A Small Loan In Dhaka, Bangladesh, Halima Begum makes cane stools by hand and sells them at a local market. Like so many other small entrepreneurs, she makes use of an abundant natural resource without depleting less available resources, In Bangladesh alone, similar small loans from village banks and non-profit groups have helped an estimated two million women start new businesses. The manual press uses no fossil fuels and is manufactured by local artisans, which boosts the economy by reducing the need to import costly mechanical equipment from other countries. And there are many other benefits. Thousands of young people find seasonal employment as press operators.
Villagers have an alternative to expensive, imported cooking oil.
And some 20,000 oilseed farmers have a dependable market for their crops. A Handful of Seeds In Ethiopia, Resta Beshir plants seedlings from a tree nursery operated in the Ansokia Valley by World Vision. The agency has helped bring a stagnant economy to life by encouraging local families to develop new approaches to agriculture and forestry. Area families take responsibility for as many as 150 seedlings at a time. In recent years these efforts have begun to provide food, fuel and lumber for local families while reversing the effects of decades of deforestation.