In Rural Uganda, Women Supporting Women

Environmental degradation and drought have led to conflict, poverty, and severe food insecurity in Kenya’s Baringo county. Hand In Hand International is helping communities rebound by offering training to women in entrepreneurship and new farming methods - particularly beekeeping - which provides economic empowerment, improves the ecosystem by boosting pollinator populations, and provides a steady source of nutritious food for those families eking out a living in these harsh landscapes.

Many small towns in rural Appalachia are struggling to adapt to the greater evolutions of the American economy away from the coal industry. But some places, like the little town of Hemphill in Kentucky, are using the opportunity to get creative with local enterprise and unite the community in launching new ventures. The Hemphill Community Center is now a central resource for launching new small businesses, arts and cultural events, and fostering shared resources and renewed growth for the town.

Community leaders are working together to address the issue of food insecurity in Mansfield, caused not just by lack of access to grocery stores and fresh food sources, but also often by unemployment, high housing costs, low wages, poverty, and health care costs. The North End Local Foods Initiative is installing food gardens in these communities, creating access to fresh produce, to educational opportunities, recreational activity and more.

A group of agriculture producers think new, low-cost growing techniques, high-value crops and an increased interest in local produce offer solutions to New Mexico’s food struggles.

A Kenyan government initiative is helping a growing community of residents to tackle food insecurity in one of the largest slum areas in Africa, championing an unusual form of urban farming: sack gardens.

The effects of climate change, such as rising sea levels and hotter global temperatures, are already having drastic impact on many communities, especially the rural, agricultural regions of countries such as Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Mozambique. Earthrise explores how people in these communities are learning new skills, implementing new techniques, and are striving in every way possible to adapt to these environmental changes while creating hope for sustainable growth in the future.

A group of Kenyan coastal women used a blue economy grant to establish a mud crab-fattening enterprise in Jomvu Creek, generating up to $310/month in collective income and planting nearly 1 million mangrove seedlings.

A collective for Brazilian women artisans named Rede Asta provides training, production networks, links to consumers, and an online market to empower them to make a livable income. The group is also environmentally-conscious, focusing on creative waste reuse solutions that result in upcycled products. There are challenges as the collective grows, but they have supported more than 1,500 artisan women since opening.

Unlike many other small Montana towns, the community of Three Forks has managed to humbly thrive by investing in several economic drivers rather than rely solely on the railroad as its only large employer. With booming talc and cement plants as well as new entrepreneurial spirit, Three Forks remains steady and continues to renovate for tourists and town-folk alike.

Microfinance was widely lauded for decades as a surefire and promising way to break the cycle of poverty and uplift the economies of the developing world, especially when targeted for women. But hard data has shown that, on its own, micro-loans don't serve to create sustainable change without a comprehensive approach, and that there are many other factors - such as education and healthcare - to consider when leveraging these tools.