• News

    When Asha Obonyo, joined Cenacle farm in January 2020, she had a lot of plans for the year. However, her aspirations were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which almost crippled the flower industry in Kenya. Ms Obonyo who works in the irrigation department, had to stay at home for a few months as the situation […]

    November 20, 2020
  • News

    When the government of Kenya announced that the Covid- 19 pandemic had hit the country in March 2020, many businesses were thrown into panic mode. Many were caught unaware, and had no plans on how to navigate the health and operational challenges brought about by the pandemic. Action planning However, at Fides Kenya farm things […]

    November 20, 2020
  • News

    Room for improvement November 19, 2020 Open contracting in the province of South Cotabato By Adelle Chua John Magbanua has been working in the provincial government of South Cotabato (in Mindanao, southern Philippines) for 25 years. For 19 of those, he sat on the Bids and Awards Committee, which he thought was doing a good […]

    November 19, 2020
  • News

    Electricity drives economic development. But many small community-level businesses and smallholder farmers in rural parts of sub-Saharan Africa need more access to affordable energy financing to thrive. This IIED Debates event organized with Hivos on Monday, 30 November will explore what mechanisms can enable community businesses and farmers to access the financing they need to grow […]

    November 17, 2020
  • News

    In the state of Maranhão in northern Brazil, a forested area, the village of Caxias was rapidly turning into a large cattle-raising center. It wasn’t long before cattle ranchers and farmers started clashing with the Timbira Indigenous peoples who inhabited the forest. So the ranchers hatched a plan to get rid of them. “The plan […]

    November 12, 2020
  • News

    How do artists, musicians and filmmakers increase freedom of expression, collective imagination, community wellbeing, and global solidarity? How can art counter authoritarian narratives and shrinking civic space? How do the forces of art materialize in our different, yet deeply interconnected societies? The answers to these questions can be found in a new book about the […]

    November 11, 2020
  • News

    At the end of 2019 Hivos commissioned an independent external evaluation of the Open Contracting program. We think the evaluation provided a fair and critical assessment of the achievements and limitations of the Open Contracting program. Read on to learn the lessons on tactics of the Open Contracting program that tended to work well.

    November 10, 2020
  • News

    LOCI Eastern Europe and Central Asia November 10, 2020 The Local Open Up Contracting Initiatives are proud to host the digital regional meeting this week for representatives of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Are you joining us? Have a look at the program below!

    November 10, 2020
  • News

    On the road to accountability in Tanzania November 9, 2020 Read the comic strip version of this story    Frustrations lead to new beginnings “It was clear to me that there was a need for such an institution in Tanzania,” says Ludovick Utouh, founder and executive director of the think tank WAJIBU – Institute of Public […]

    November 9, 2020
  • News

    Across sectors, most leadership and planning positions at the workplace are held by men and as such, very little consideration is given to provisions around menstrual care and products for female employees. Within the horticultural sector this presents a particularly big challenge because low wages directly contribute to period poverty: meaning most women view these products as luxuries when in fact they should be regarded as necessities.

    November 9, 2020