Women's Economic Empowerment

Creative solutions to agricultural water management in an arid region of India are boosting yields and incomes for smallholder farmers.

By Daniella De Franco and Isaac Gardner Like many women in Desvarieux, Haiti, Nadege Gabriel works hard to make ends meet. In a rural economy burdened by instability and poor market infrastructure, she struggles to maintain a steady income and worries about how to keep her young son…

Rose Amachi, an alumna and mentor of TechnoServe's Young Women in Enterprise program, is working to empower girls and young women in Nairobi's Kawangware slum.

Learn why job creation and economic development will drive Haiti’s recovery.

Girl-centered design works. Learn how TechnoServe transformed a program in Kenya with guidance from girls.

Byagatonda Emmanuel and his wife Murerehe Speciose live in a prime coffee-producing area in Rwanda, but for years they produced low-quality coffee in small quantities.

Access to credit frees Haitian farmers to sell and invest on their own terms. As part of the Haiti Hope Project, TechnoServe and its partners have launched a pilot loan program for farmers who have difficulty accessing credit in Haiti.

In the developing world, small businesses face a number of obstacles that their counterparts in developed countries do not.

Sam Koole, chairman of the Kainja Mango Farmers Association, remembers a time only a few years ago when the fruit from the Sena, a variety of mango native to eastern Uganda, was left to rot on the ground. Since launching Project Nurture in 2010, local farmers are no longer taking the Sena for granted.

Even in the poorest of countries, business opportunities exist. People have demand for goods and services, and they have the potential to supply them. All too often, though, markets in these countries fail.