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Originally published on CGAP Blog: Kenya is widely acknowledged to be a global leader in mobile money. Over two-thirds of its adult population uses M-PESA, the mobile money system launched in 2007 by Safaricom. But even in Kenya, many are not using M-PESA. I know many smallholder farmers who are part of this group. They […]
May 31, 2013
Originally published in Ag4Impact’s 8 Views for the G8 report, and co-authored with Andrew Youn, executive director of One Acre Fund: Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the world’s six major crop regions, and it is the only one that has the potential for significant yield improvements. Farmers in sub-Saharan Africa use 15 times less fertilizer […]
March 11, 2013
Originally published in The National: After five days on tenterhooks, Kenyans breathed a collective sigh of relief on Saturday at the official announcement that Uhuru Kenyatta had won the presidency. Much of that relief stemmed from one simple fact: the country had made it through its first elections since 2007 without a return to violence. To […]
December 15, 2011
Originally published in ecomagination: “GDC Strikes Steam in Menengai,” exclaims the cover of this spring’s issue of Steam, the magazine of Kenya’s Geothermal Development Company. A column of steam spurts high into a deep blue sky in the cover photo—the geothermal industry’s equivalent of the black column that spurts from a successful oil well. But […]
December 4, 2011
Originally published in The National: NAIROBI // A recent conference in Nairobi, Kenya, was certainly a steamy affair. For that was the main topic of conversation – how much it costs to explore for steam, how new technologies have reduced the cost to produce it, and how much it could boost the economy of East […]
August 4, 2011
Originally published in The National: In western Kenya, where plentiful rain has fallen this year, smallholder farmers are just beginning to harvest their maize. Many of the farmers that I know are expecting the best harvests of their lives. The towering maize stalks in their fields will yield 10 to 20 bags of produce per […]
April 28, 2011
Originally published in GlobalPost: NAIROBI, Kenya — Investors are starting to realize there are business opportunities in Africa. Last year, Barron’s magazine published The Final Frontier, a cover story about investment in the continent. Consulting firm McKinsey published a report looking at African growth opportunities by sector. Boston Consulting Group published a report identifying the […]
January 5, 2011
Originally published in GlobalPost: NEW YORK — More than a month after its presidential election, Ivory Coast remains in political crisis. The incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, refuses to leave office, though the official vote count shows that he lost to opposition leader Alassane Ouattara. The country is teetering on the brink of civil war. Gbagbo […]
August 14, 2010
Originally published in GlobalPost: KISUMU, Kenya — This pleasant city on the edge of Lake Victoria gives little evidence that it was the site of serious upheaval following Kenya’s disputed 2007 presidential election. Shops along the city’s main drag were vandalized, looted and burned, disrupting commerce for months. Across Kenya some 1,200 people were killed in […]
August 5, 2010
It’s the beginning of August, which in Kenya means maize harvesting, and–because it’s an even-numbered year–circumcision ceremonies. On almost every drive I take out to the field, I’ll see several groups of adolescent boys, running along the side of the road and singing. Several days before the actual ceremony, boys go to the homes of […]
Stephanie Hanson 
June 26, 2014
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