Global

This paper aims to explain finance innovations in a detailed way and generate insights on whether the services work as stated, create value for underserved customers, and ease age-old pain points in delivering financial services to underserved customers. Fintechs are innovating at every step of the financial services value chain, often through new value propositions. They are making financial services more affordable and accessible, are improving customere experience and accelerate use and engagement. »

This book promotes the view that sustainable food systems requires thorough insights into the structure and dynamics of agro-food production systems, the drivers for integrating food value chains and markets, and key incentives for supporting healthier consumer choices. The contributed papers focus on interfaces between food system activities and processes of adaptive change that are critical for overcoming key constraints and trade-offs between sustainable food and healthy diets. »

This position paper highlights the importance and advantages of the water, engergy, food and ecosystems (WEFE) Nexus as an approach and methodology in EU development cooperation. The Nexus corroborates the need to not view water, energy, food and ecosystems as being separate entities, but rather as being complex and inextricably entwined. Managing the WEFE Nexus is a consultative process with key stakeholders contributing and agreeing to responses to the challenges being faced. »

This publication aims to demystify the technology, provide some thoughts on the opportunities and challenges in implementing blockchain-based systems as well as document some case studies on the use of blockchain for agriculture. In the agriculture domain, self-executing smart contracts together with automated payments would be the game changer. An applications of the blockchain technology that is already in practice for agriculture is FARMS: financial and agricultural risk management for smallholders, that offers an easy entry to formal financial risk management while increasing farmers financial literacy. »

This study identified innovation opportunities that have the potential to increase access to safe and nutritious foods in emerging markets in the next five years. The 12 innovations are distinguished by 4 priorities: 1) Start with sustainable, nutritious foods; 2) Invest in proximale processing; 3) Tackle traceability for safety and transparency and; 4) Keep it cool (cold storage options). Together, they would promote increased access to safe, nutritious foods that are available to consumers for longer periods of time. »

This paper takes a retrospective analysis of the shifts in the Australian aid program that made significant progress in aligning its agriculture policy and programming to be more nutrition-sensitive, and the broader policy environment which made these shifts possible. »