Smallholder Productivity
ISSUE BRIEF
Small Farms. Big Impact.
Community Entrepreneurship: Solving Problems and Weaving Society Back Together
“The idea of ‘social entrepreneurship’ has struck a responsive chord. … Though the concept of ‘social entrepreneurship’ is gaining popularity, it means different things to different people. … The language…
Financing Myanmar’s Smallholder Farmers With Patient Capital
We’re sometimes asked why we work in farming. Why, of all the many things we could task ourselves with, did we choose the incomes of smallholder farmers? The answer is…
Andrew Youn on Putting Farmers First to Beat Africa's Hunger Crisis
In May 2015, a group of ambitious philanthropic collaborators, including the Skoll Foundation, pledged to make a measurable dent in Africa’s hunger crisis through a catalytic $100 million investment to…
Will Artificial Intelligence End Global Poverty?
In short, no—at least when it comes to lower-income countries and populations, and not in time for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Even worse, it can be a major…
Secure Land Rights for Climate Resilience
The world’s attention this week has turned to Katowice, Poland, where leaders and advocates have gathered to discuss the global climate change agenda at the COP24 United Nations Climate Change…
Babban Gona Turns Potential Fighters into Productive Farmers
The quiet agricultural revolution that Kola Masha has sparked in north central Nigeria has its roots in the early 20th century fields of South Dakota where his grandfather banded together…
Food Security and Climate Resilience Require Land Rights Reform
For communities across the Global South, the impacts of climate change are not abstract projections but concrete realities that threaten their land and food security. In the wake of the…
Why Farmer-Centered Design Demands Deep Knowledge, Intentionality, and Trust
The big problem is clear. With a global population expected to reach more than 9.7 billion by 2050 and ambitious goals to end poverty, hunger, and food insecurity by 2030, agricultural production will need to nearly double. This increase in productivity must…
How Kickstart is Mobilizing an Irrigation Movement in Sub-Saharan Africa
Irrigation: that’s the key to lifting sub-Saharan Africa out of poverty, according to Martin Fisher. He traveled to the region on a Fulbright scholarship in 1985, and shortly after he…
A Seed of Maize: Kickstart on Storytelling for Impact
In Sub-Saharan Africa, 12 million people who rely on smallholder agriculture have improved their yields and income with the help of a single, simple piece of technology: a human-powered water…
Building Resilience With Climate Smart Agriculture
The agriculture sector is highly dependent on consistent climatic conditions to produce food. The roughly 475 million smallholder farmers in developing countries, who rely largely on rain-fed rather than irrigated…
Our Commitment to Urgent Climate Action
From water resource management and food production, to disease and conflict: climate change exacerbates underlying vulnerabilities. As the severity of these impacts increase over the coming decades, poor communities in…
Reaching the Unbanked: Citi Inclusive Finance Wins Euromoney Award
One in four people in the world is unbanked, leaving them completely outside the system of formal financial services which can serve as bridge out of poverty and unlock opportunities…
Michael Franti and Bono Celebrate Our 2017 Skoll Awardees
Invest. Connect. Celebrate. This is the Skoll Foundation’s mission and deep commitment to the field of social entrepreneurship. The Skoll World Forum is one of our greatest opportunities for the 'celebrate'…
Highlights from Skoll World Forum 2017
The annual Skoll World Forum was, as always, an inspiring, energizing, and at times dizzying week of conversations and celebrations in the hallowed halls and cobblestoned streets of Oxford. Stephan Chambers…
Skoll Awardee Kola Masha of Babban Gona on His One Regret
Kola Masha was unable to attend Oxford's New Theatre in person this evening, because he was waiting for the imminent arrival of his second child. Appolo Goma, Babban Gona Executive…
Blended Finance in a Nutshell
Also read the Skoll perspective from principal Eric Cooperström. Worldwide, roughly 450 million smallholder farmers scrape out a living by working two hectares of land or less. Figuring out how…
