TechnoServe’s COVID-19 Impact Report examines how the pandemic disrupted key sectors of emerging economies and the livelihoods of those who work in them. Our second feature in our blog series on the report highlights the challenges food processors faced last year and the promising solutions that could help them maintain their key role in the value chain.
Cristina Manfre, TechnoServe's Global Gender Director, discusses three priorities for improving the resilience of women farmers and entrepreneurs during the recovery from COVID-19.
Businesses in the center of the value chain are crucial to the food system, but these intermediary links are under threat from the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from TechnoServe's COVID-19 survey data, Nupur Parikh, Director, Strategic Initiatives, and Brent Wibberley, Director, Food Processing and Nutrition, break down how the pandemic has impacted agricultural value chains.
Being a mother is hard work no matter where you live. From raising a family to running a business or managing a farm, mothers around the world juggle many responsibilities. This Mother’s Day, TechnoServe celebrates the hardworking women who overcome a range of challenges as they try to provide a better future for themselves, their families, and their communities.
In Kenya, entrepreneurship offers a pathway out of poverty for many young people like Irene Minyao. However, without the right skills and support, running a small business for the first time can be a daunting task. TechnoServe recently piloted a new digital platform that will help entrepreneurs gain the business management skills they need to succeed in an increasingly competitive environment.
As India grapples with a second wave of COVID-19, farmers around the country face another related challenge: maintaining their livelihoods in times of great economic uncertainty. TechnoServe is helping smallholder farmers like Dhirendra Mishra increase their incomes by connecting them with large buyers through participation in farmer producer companies. With this additional income, farmers can invest in their families and communities.
After Hurricane Maria in 2017, Puerto Rico lost an estimated 80% of its coffee trees, crippling an entire industry and leaving many coffee farmers reeling. Today, TechnoServe is working to revive the industry by helping thousands of smallholder coffee farmers significantly increase their yields and boost their resilience to future threats.
In this series, we check back with TechnoServe program participants previously featured on our blog, documenting how their lives have changed and progressed. In our previous story on N. Mangamma, a small-scale farmer in India, she was learning how to supplement her income and improve her family’s nutrition by planting kitchen gardens. Find out how she is doing now, eight months later.
Around the world, climate change is making it more difficult for smallholder farmers to grow coffee. This Earth Day, take our quiz to find out what kind of coffee fits you best, then learn how TechnoServe is helping preserve this coffee through improving farmers’ resilience to climate threats.
For the world’s smallholder farmers, climate change is not a distant threat but a current reality. Learn five ways climate change is impacting these farmers’ livelihoods and what TechnoServe is doing to help them persevere despite immense challenges.
