In honor of International Women’s Day, we sat down with Katarina Kahlmann, TechnoServe’s new chief program officer, to talk about her background, her experience in a male-dominated industry, and her hopes for gender equality in the next 25 years.
“Ask a TechnoServe Expert” is a series where our staff members, who work on a range of important global development issues, answer questions from you. In this edition, Cristina Manfre, TechnoServe’s global gender director, talks about creating economic opportunities for women around the world.
While financial inclusion has grown in Mozambique over the last decade, the gap between men’s and women’s formal inclusion has grown along with it. Closing the gender gap could be a catalyst for greater financial growth in the future.
Helping women achieve their full potential is one of the most powerful ways to fight poverty, yet many women still face immense challenges on a daily basis. Take our quiz to find out how much you know about women’s economic empowerment.
Idalia Medina grew up with the heart of an entrepreneur. As an adult, she merged her love for farming with business and started processing and exporting cheese. But, with no formal business training, Idalia was overwhelmed. Using the skills she gained from TechnoServe’s training, she transformed her enterprise and grew sales by nearly 20%, also allowing her to invest in the long-term success of her employees.
By supporting innovation and the transfer of technology between regions, TechnoServe is helping women farmers improve their production and their lives.
In Benin, TechnoServe is working to provide young entrepreneurs with the skills they need to build prosperous and food-secure communities.
In Tanzania, women entrepreneurs are overcoming barriers to their business success with mobile savings strategies.
Indu Devi made her living producing fox nut snacks, but cultural gender norms held her and other women entrepreneurs back from business success. With access to formal financing and business training, she's integrated her enterprise into a profitable snack company.
Immaculee Ndagijimana is a tailor in Rwanda who is using the skills she learned through the STRYDE program to teach other women about the power of entrepreneurship.
