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| Impact Stories

Building Back from the Brink: Why Agriculture Holds the Key 

While humanitarian responses are critical during crises, they are never a long-term solution. With the right support and tools, farmers –often on the frontlines of crises and disproportionately affected by disasters, including climate change– can themselves drive change, economic recovery, and income opportunities.

| Impact Stories

For Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate, the Impacts of COVID-19 Are Widespread

In this installment of our “COVID Conversations” series, we talk with Lionel Soulard, Cargill’s managing director for West Africa. IFC and GAFSP’s support to Cargill is helping the company professionalize and digitize Côte d'Ivoire’s cocoa sector. Soulard spoke with us recently about plummeting chocolate sales at airports, the challenges of online training with limited internet, and how the pandemic is accelerating digitization—and with it, opportunity.

| Impact Stories

In Kosovo, Microfinance Expands Herds—And Hopes

Agriculture is critical to Kosovo’s private sector development, and though it accounts for an estimated 30 percent of employment and 13 percent of GDP, it accounts for just 4 percent of total borrowing in the country’s formal sectors.

| Impact Stories

En Honduras, COVID-19 está afectando a los pequeños agricultores

En un momento en que la COVID-19 (coronavirus) continúa alterando las cadenas de suministro, las industrias y los mercados en todo el mundo, consultamos a los clientes del Mecanismo de Financiamiento para el Sector Privado del Programa Mundial para la Agricultura y la Seguridad Alimentaria (GAFSP) para saber de qué manera la crisis sanitaria y económica afecta a sus empresas y a los pequeños agricultores que participan en sus cadenas de suministro. En esta edición de nuestras "Conversaciones sobre la COVID", hablamos con Mateo Yibrin, director ejecutivo del Grupo Cadelga, uno de los principales distribuidores de productos y servicios agrícolas de Honduras.

| Impact Stories

In Honduras, COVID-19 is Taking a Toll on Smallholder Farmers

In this installment of our “COVID Conversations” series, we talk with Mateo Yibrín, CEO of the Cadelga Group, one of the largest distributors of agricultural products and services in Honduras. Yibrín spoke to us recently the panic purchases that are keeping his company afloat, why Honduran farmers are giving away free melon in towns across the country, and his message to the world on behalf of farmers who are suffering.

| Impact Stories

From Farmers to Financial Institutions, the Impacts of COVID-19 in Kosovo are Widespread

In this installment of our “COVID Conversations” series, we talk with Adrian Alo, Chief Financial Officer at KEP Trust, Kosovo’s largest local microfinance institution. Alo spoke to us recently about why business owners are shying away from new lines of credit, the role of microfinance in Kosovo’s post-COVID recovery and why he’s redefined success for the pandemic era. 

| Impact Stories

In Ethiopia, COVID-19 is Causing Disruptions in Meat Processing, Even as Demand Surges

With COVID-19 disrupting supply chains, industries, and markets across the globe, we’re checking in with GAFSP Private Sector Window clients to see how the health and economic crisis is affecting their businesses and the smallholders in their supply chains. In this installment of our “COVID Conversations” series, we talk with Tesfalidet Hagos, the founder and general manager of Luna Export Slaughterhouse, one of Ethiopia’s largest meat processors.

| Impact Stories

Disruption in a Nutshell: How Bhutan’s Largest Private Sector Employer is Weathering the COVID Storm

With COVID-19 disrupting supply chains, industries, and markets across the globe, we’re checking in with GAFSP Private Sector Window clients to see how the health and economic crisis is affecting their businesses and the smallholders in their supply chain. In the next installment of our “COVID Conversations” series, we talk with Daniel Spitzer and Teresa Law, CEO and CFO respectively, of Mountain Hazelnuts, Bhutan’s largest private sector employer.

Public Sector Contact

Ms. Marcia Kay Macneil

External Affairs Officer
mmacneil@worldbank.org

Based in Washington, D.C.

Private Sector Contact

Ms. Daphna Berman

Senior Communications and Outreach Specialist 
dberman@ifc.org

Based in Washington, D.C.