A Malawian trader counts money as he sells maize near the capital Lilongwe, Malawi. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

WFP’s Push for Cash-Based Transfers Shows Why ‘Good Data’ at UN Global Data Forum
Since 2011, the WFP has dramatically shifted its focus to cash-based transfers. Today, there’s a growing recognition of how providing direct humanitarian assistance in the form of cash or electronic vouchers, instead of physical goods, pays off. It can be cheaper to deliver and also offers people greater freedom to tailor their spending.

Exploring the Use of Wastewater in Agriculture
With food demand and water scarcity on the uptick, it's time to stop treating wastewater like garbage and instead manage it as a resource that can be used to grow crops and help address water scarcity in agriculture. Properly managed, wastewater can be used safely to support crop production—directly through irrigation or indirectly by recharging aquifers—but doing so requires diligent management of health risks through adequate treatment or appropriate use

Zambia Tries New Way to Beat Drought – Solar Grain Mills
In Zambia, a combination of higher fuel prices and unstable electrical supplies—both the result of lack of rainfall hitting hydropower—mean many small grain mills are charging higher prices for milling, or don't have sufficient capacity. But Zambia's government hopes it has an answer: it has been installing hundreds of small solar-powered mills in rural areas as a way to help hold down the price of producing food.

Mastercard Mobile Effort Targets East Africa's Small Farmers
Mastercard is developing cloud-based mobile technology to bring agricultural farmers in East Africa into the digital era, with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The technology, called 2Kuze, aims to eliminate delays in payment for farmers with small plots of land, while giving them a digital log of transactions to apply for small loans from banks in East Africa.