Blog
Promoting Sustainable Aquaculture in the Philippines
October 25, 2018
I recently returned from the Philippines, where I was asked to assess and advise on water quality conditions in two areas of the Caraga region of Mindanao where Winrock’s Philippines Cold Chain project, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is helping farmers and fisherfolk. These areas have adopted their own distinct technologies for cultivating […]
Fishing for Change
October 23, 2018
“Do your husbands object to your attending class?” “No, no, no,” say the women. “With a show of hands, how many of you are now earning money?” Nearly everyone in class raises her hand. The women of Baika Beel are participating in one of USAID Bangladesh’s Climate Resilient Ecosystem and Livelihoods (CREL) project’s financial entrepreneurship and […]
Sustainable Development and Science: Bridging the Gap with Tools
September 12, 2018
While sipping your tea this morning, chances are you weren’t thinking about the journey it made to reach your cup. A world away, on a plantation in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, those tea leaves grew, were handpicked by farm workers and hauled off in diesel trucks to processors who fermented and dried them. The […]
Examining Climate Information Services from Production to Uptake
July 31, 2018
By Abby Love, Fatema Rajabali and Robert O’Sullivan In June, the fifth international climate change adaptation conference, Adaptation Futures, was held in Africa, a first for the conference series. Around 1,200 people attended Adaptation Futures in Cape Town with a program that reflected the growing emphasis on climate information services (CIS) in the adaptation community. […]
Providing Low-Income Customers with Life-Improving Products
July 26, 2018
By Katie Gross and Evgenia Sokolova When Lilian first saw the modern charcoal stove for sale through a local retailer in her town of Kiserian, Kenya, she admired the product. But with only 1,000 shillings (USD $10) in her pocket, she couldn’t afford to pay for the $40 stove outright. School fees were a struggle […]
Winrock Forward
July 17, 2018
Winrock President and CEO Rodney Ferguson outlines his vision for creating maximum impact. Interview by Chris Warren As the President and CEO of a development organization with projects in the U.S. and around the world, Rodney Ferguson often carves out reading time while on airplanes. On a recent trip from his home base in Washington, […]
Getting Credit for Solar
June 18, 2018
By Samwel Tobiko of Juhudi Kilimo, and Genia Sokolova, Winrock finance consultant In Kenya, 80 percent of the population derive their livelihoods from agriculture, yet the share of agricultural finance in national credit is below 5 percent. Juhudi Kilimo, a Kenya-based microfinance institution, aims to address unmet demand for agricultural lending by focusing on rural […]
Protecting Resources, Improving Lives
March 27, 2018
By Lauren Keller, senior program associate and M&E specialist, Forestry and Natural Resource Management Nga Dang, Payment for Environmental Services development specialist. What do a pair of pigs have in common with a hydropower plant? Just ask Lang Thi Hoanh of Chieng Village in the Bat Mot commune of Vietnam. She and other women have […]
The Log Blog
January 8, 2018
By Gabriel Sidman, Spatial Analyst When a tree falls in the forests of Colombia, it does make a sound — a loud one — but only for a moment. The sound starts with the monotonous drone of a chainsaw, cutting the thinnest of wedges near the base of the tree, followed by a piercing crack […]
Water Security and the Global Water Strategy
December 13, 2017
By Eric Viala, Sustainable Water Partnership Director On November 1, in what otherwise might have been a typical congressional hearing, Republican Congressman Charles Dent looked toward his former colleague, newly installed USAID Administrator Mark Green, and posed an interesting question: “Water scarcity is known as a threat multiplier… What more will USAID do under your […]