores Stanbic Bank‘s smallholder finance scheme in Nigeria which targets low-income smallholder producers and provides them with access to finance to improve the volume and quality of their production. It discusses the business model as well as development and commercial results.

This study provides an evaluation of the impact of the Connected Farmer mobile agriculture (mAgri) solution and documentation of the lessons learned during its implementation. The Connected Farmer solution addresses the value chain management inefficiencies and increases productivity of both the agribusiness and the smallholder farmers who supply them.

This report examines how one type of Japanese private sector development support, the one-village one-product (OVOP) approach, fits with other donor approaches and how it relates to the development of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). It discusses the origin and academic context of OVOP; it reviews issues in the evaluation of the OVOP approach; and it includes a brief assessment of OVOP in Malawi.

This report presents findings and best practices from idh's innovating partners with regards to empowering farmers through service delivery, while generating sustainable returns to their businesses. Learn more about their models’ drivers of farmer resilience, cost reduction and financial sustainability.  And get inspired, by service models helping millions of smallholder farmers out of poverty, in often remote areas and developing economies around the globe.