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One Acre Fund: a Nonprofit's Business Approach to Helping Small Farmers

Fred de Sam Lazaro

April 03, 2012 |

PBS NewsHour |

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Under 800 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Bungoma

International development organization One Acre Fund opts to set up shop in rural locations like Bungoma, Kenya rather than major cities like New York and Nairobi and treat its stakeholders as customers instead of beneficiaries. This non-profit's business-like approach has helped it grow from 5,000 farm families in 2006 to 125,000 in 2012, and around 99 percent of families repay their farm loans. As One Acre Fund farmers sell their excess produce, they can invest in basic necessities like education for their children.

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Out of Jail, and Into a Job

Tina Rosenberg

March 28, 2012 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

Most programs to cut recidivism don’t significantly reduce rates of repeated arrests or incarceration, but one called the Center for Employment Opportunities that started in New York City is making a dramatic dent. The program provides newly-released prisoners with transitional services - most significantly, distinct working crews where they can be constructively monitored and learn teamwork - effectively helping keep them out of jail and transition back into society.

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Prizes With an Eye Toward the Future

Tina Rosenberg

February 29, 2012 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Washington, District of Columbia

Agencies across the corporate, government, and nonprofit sectors are recruiting ideas from the public by offering prizes for solving challenges. Prize incentives have spurred innovation for centuries, but fell out of favor as the preferred method in the 1800s. Now, prize-based incentives are back, in part because of a flood of new philanthropic money, and because prizes cast a wider net to a largely more educated and tech-savvy global population.

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For Weight Loss, a Recipe of Teamwork and Trust

Tina Rosenberg

November 15, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Irving, Texas

While weight loss can be challenging to maintain, different structures are being created to help. Certain support groups, financial incentives, and tough love are proving to be effective.

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Trusting Families to Help Themselves

David Bornstein

July 19, 2011 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, New York, New York

To give support to struggling families without prescribing solutions requires respect and discipline. The Family Independence Initiative (F.I.I.) encourages low-income families to define their own goals and work towards them in mutual support groups, while carefully documenting their successes.

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Out of Poverty, Family-Style

David Bornstein

July 14, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

A non-traditional program called the Family Independence Initiative (F.I.I.), uses a radically different approach from the traditional American social service model to empower entire families alleviate themselves from poverty. The results in multiple states thus far have been so striking, that this model of self-sufficiency may be able to have a significant impact reducing poverty nationwide.

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Out of Prison, Into a Vicious Circle of Debt

Tina Rosenberg

June 09, 2011 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Many offenders get out of jail owing hundreds or thousands of dollars in court and parole fees but face barriers to financing and job acquisition, sticking them in a punitive, vicious cycle of debt and arrest. A program called the Clapham Set, perhaps paired with conditional cash transfers - may be a solution, as it erases fees for felons who complete rehab and job training upon release.

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Paying for Their Crimes, Again

Tina Rosenberg

June 06, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Felons get out of jail owing hundreds or thousands of dollars in court and parole fees, acting as an often insurmountable barrier preventing them from reintegrating into society and staying out of jail. What's worse, these fees often end up costing the state more than they produce. Two columns on a program called the Clapham Set, which erases or reduces debts for felons who take classes and job training.

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What Makes Community Health Care Work?

Tina Rosenberg

February 18, 2011 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Halgaon, Maharashtra

The second of two columns on how ordinary women trained to become their village doctors are making rural villages much healthier. Financial incentives, supporting workers, and encouraging cooperation from governments are just some of the strategies being implemented.

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Helping the World's Poorest, for a Change

Tina Rosenberg

January 07, 2011 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal

This is a column on an important new development program in use in at least 40 developing countries: give the poor cash payments, contingent on their use of health clinics and their children’s school attendance, to help break the cycle of poverty.

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