Economic and Business Development
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As Though People Mattered
Must Britain sink from riches to rags in two generations? Must we pursue indiscriminate growth through unlimited consumption? The essential purpose of economic development and discriminating growth should be to enable all people to live fulfilled lives, and that objective can only be achieved throug...
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Savings Groups at the Frontier
Savings Groups reach those rarely served by mainstream financial institutions.Maximum transparency, a profitable structure for saving, access to small loans and an annual lump sum of capital are the hallmarks of the savings group methodology. The outcome: empowered groups, made up mostly of women, w...
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We Work at Home
A training manual designed to assist organizations or individuals to facilitate the building of independent home-based worker organizations. Home-based working is defined as paid employment in the home or in a building or yard near the home, for example traditional crafts, making clothes and shoes,...
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Value Chains in Development
Value chain development can identify and address the sector-specific bottlenecks that hinder the development of an industry. Value Chains in Development charts the rise of value chain analysis from the sub-sector approach, through classic business development services, and includes how to assess val...
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Candlemaking for Profit
Candlemaking is a traditional craft which can be converted into a modern small business with viable markets in most countries around the world. This book includes instructions on how to determine the feasibility of a candlemaking business, and advises on essential business planning. It gives detaile...
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Strengthening Rural Livelihoods
Enthusiasm amongst international development agencies about harnessing the potential of information and communications technologies (ICTs) for development has generated questionning of the impact and sustainability of such interventions. By presenting the findings of research specifically designed t...
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How Africa Works
Occupational change is generally assumed to accompany ‘development’ and to be a necessary part of achieving improved standards of living. But occupational change goes beyond individuals’ economic activities and income-earning to redefine their social identity and contribute fundamentally to the reco...
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Agricultural Value Chain Finance
Agriculture remains an important means of alleviating poverty, but shortage of finance can constrain its development. At the same time, agriculture is evolving towards a global system requiring high-quality, competitive products, and is organized in value chains which often exclude smallholders. Val...
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What Works for the Poorest?
David Lawson, David Hulme, Imran Matin, Karen Moore
Poverty reduction has become the central goal of development policies over the last decade but there is a growing realization that the poorest people rarely benefit from poverty reduction programmes. Microfinance programmes can help poor people improve their lives but generally such programmes do no...
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Speaking Out
Jo Rowlands, Nikki van der Gaag
Many poor people around the world are denied the opportunity to have their say. Politics generally works well for those in power, but those in poverty are often excluded from forums that directly affect their welfare and so are unable to hold decision-makers to account. Speaking Out describes differ...