📣 Out Now! SDC Empower! Podcast Episode 14 🎧

The Economic Power of Periods: Empowering Women by Making Menstrual Health & Hygiene Entrepreneurs and Markets Thrive 🩲🌸

With 1 in 4 people who menstruate struggling to manage their menstruation safely, it's clear the global community has overlooked a vital development and investment opportunity. In this episode, we explore the challenges and opportunities in the menstrual health and hygiene market from two perspectives: Adrian Dongus, Menstrual Health Markets Specialist at the UN Sanitation and Hygiene Fund, discusses how to address structural barriers, while Mary Nyaruai, founder of Nyungu Afrika, shares how her circular economy startup transforms agricultural waste into eco-friendly sanitary pads. Both aim to transform markets across low and middle-income countries so that every person who menstruates can access the quality menstrual health products they want and need. Tune in now to learn how menstrual health and hygiene are key to women’s economic empowerment! 💼✨ 

👉 Listen to it here

To see pictures of our guest Mary Nyaruai’s eco-friendly sanitary pads and how they are produced, watch the short video on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And don’t forget to like and share it with your network. 

All SDC Empower! Podcast episodes can be found on spotify.

Happy Listening! 🎧

Brought to you by the Peace, Governance and Equality Section (PGE) & the Economy and Education Section (E+E)

📣 Out Now! SDC Empower! Podcast Episode 13 🎧

The Power of Gender Lens Investing: Shifting Capital to Close the Gender Gap 💼✨

In the face of worsening gender disparities, investing in girls and women emerges as a vital strategy. Join us as we delve into the transformative power of gender lens investing with Jessica Espinoza, CEO of 2X Global. From entrepreneurship to supply chain practices, Jessica Espinoza sheds light on the potential of gender lens investing to drive both financial returns💰 and social impact🌍. Envision a future where increasing amounts of capital within the expansive financial system are redirected towards advancing gender equality. This shift has already begun. This episode explores how we can accelerate it together🤝.

👉 Listen to it here

To see pictures of our guest Jessica Espinoza spearheading the promotion of gender lens investing internationally, watch the short video on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. And don’t forget to like and share it with your network. 

Do you have a new podcast topic idea? We look forward to recieving your suggestions: miranda.fiedler@eda.admin.ch  

All episodes can be found on spotify and google podcast.

Happy Listening! 🎧

Brought to you by the Peace, Governance and Equality Section (PGE) & the Economy and Education Section (E+E)

We are excited to share that we have just launched a fresh series of events designed to bring us together in a more informal setting. It's not just about showcasing our "final" products, but also about learning, sharing updates, understanding how others tackle projects, and gaining insights from various processes. The series is called: The Inclusive Economy Open Mic. The experiences will be shared with the education network for (mutual) learning and uploaded to the E+E shareweb.

More information: here

SDC E+E network members can ask for support from a pool of external experts for up to 3 days for PSD, VSD and FSD projects and for up to 4 days for PSE projects. You can use this service without any contracting and free of cost or administrative work for your unit. If your request is of general interest, the E+E network may even be able to cover for more than the above-mentioned duration. Find more information here on our shareweb.

Are you curious to learn how other colleagues have used this offer?

- Four colleagues from the SDC Chad and two colleagues from SDC Niger requested a tailored Market Systems Development (MSD) Training through the free support by external experts. The training took place between mid-October and mid-November 2023, consisting of online classes and offline homework. The participants not only benefitted from conceptual inputs and practical work on their own projects, but this also offered the opportunity to exchange and strengthen the connection between the two offices.

- Several SDC head office staff (VSD, PSD, PSE) and country offices requested further information about the possibility of engaging Swiss institutions and experts in hospitality and tourism. Online exchanges took place in the form of a question-and-answer session, followed by a mapping of the main Swiss actors and the sharing of additional resources. The participants benefitted from learning about previous SDC and SECO projects and an analysis of the different actors regarding their potential involvement in the different types of projects.

More information: here

Do you also wish to learn more about how development programmes can make a meaningful contribution to changing the existing economic system to an Inclusive Green Economic (IGE) system?

Then join the SDC Economy network’s upcoming series of consultation tables on Green Skills, Circular Economy and Green Finance.

You will find more information about the consultation process, outcomes and interesting reading materials on our newly created Shareweb page “Inclusive Green Economy”.

Looking at skills in the Inclusive Green Economy: The Donor Committee on dual VET (DC dVET) is conducting a series of interactive online Barcamps (Webinars) between October 2023 and June 2024. You can find more information on our new Shareweb page "Inclusive Green Economy". 

Graph: See the "Inclusive Green Economy Orientation paper" (2023), page 9, for complete graph.

The SDC-supported project Enhancing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and Investments (3Ei) just started its second year of implementation in Cambodia. It is the first project in the field of entrepreneurship and start-up enhancement within SDC’s Inclusive Economic Development portfolio in the country.

Still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, Cambodia’s economy is characterized by a high degree of informality and an increasing number of small and growing businesses (SGBs). These are considered a driving force for economic growth and have given rise to the emergence of multiple supporting actors in the ecosystem, especially for young entrepreneurs. However, these initiatives in support of entrepreneurs and potential investors remain fragmented and uncoordinated. Moreover, SGBs in Cambodia generally lack affordable financing and face a number of additional challenges, such as limited access to new technologies.    

Against this background, the 3Ei project co-implemented by Swisscontact and the government agency “Khmer Enterprise” was launched in early 2023 to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem and mobilize investments in SGBs and start-ups in Cambodia. It is co-funded by SDC, KOICA and Khmer Enterprise. On the one hand, the project aims to enhance coordination and collaboration within the ecosystem, and on the other hand, it aims to increase business performance and investments. 

The main project intervention areas are fourfold:

1. Deepen productive relationships within the entrepreneur ecosystem 

2. Foster entrepreneurship and innovation with the support of external experts and consultants

3. Strengthen reliable data to increase the transparency and attractiveness for investments

4. Establish a blended finance services facility which allows impact enterprises to access technical assistance for pre and post-investment

In December 2023, one of the project’s key events, “Cambodia’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Strengthening Conference” (CAMESCO), successfully held its second edition in Phnom Penh. It attracted around 180 participants representing close to 90 national and international institutions and discussed critical topics such as gender lens investing, blended finance and lessons learned about global and regional best practices. It can be considered as the culmination and wrap-up of a year’s efforts to strengthen Cambodia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

Started in 2023 and still ongoing, the 3Ei project also coordinates the establishment of a national entrepreneurial ecosystem roadmap strategy, which is planned to be endorsed by the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology later this year. The strategy will serve as a tool to identify key actors and priority interventions in the sector, ensuring a coherent and efficient approach for the ecosystem as a whole. 

With the project ending in 2027 only, several more promising years of joint efforts are yet to come!

Livestock farming has been traditionally practiced in Armenia for centuries. Up to this day, it remains one of the most common businesses in the local communities with a far-reaching impact on the whole country and a solid potential to address unemployment and labor emigration issues, continuously improving living standards in the regions. 

In 2006, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC and the Strategic Development Agency NGO (SDA) launched the Livestock Development in Armenia project to further develop and support the sector. 

Through multiple implementation phases, the Project pioneered efficient livestock practices, initially in southern Armenia and then expanding to the north, introducing modern methodologies and technologies, establishing relevant infrastructures, and providing necessary equipment and training.

The project covered the majority of Armenia's administrative districts in the south and the north of the country, including an extensive number of settlements in Syunik and Vayots Dzor and Gegharkunik, Tavush, Lori, and Shirak regions.

This study introduces the key achievements and objectives of the Livestock Development in Armenia project (2006-2021).

You can find more information here or download the study (pdf).

Listen to episode 12 of the SDC ‘Empower!’ Podcast, featuring inspiring and insightful stories on how to promote women’s economic empowerment

As part of SDC’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Campaign, the Empower! Podcast released a new episode on GBV prevention.

Economic deprivation and economic exclusion of women is connected to gender-based violence (GBV). In this episode, Rana Al-Motairi and Reine Musharbash from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) explain how they use women's economic empowerment as an entry point to engage men and boys in the prevention and reduction of GBV in refugee camps and the wider society in Jordan. Paired with economic interventions, gender discussion groups encourage a shift towards more equitable power relations within the households. Moreover, in the so-called engaging men in accountable practice interventions, men are challenged to rethink their belief systems, guided by the voices of women in their community.

To see pictures of our guests and the IRC projects discussed in the episode, watch the short video on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or X. And don’t forget to like and share it with your network. 

All episodes can be found on spotify and google podcast.

Happy Listening!

Brought to you by the Peace, Governance and Equality Section (PGE) & the Economy and Education Section (E+E)

Once again, sustainable finance met sustainable development, at the 4th edition of Building Bridges, which brought together a wide range of participants from Switzerland and internationally in Geneva. The conference was opened by Alain Berset and SDC was represented on several panels, on the topics of impact-linked finance in education, circular economy and impact measurement. The SDG Impact Finance Initiative reached a broad audience.

You can watch recordings of many of the 70+ discussions here.

Businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights. On the 15th of November 2023, the Federal Council recommitted to implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business & Human Rights in Switzerland and tasked the PHRD and SECO with updating the Business and Human Rights National Action Plan for 2024-2027 (NAP). 

Click here to learn more and find tools and guidance on how to promote human rights in the private sector in your work.

Check out the video series on business and human rights, where human rights due diligence and risk analysis are explained.

As part of SDC’s 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Campaign, the Empower! Podcast released a new episode on GBV prevention. Listen to Rana Al-Motairi and Reine Musharbash from the International Rescue Committee explain how they use women's economic empowerment as an entry point to engage men and boys in the prevention and reduction of GBV in refugee camps and the wider society in Jordan.

Get inspired by this or any of the previous 11 episodes: here.

Are you interested in thematic mentoring, or have you recently joined the Economy and/or Education Networks as an NPO or in another role and are eager to learn? Mentoring is a renowned technique for personal development and professional growth that benefits both parties.

Click here to access the information brochure and registration form. We will make sure you are matched with the right person based on your interests and experience. 

Achieving Social Impacts in the Energy Access Sector

Key Takeaways from EnDev’s Social Impact Incentives (SIINC) Off-Grid Energy Pilot

financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)

EnDev is excited to share a lessons learnt report from the completed implementation of our recent pilot project in Kenya: an explicitly impact-oriented Results-based Financing (RBF) project. Piloting this so-called SIINC project in the field of energy access gives us insights and food for thought for the future of RBFs.

Click here for the full news article & video. 

Social Impact Incentives (SIINC) was co-developed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and Roots of Impact. It is a financial instrument that rewards enterprises for achieving social impact – instead of pure sales figures. The aim is thus to leverage funds to catalyse private investment in underserved markets to generate impact.

Energising Development (EnDev) is a strategic partnership of likeminded donors and partners to support access to modern energy. The driving forces behind EnDev are Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland.

Are you also concerned with unemployment rates?  Are you also often disappointed with programs’ impacting under- and unemployment?  Do you wish to make a difference for your target group?  Then take 30 minutes to scan this slide deck that will help you to design and steer employment programs better. 

It helps you to understand and address the real challenges in labour markets. It helps you to put labour markets central to your analyses and program design. It raises seven crucial issues and answering them will inform you how your programs should influence labour markets, with realistic expectations about the programs’ potential impact. This slide deck leans on existing and emerging concepts, approaches and tools and serves as a gateway to further readings.

Developing this slide deck raised discussions and we hope that this final version will also trigger further discussions in the field. That is what is needed if we are serious about unemployment.  

Give us (Peter Beez and/or Hans Posthumus) feedback, tell us what you wish to do, and tell us what you need to make the difference!

Low productivity is often a key constraint in many sectors. Yet, sector productivity is rarely a good indicator for improved livelihoods of target groups. It says nothing about the root causes of low productivity and it says nothing about the resulting benefits of increased sector productivity. A systemic approach is needed, defining relevant sector and target group performance indicators to assess why root causes change and how that affects the target groups’ well-being.       >> here

In 2020, the SDC launched a fund to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Nepal that had been hit hard by the pandemic. The fund has helped avert layoffs, created over 400 new jobs and strengthened the local economy. The aim of the programme was to retain jobs and support companies in overcoming the crisis. The appoach of blended finance and the support for business development have leveraged private sector investment in sustainable development.

Read the full story here.

Building Bridges is a joint initiative, launched in 2019 by Swiss public authorities (incl. SDC), the finance community, the United Nations and other International partners to accelerate the transition to a global economic model aligned with the SDGs. At the core of the initiative is the recognition that the scale and complexity of the transition require “building bridges” between multiple stakeholders in the finance, government, and  international development communities.

This year's edition will take place between October 2-6 in Geneva and host keynote speakers such as Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Mahmoud Mohieldin (Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or Sergio Ermotti (Group Chief Executive Officer of UBS). Amongst 70 events organized by over 130 organizations, on October 4, SDC will be co-hosting a panel dedicated to Innovative Financing for Entrepreneurial Solutions in Emerging Markets. 

SDC commissioned an independent evaluation of SDC’s Private Sector Engagement (2015-2021). The evaluation assessed the performance of SDC’s programmes and projects along the OECD DAC criteria of relevance, coherence, effectiveness, impact, efficiency, and sustainability. The evaluation aims to support SDC in achieving the objectives of Switzerland’s International Cooperation Strategy 2021-2024, and in contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Overall, the evaluation found that the diligent effort and significant resources invested by the SDC in its PSE are paying off in innovation, learning and results progress. However, there are some crucial issues SDC still must address for its PSE to achieve its full potential. 

In terms of PSE usefulness to contribute to SDC and its partners’ goals, the evaluation found that the Agency is effective. It is, however, well-positioned to do more in the short and medium terms. To do so, the Agency needs to better strategize its way forward. SDC’s PSE modality is working well to foster partnerships with the private sector. Yet, to ensure that PSE contributes to the goals of the private sector, SDC must take their needs and priorities into consideration. PSE is useful to contribute to partner countries’ goals. Projects normally match partner countries’ national needs and priorities. Nevertheless, the evaluation also highlighted the lack of involvement of the governments themselves in SDC’s PSE projects. While PSE focuses mainly on creating synergies with the private sector, it is also important to have national governments involved, including authorities at the sub-national level.

The evaluation report including the senior management response can be found here.

Link to the presentation

During our webinar (January 2023) participants had the opportunity to learn how simple, cost-effective, changes in relation to SCALE characteristics improve an entrepreneur's journey to success and their enterprise's ability to create impact.

Why do some enterprise support programs make little to no meaningful difference whereas others prove transformative in accelerating enterprise growth, employment gain, ability to raise capital, and the expansion of enterprises delivering social and environmental goods?... >> more

The factsheet provides an overview of how Basic Education is addressed at SDC. It discusses the main challenges faced, the strategic priorities pursued, and the partners supported at the international, regional, national and local levels. In addition, it presents the expenditure by education sector and by area within SDC. A map presents the geographic spread of SDC's Basic Education projects and is complemented by project examples that illustrate SDC's engagement in Basic Education.

Link to the factsheet

  French Version    German Version

This updated VSD Factsheet provides an overview of the opportunities and challenges in vocational education and training, SDC's approaches to promote vocational skills development in its projects, the partners , as well as project examples and facts and figures.  

Link to the factsheet

Podcast Empower! – New episode on how weaving empowers women and preserves cultural heritage in Myanmar

In this episode, Nathalie Paarlberg talks about Turquoise Mountain and the work they do with women weavers in Myanmar. Myanmar has a long artisanal tradition of weaving, and Turquoise Mountain ensures that the weavings are spread throughout the world. The organization not only helps female weavers earn an income, but also encourages them to pass on an ancient tradition with special fabrics like silk to the next generation, preserving one of Myanmar's cultural assets. 

Find all podcasts >> here

The evaluation found that overall programmes such as PES and SIINC LATAM, which promote both the social impact of small- and medium-sized enterprises and support a conducive social entrepreneurship ecosystem are highly relevant in the Latin American region. This report includes the management report of SDC.

Link to the report

The Summit organized by GenderSmart took place in October and provided a unique platform for development actors to come together with over 300 senior investment leaders, finance intermediaries and gender experts who want to advance gender equality through gender lens investing (GLI). The theme was ’Traction to Transformation’, seeking to explore ways how the growing GLI community can create a new era of sustainable, gender-smart growth.

IED (now part of E+E) and FCHR thematic units have engaged on a workstream to provide SDC staff with practical guidance on        

i) how to plan and implement IED projects in fragile contexts, taking into account the particular challenges of fragile contexts and 

ii) how IED projects can go beyond the minimalist approach of doing no harm (working in conflict/ fragility) by explicitly contributing to reduce fragility (working on conflict/fragility).

Link to the guidance sheet

This practical guidance sheet should be used as additional practical tool together with the slide deck and FAQ published on the shareweb (links below): 

Slide Deck: Inclusive economic development (IED) in fragile contexts 

FAQ: IED in fragile contexts Slide Deck

Village Capital with the support of its partners at the Impact-Linked Finance Fund, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the Austrian Development Agency have launched the Catalyzing Financial Inclusion: Gender-Inclusive Fintech Solutions for Migrants report. This report shares insight on the financial inclusion obstacles disenfranchised migrant populations (especially women migrants) face in Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, and South and Southeast Asia – and highlights innovative, tech-driven solutions to these challenges.  

Link to the report

You can now find the new MSD tool library on BEAM Exchange's website.

The library offers: 

• Easy access for MSD practitioners at all levels of expertise
   It provides an entry point for individuals who are new to the MSD approach. It amplifies useful tools and facilitates dialogue by sharing contact details of tool authors.
• Tool classification and categorisation
   It helps users find the tool they need quickly using filters that search by tool type, theme and programme area. 
• Regular updates including the latest innovations
  The library will be kept up to date through stocktaking and curation, approximately every two years.

In 2021, SCBF committed over CHF 1.36 million towards 13 new projects, attaining CHF 18.26 million in grant funding committed since inception. The projects SCBF co-funded touched a variety of themes: digital transformation for effective and efficient service delivery, micro-property insurance to enhance the resilience of MSMEs and low-income households, and innovative index-based insurance to enable vulnerable smallholder farmers and households to adapt in the face of an increasingly changing climate. Additionally, SCBF’s membership grew from 25 to 27, as SCBF had the pleasure to welcome AXA and the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy (BASE). 

SDC is a strategic partner of SCBF.

Click here for the report.

This document is a guidance paper for SDC head office and cooperation office staff. 

This is the updated version 2022 in English and French. The Spanish version is from 2017.

The guidance document provides advice for SDC staff on how to manage projects using a market systems approach. Advice is provided for developing the initial project idea and formal entry proposal, the tender process, the inception phase, credit proposal and implementation phase, steering and monitoring, evaluation and preparation of a following phase.

There is also a short video with explanation and overview of the guidance paper  - see video in English or see video in French.

Further, there is a brief for decision-makers and a poster that can be printed and displayed in your office to make people aware of the guidance.

This report documents the evaluation of the Nepal Cooperation Strategy 2018-22 from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The evaluation entailed a qualitative inquiry into the development effectiveness of the Cooperation Strategy. Its purpose was to inform the formulation of the new Nepal Cooperation Program 2023-26. The evaluation was conducted by two external evaluators and two SDC staff.

Check ou the findings and recommendations for the bilateral inclusive economic development programmes in Nepal. It's a must read!

Two new episodes are out now:

Ep. 6: Gender Transformative Approach: changing attitudes towards women's role and responsbilities

Ep. 7: Artisanal embroidery - empowering refugee women one stich at a time

Find the podcasts >> here

The guide is mainly directed to SDC staff and brings together knowledge on Local Economic Development (LED) with current experiences of delivering LED. It was developed together with SDC’s thematic network on governance and aims to support design, implementation and steering of LED initiatives within SDC. After an introduction to LED, this guide helps to deepen the understanding of the implications of LED for programme management.   >> have a look

This Information Package is designed for SDC staff and practitioners involved in inclusive economic development (IED) programmes. It provides an introduction into the IED approaches and ways of systemic thinking through three interlinked economic thematic priorities on system and individual level: Vocational Skills Development (VSD), Private Sector Development (PSD) and Financial Sector Development (FSD), and the modality of private sector engagement (PSE).

Updated version April 2022 - An easy to read introduction for a quick overview of the topic IED

Listen to the stories of our colleagues on how they advance Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) in their IED projects and programmes, in this ongoing podcast-series. 

Find the podcasts >> here

Ep. 5: Privilege & prjeudice: How to address them for a more just society and women entrepreneurship

Ep. 4: Impact, leadership and business support to women in Colombia

Ep. 3: Using ancestral and scientific knowledge to empower rural women in Peru for sustainable tourism.
Ep. 2: Better boxes for fruit vendors - a solution that is improving women economic empowerment!

Ep. 1: How to ensure gender equality in call for proposal formulation and selection

Did you know that there is a new revision of the popular ‘Managing MSD Projects’ guidance, published by the IED Network? 

The guidance document provides advice for SDC staff on how to manage projects using a market systems approach. Advice is provided for developing the initial project idea and formal entry proposal, the tender process, the inception phase, credit proposal and implementation phase, steering and monitoring, evaluation and preparation of a following phase.

You can find the new version of the guidance on the IED Shareweb in English and French

Watch a short video with explanations and overview of the guidance paper  - in English or in French

Further, there is a brief for decision-makers and a poster that can be printed and displayed in your office to make people aware of the guidance. 

For more information on MSD, please check out this Shareweb page

InovAgro launched its case study series to capture the knowledge it has gained on market systems development in Mozambique since 2011 and to share it widely among the agricultural development stakeholders including the government, market actors, and donor agencies. This case study on Establishing Private Sector Capacity for Seed Inspection in Mozambiqueis the seventh in the series and reviews the work of InovAgro between 2015 and 2021 to work with the National Seed Department (SD) of the Ministry of Agriculture, the government regulator, to improve delivery of seed certification services. InovAgro’s support included working with the SD to improve the regulatory framework for the certification of seed, and to pilot the training to demonstrate the value proposition for the private sector to invest in (i.e. pay for) training their staff to be able to inspect their own fields as part of the certification process and build a market for the training. It examines the issues around the current level of sustainability and the implications for the future.

>> Case Study (21 pages)    >> Short article (2 pages)

Practical Insights on Local Economic Development organized by SDC’s Inclusive Economic Development (IED), and Democratisation, Decentralisation and Local Governance (DDLG) Networks. 

Content: Presentation of the new SDC guidelines on developing local economic development programmes and more .... go to event

Dear colleagues and IED-Aficionad@s

As we are writing this Season’s Greetings E-card, hopes that humankind and our planet would find some calmer waters were unfortunately not fulfilled. The effects of political and social unrest as well as climate change have reversed the developments of recent years in many corners of the world. The ongoing pandemic exposed our world’s vast inequalities, with developing countries bearing the economic brunt of the disease and finding themselves last in line for vaccines.

There are of course some rays of light. Despite difficult circumstances, the teams in the field have moved ahead with confidence and the necessary "feu sacré". You have found context-adapted solutions for project implementation and for the greatest possible benefits for our beneficiaries, and you have launched innovative projects or have developed new cooperation programmes. We would like to express our appreciation and convey our congratulations for these achievements.

With increasing inequality, inclusive economic development and private sector engagement initiatives become even more important. We welcome very much your efforts in this regard and stand ready to support you in your on-going and new endeavors to come.

All the very best for this festive season and the new year ahead. We are looking forward to a great year of working together - Happy 2022 to you and your families!

Wishing you a restful end-of-year break.

Your IED Team

InovAgro completed two in person and one virtual close-down workshops to share the results of its 11.5 years transforming agricultural market systems to benefit smallholder farmers in the north of Mozambique. More than 200 participants from private and implementing partners, donors and government agencies heard presentations and watched videos demonstrating how InovAgro’s work in the seed, output marketing and access to finance sectors led more than 25,000 smallholder farmers to generate net income increases of more than $34 million which will continue to grow into the future. At the closing, Dr Vala, the Director of the National Cereals Marketing Institute who had collaborated with InovAgro for 10 years, highlighted the adaptive processes to support government policy and private sector to support the growth of the seed sector and improve output marketing. 

The videos presented during the events can be found here at  and a recording of the virtual presentation. 

Welcome to the "Empower!" podcast from the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation, where we will be getting to know thought leaders from our programs, offices and partners pushing for more women economic empowerment. 

The first episode puts a gender sensitive procurement process into the spotlight. The second episode is from one of our partners in Bolivia, sharing how a gender analysis helped design particular interventions aimed at women economic empowerment.  

Listen in and stay tuned for more episodes to come! 

The Innovation for Agribusiness (InovAgro) Project is in its final year of implementation (extended one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic).  Along three phases, spanning 11 years, the Project has facilitated the development of the agriculture markets by innovating, testing, and adapting market systems business models which increase the inclusion of, and benefit to, female and male smallholder farmers (SHF) in 11 districts in the three provinces of Northern Mozambique.

This case study captures the experience of InovAgro’s work in promoting a more efficient and transparent system of agricultural output marketing. InovAgro’s output marketing vision is: to create deep, viable and sustainable output marketing channels that give opportunities for SHFs to sell their produce and increase their household income. 

>> short version (4 pages)   >> Case study (24 pages) 

Listen to your colleagues’ stories on how they advance Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) in their IED projects and programmes, in this ongoing podcast-series. 

Find the podcasts >> here

Ep. 1: How to ensure gender equality in call for proposal formulation and selection

Ep. 2: Better boxes for fruit vendors - a solution that is improving women economic empowerment!

Ep. 3: Using ancestral and scientific knowledge to empower rural women in Peru for sustainable tourism.

Ep. 4: Impact, leadership and business support to women in Colombia

The global pandemic showed the fragility of food supply systems in many countries including Bolivia. Through the Inclusive Markets project, financed by SDC and SIDA, Swisscontact supported the Ministry of Rural Development and Lands with setting up a digital platform to monitor food supply and demand on a municipal level. More information here.

This Information Package is designed for SDC staff and practitioners involved in inclusive economic development programmes. It provides an introduction into the IED approaches and ways of systemic thinking through three interlinked economic thematic priorities on system and individual level: Vocational Skills Development (VSD), Private Sector Development (PSD) and Financial Sector Development (FSD), and the modality of Private Sector Engagement (PSE). >> here

Engineers in Bolivia developed respirators when the health system collapsed due to COVID-19. This was made possible with the support of Switzerland.

>> See the video clip on youtube.

In Bolivia, it is estimated that 40% of young students have not returned to the Technical Institutes and have stopped their trainings due to Covid19. In view of this situation, the Swiss Cooperation's Technical Vocational Training project in Bolivia is launching a campaign called "Take Back Your Training" to prevent young people from dropping out of school.

>> See interview with the programme manager of SDC in Bolivia.

Responding the voiced need for guidance for SDC staff and projects working in fragile contexts, the IED Expert Team, with valuable inputs from network members, experts and other focal points, developed a slide deck and FAQ document aimed at providing support and guidance to e+i and PSE projects. 

These documents will now be presented in two webinars where you can raise your concerns and exchange with peers on good practices and challenges in quest of maximising impact on reducing fragility through IED.

The same webinar will be held twice:

Tuesday,   April  6th at 15:00 CET  >> register

Thursday, April 15th at 10:00 CET >> register

In 2020, a new Core Group on Inclusive Economic Development (IED) has been established within SDC. Our Core Group members are a diverse group of colleagues who are working in different operational units – in the South, East and Global Cooperation as well as in the Humanitarian Aid. The Core Group provides an invaluable contribution in promoting and further developing important topics related to...

...IED within SDC – and beyond. For example, the slide deck on fragility and how this influences IED could only be developed thanks to the contributions of our Core Group members and their expertise – and also thanks to the fruitful exchanges with other SDC Focal Points.

Did you know that in each Newsletter colleagues from the field share their personal highlights with us? In this edition you can learn from SDC colleagues in Mozambique and Bangladesh about their insurance projects.

>> those and other news

The popular internal Guidance «Managing MSD projects» has been slightly revised and shines in a new look!

Are you working for SDC and planning or supervising a project with an MSD approach? This is your must-read document that will save you lots of time in trial and error. Are you an implementer or consultant engaged in SDC’s MSD projects? Read this document to really understand what the donor wants and needs.

>> have a look at the document

During the hardships created by the global pandemic, Social Performance Task Force (SPTF) is prouder than ever to work together with SDC and its other Responsible and Inclusive Finance (RIF) Facility funders, whose flexibility has allowed SPTF to deliver timely, substantive, and socially responsible solutions for FSPs and their clients during this challenging time in history. 

When the global pandemic hit, SPTF was driven to help its members and their clients, which are facing challenges including lockdowns, social-distancing requirements, and a widespread economic downturn. How can the philosophy and tools of Social Performance Management help these institutions not only survive, but innovate and adapt under these difficult conditions? One of the first actions SPTF took was to mobilize the RIF Facilities as an engine of crisis response innovation.   SPTF requested adjustments to the policies governing the Facilities to allow applications to be reviewed weekly instead of quarterly, to consider an expanded array of project types, and to increase the percentage of co-financing offered for each project related to crisis response.  >> more

The growing COVID-19 crisis threatens to disproportionately hit developing countries, UNDP states. Income losses are expected to exceed USD 220 billion in these contexts and a devastating social and economic crisis is expected to follow the health crisis over the months and years to come. Furthermore, according to ILO, it is exacerbating already existing inequalities – from catching the virus, to staying alive, to coping with its dramatic economic consequences. This is also reflected in the effects on the labour market: Significant rise in unemployment and underemployment are estimated around the globe. In addition, the ILO warns that the crises with its current limitations on the movement of people and goods may restrict the informal economy, which a lot of vulnerable groups depend on. 

UNCTAD estimates that global foreign direct investments, an important financing source of developing countries, will be down by -30 % to -40 % during 2020-21. The World Trade Organization has monitored a sharp fall in global trade activity. Additionally, as the IMF points out, the global financial system is likely to be disrupted strongly.

Low-income countries do not have the financial means to back the local economy, secure jobs and protect livelihoods. Different actors around the world are addressing this challenge:  The IMF for example is making available USD 50 billion in emergency funding to help poor and middle-income countries with weak health systems response to the epidemic. The African Development Bank at the same time launched a record breaking USD 3 billion “Fight COVID-19” social bond.

Also, within the SDC and in our network in particular, we are committed to contribute to the mitigation of COVID-19 and its harmful impact on employment and income in low income countries. In general, we expect our partners on the ground to run into severe liquidity problems or to be restricted in their movement and business practices. However, implications might differ for each one of our thematic areas.

The backstopping teams of each thematic area are currently developing more detailed response notes with potential ways forward. For further information, as well as for a collection of best practices and the latest developments, please check out the dedicated shareweb landing page and the links to each thematic sub-page:

• Private Sector Development (PSD): The current COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on the global economy. Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), including self-employed people, are threatened in their existence. MSMEs are the backbone of all economies and generate a majority of jobs, and this is especially true in developing and emerging countries. The current situation is causing widespread disruptions in trade and economic activity due to physical restrictions, international travel bans, closure of businesses (markets, shops, restaurants etc.) banking facilities and educational institutions. While medium to long term impacts on the global economy are still unclear, there is a serious threat of global recession with all major regions affected. This said, businesses in different sectors are affected differently; for instance, while tourism industries are collapsing, there is a growing demand for ICT services.
• Financial Sector Development (FSD): The COVID-19 disease affects all kind of financial institutions: commercial banks, Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), funds, leasing/factoring companies, insurance companies, Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA), etc.. They are affected through physical limitations (restricted movement, limited client contact, etc.) and economic challenges (postponed investments, increasing loan default rates, "bank runs", etc.). In practice this means that women can not meet in savings groups anymore, for example. These challenges in turn create problems at the level of final beneficiaries (households, smallholder farmers and MSMEs) in terms of liquidity shortages, bankruptcy, losing savings, insurance claims, etc.
• Vocational Skills Development (VSD): The worldwide COVID-19 crisis has led to the closure of schools and interruption of education and training systems. According to UNESCO’s school closure monitor currently over 188 countries have closed schools country-wide.  Closures of training facilities and apprenticeship workplaces are unprecedented challenges for governments, teachers, civil society and private sector actors, trying to ensure learning continuity and/or business survival: On the one hand, poor and disadvantaged population groups often have limited access to alternative educational opportunities for distance learning. On the other hand, many MSMEs had to shut down and employers are not able to provide in-company vocational training, let alone recruiting young graduates or paying wages, e.g. to parents who often support their youngsters during their education and training pathway. 

A regional Training on Local Economic Development (LED) was organized in Pristina in November 2019 for NPOs in WBA, Eurad and HQ participants, by the WBA Advisor on E+I. 

The objectives of the regional Training on LED was to get an idea about what the methodological approach to LED could be for the WBA region, to identify issues related to LED and of interest to WBA and to discuss specificities that need to be taken into account when identifying a new intervention. It also paid special attention to the ongoing research question of better linking linking local economic development and local governance processes. >> more

Leave no one behind (LNOB) is the central pledge of the 2030 Agenda, recognizing the need to combat poverty and inequalities. In fact, LNOB is essential to meet the SDGs. SDC has elaborated a thematical working aid for e+i, additional to the SDC guidance on leaving no one behind, which is a normative document for all SDC staff. 

We will learn about the thematic working aid and how – based on practical examples – it supports e+i projects and programmes to translate LNOB into project design and implementation.

Date: Tuesday, 26 Nov 2019, 11:00 – 12:00 Swiss time 

About the speakers

Jodie Thorpe, Research Fellow in the Business Development Centre at the Institute for Development Studies (IDS) in the United Kingdom. She is an expert on inclusive market approaches, enterprise development, and public-private and multi-stakeholder partnerships. 

Jodie will introduce the thematic working aid on LNOB in e+i. Thereby she will present insights regarding the livelihoods of very marginalized men and women and how to make a good diagnosis of exclusion in the employment and income domain. She will also explore strategic entry points for programmes to expand the scope for marginalised women and men to use their agency to access markets, and to transform markets to better reach these groups.

Zenebe Uraguchi, Senior Advisor Market Systems Development and Programme Coordinator for East & Southeast Europe at HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation in Switzerland. He is a development economist with multi-country experience. He holds MA degrees in International Relations and Political Economy as well as a PhD in Development Economics. His areas of expertise are in the design, management and evaluation of private, public and non-profit development initiatives focusing on employment and income.

Zenebe will provide insight how a project in Bangladesh has challenged misconceptions about inclusiveness and which practical considerations are required to ensure inclusion of poor and disadvantaged women and men. 

Kleidor Rustemi, Programme manager of Coaching for Employment and Entrepreneurship (C4EE) at Swisscontact Albania. Kleidor has over 20 years of experience in labor market, skills and social inclusion. In particular he focuses on topics like sustainable development and change of livelihood for marginalized categories. He has a degree in social work and is certified as trainer in coaching for employment methodology from University of Applied Sciences Lucerne, Switzerland.  

Kleidor will share his extensive experience how the program has supported young individuals, in particular from marginalized groups to increase their chances in the market through the application of the C4EE methodology.

The SDC e+i and gender networks launch the learning journey “WEE Learn”. In the next few weeks we would like to deepen our exchanges on WEE. Please join us for the Webinar on the Business Case for WEE

Date: Thursday 12 December 2019 at 14:00-15:00 Swiss time (convert to your time zone).

To the SDC, Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) is beyond ticking of a box. Plenty of studies and annual financial reports of gender diverse companies give proof that it is also a business case. Women can be economically empowered as entrepreneurs, as clients, as managers and as employees. Would you like to better understand the business case for strengthening women as entrepreneurs or for improving their working conditions as employees?

Then please join us for this webinar to learn about SDC’s existing guidance on WEE and to hear about concrete experiences showcasing the business case for WEE in Guatemala and Uganda, both benefiting from support by SDC’s Social Entrepreneurship Programme:

Joseph Nkandu, Executive Director of the National Union of Coffee Agribusiness and Farm Enterprises (NUCAFE) in Uganda, will share how women’s empowerment alongside men’s has contributed to increase productivity and income in the Ugandan coffee sector as well as profitability of his company NUCAFE.

Rachel Murphy, Strategy and Innovation Coordinator at ALTERNA, a Social Entrepreneur Accelerator, will provide insight how a targeted programme helped female entrepreneurs in Guatemala overcoming biases when pitching their business idea and thereby ensuring more funding for their enterprises

Nathalie Wyser Vizcarra, Senior Policy Advisor Financial Inclusion at the SDC in Bern, Switzerland, will provide an input on SDC’s perspectives on the business case for WEE and its existing guidance on WEE. 

Selina Häny, Gender Equality Policy Advisor at SDC in Bern, Switzerland, will be the webinar host and facilitate the discussions.

Leave no one behind (LNOB) is the central pledge of the 2030 Agenda, recognizing the need to combat poverty and inequalities. In fact, LNOB is indispensable in order to meet the SDGs. SDC has elaborated a thematical working aid for e+i, additional to the SDC guidance on leaving no one behind, which is a normative document for all SDC staff. The working aid supports e+i projects and programmes to translate this aspect into project design and implementation from the very beginning on. We encourage you to look at the document. Stay tuned, a Webinar on this topic will be announced soon.

We all know that collaboration with private companies is key in making market systems more inclusive. At the same time, it is challenging to find the “right” partners, negotiate deals with them, know what we should and what we shouldn’t pay for, etc. The e+i network provides you with a concise and practical summary of the most important lessons learned by experienced practitioners in Market Systems Development (MSD) on how to form partnerships with the private sector. The lessons are complemented by a concrete case from the PRISMA project partnering with businesses in the maize sector.

Download the nicely illustrated summary of lessons learned here.

Webinar: On 30th October 2019 at 12:00 noon Swiss time (see different time zone below), Hans Posthumus will be interviewing experienced programme managers for their top tips on how to collaborate with private companies in the context of MSD programs. Please join us for this webinar on Oct 30th registering here.

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The market stall session during which several projects presented themselves was a highlight of the F2F 2019. 

Many participants highlighted that the session provided a great opportunity for learning exchange. The learn more about the discussed project, we recomend to visit the dedicated site on our shareweb. >> more

SDC is seeking to drive inclusive economic and agricultural growth in Northern Mozambique. As land is one of the primary resources in agribusiness development, SDC is funding the InovAgro project (please see also the "project poster" from our F2F 2019). DAI is implementing InovAgro which addresses the land tenure issue by applying a market systems development approach.

Most smallholder farmers (SHFs) do not have the legal right to use the land they and their families have always farmed and are largely unaware of the importance of acquiring that right to protect their livelihoods.  Two leasehold registration forms exist to protect the smallholder farmers: getting a community land delimitation certificate or an individual land leasehold.  Either is an essential step to safeguarding SHFs agricultural investments.  

InovAgro is developing the supply of services and demand for community land delimitation and individual leasehold registration in the communities of Mutaliua and Mussano in Namarroi district in Zambézia Province.  Starting with training a network of local paralegals and community land & natural resource management committees, the community members first delimited and registered the communal land.  With the network of paralegals in place, 2,000 households then applied for individual leaseholds. 

Out of the first 1,095 plots pegged out, 354 DUATs (land titles) were issued. For the other 741 plots it was discovered that these were already issued to a pines and eucalyptus plantations company. This is land that SHFs have occupied for decades but without titles. This has led to a conflict that InovAgro is helping to resolve. The case presents an impetus for projects such as InovAgro to ensure that the land titling market system becomes feasible, affordable, accessible and efficient. 

To help farmers invest more effectively in the leasehold titled land, InovAgro has facilitated linkages with  private partners to invest in delivering services such as inputs and extension, access to finance, and output marketing in those communities.

small picture: Namarroi District Administrator handing over a DUAT to a proud owner of a titled land in Lipali Locality

bigger picture: SDC Head of Domain Horácio Morgado handing over a certificate in Lipali Locality

With more than 170 participants from more than 40 countries the e+i & EPS F2F event 2019 in Solothurn was a great platform to share experiences and get inspired! The key note speakers addressed the overarching topic "impact@scale" from different angles. A recurring aspect was the engagement with the private sector. The presentations and discussions during the focus sessions showed the passion of the participants for their work. All materials from the F2F and a summary of the event are available on our event page... [more]

Did you recently hear about a thrilling new innovation for farmers? Does your project or program provide powerful new insights relevant to smallholder farmers elsewhere in the world? Did your partner just come up with new knowhow for women or youth farmers?

Then please consider sharing this information and make it available to millions of other smallholder farmers hungry for new ideas. There is somebody out there ready to support you in spreading your insights to millions of smallholder farmers across the globe.

It’s Paul van Mele, a passionate and dedicated colleague, and his team from AccessAgriculture eager to explore with you new ways to inspire many more fellow smallholder farmers.

AccessAgriculture does this through quality training videos produced by local partners – videos made with farmers, made for farmers!

If you have something to share, then please get directly in touch with Paul Van Mele (paul@accessagriculture.org).

To learn more about AccessAgriculture check out the website.

Access Agriculture is a SDC-supported initiative that has developed a world-class video platform, hosting around 200 training videos translated into more than 75 local languages.

If you think, you, your program or your partners could use the rich library of training videos, please do get directly in touch with Paul and the team of AccessAgriculture. They are ready to help you translate any of the existing videos into any local language, and to spread the videos beyond the web platform (through TV stations, DVDs, videos on stick, mobile app or smart projector).

Your collaboration with AccessAgriculture is highly appreciated.

Many private and public businesses in Albania handle large amounts of data, but most of them lack IT security systems, procedures and qualified staff to protect them from possible cyberattacks. Since 2017, a new law on cybersecurity requires that all enterprises with critical data hire qualified IT security staff. But there have been delays with the implementation of the law because the government agency responsible for developing and enforcing it lacks capacities. The SDC funded project RisiAlbania estimates that strengthening the agency’s capacity to enforce the law will stimulate job creation: on the demand side, public and private businesses will need to create more than 300 jobs in the next three years. The skills training provision market will also respond: on the supply side, enforcing the law’s implementation will lead to the development of training programmes on IT security. 

Therefore, Risi is building the capacity of the government agency to implement the new cybersecurity law, and, when required provide support to IT security training providers. Furthermore, improving cybersecurity measures strengthens the whole IT ecosystem: it contributes to making Albania an attractive destination for international investors. 

Learn more on the HELVETAS blog on cybersecurity intervention.

If you are planning your next vacation, don’t miss Albania!  Read Albinfo.ch special edition (German, Albanian and French) on alternative tourism offers built around hiking, culture and adventure tourism products. Albinfo is a not-for-profit online news media initiative based in Switzerland that targets Albanian speaking Swiss residents, Swiss citizens interested in the culture of the Balkans, and the Albanian speaking diaspora interested in news from their countries of origin.

RisiAlbania is a project of SDC, implemented by HELVETAS and Partners. It supported companies to present their diversified off-season and inland products in the Albinfo magazine and increase tourism in spring, autumn and winter as tourism in Albania concentrates predominantly on the seaside tourism during summer. 

Albinfo distributed some 15'000 copies of the special magazine in Albania and Switzerland, covering also the familiarization trip of Edelweiss airline to Albania or to the participants of the Second Summit of the diaspora in Tirana, representing Albanian speaking diasporas of more than 40 countries all over the world. The magazine echoed wide reactions. Besides concrete travel arrangements, it encouraged returnees to intensify their links with partner companies in Switzerland and also the Albanian government is increasingly seeking ways to intensify business- based relationships with diaspora communities abroad; a systemic achievement which is in the sense of RisiAlbania. 

How should donors manage adaptively? Market Systems Development as a case study.
Helen Bailey and Tim Ruffer on Itad’s strategic evaluation to help Sida manage programmes that are adaptive and apply market systems approaches.

Download the PDF here.

Intro: 

Itad has recently completed a strategic evaluation for Sida to help them work through how they can best manage programmes that are adaptive and apply systems approaches.

In doing this, the evaluation focused on Sida’s growing portfolio of MSD projects. But the conclusions from the evaluation about what funders need to do to manage adaptively are of broader relevance – both across the spectrum of Sida’s programming and to other donors interested in adaptive management.

The work builds on Itad’s close involvement in evaluating and supporting the delivery of a variety of Market Systems Development (MSD) programmes, and adaptive programmes in other areas, including governance, empowerment and accountability, and climate resilience.

The OECD Report on Social Impact Investment mentions the SDC project "SIINC" as an innovative pay-for-success model and presents the case of Clinicas del Azucar, Mexico.

This publication is a sequel to the OECD 2015 report on Social Impact Investment (SII), Building the Evidence Base, bringing new evidence on the role of SII in financing sustainable development. It depicts the state of play of SII approaches globally, comparing regional trends, and assesses its prospects, with a special focus on data issues and recent policy developments. Importantly, it provides new guidance for policy makers in OECD and non-OECD countries, as well as providers of development co-operation, development financers, social impact investment practitioners and the private sector more broadly, to help them maximise the contribution of social impact investing to the 2030 Agenda. In particular, it provides four sets of recommendations on financing, innovation, data and policy for delivering on the “impact imperative” of financing sustainable development.

Access the report here!