Make the Case

DIGITAL AS CROSS-CUTTING

Especially for Missions with no discretionary funding, these resources illustrate how digital financial services can enhance results in every sector. Missions can consider having each sector contribute a small amount for an activity to address a common constraint that will leverage greater results across the portfolio. Numbers 2 and 3 above also have great infographics to use for different sectors.

Health, Nutrition, Water and Sanitation

1. The Role of Digital Financial Services in Accelerating USAID’s Health Goals (2019)

   • This guide examines how USAID health goals can be improved through the integration of digital financial services.

2. Digital Technology and Nutrition (2022)

   • This brief illustrates how digital technology can serve multiple purposes for strengthening nutrition within the food system. 

3. Digital Technology and WASH (2022)

   • This brief illustrates how digital technology can serve a myriad of purposes in monitoring and strengthening WASH systems and practices. 

4. Testing the Waters: Digital Payments for Water and Sanitation (2019)

   • This research documents the experiences for water providers in emerging markets who may be considering digital payments across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

5. Digital Finance for the Real Economy: Water  (2018)

   • This research highlights promising ways for digital finance to help make universal access to clean, affordable water a reality. 

Education

1. The Role of Digital Financial Services in Accelerating USAID Education Goals (2018)

   • This guidance provides examples and ways that digital financial services and digital payments can bring a positive impact to USAID education programming. 

2. Digital Finance for the Real Economy: Education (2018)

   • This research highlights promising ways for digital finance to address development challenges in education and provide a better customer experience to make education services that are essential for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Agriculture and Resilience

1. Digital Technology and Agriculture-led Growth (2022)

   • This brief illustrates the primary ways this digital technology is used to support digitally enabled agriculture-led growth. 

2. Digital Technology and Resilience

   • This brief illustrates how digital technology has multiple applications within resilience; it can strengthen shock preparation, crisis response, and change measurement, while offering new tools for weathering difficult times.

3. Guide to the Use of Digital Financial Services in Agriculture (2018)

   • This guide provides insights on how digital payments and digital finance can contribute positively to global food security objectives.  

4. What Works for Digital Financial Services in Agricultural Development? (2019)

   • Digital Development for Feed the Future (FTF) was focused on integrating a suite of coordinated digital tools and technologies into FTF activities to accelerate agriculture-led economic growth and improved nutrition. This case study was part of a series that highlighted the integration of digital technologies into agricultural programs over the past decade. 

Humanitarian Response

1. Digital Foundations: Digital transformation and our fight against hunger (2021)

   • An overview of how digital innovation, technology and data analysis are foundational to WFP’s work in action—from the COVID-19 response to climate change, social protection, and conflict.

2. The Digital Lives of Refugees (2019)

   • This qualitative research helps readers understand the ways that refugees are using mobile phones  to help guide digital interventions by humanitarian organizations and mobile network operators.

Energy and Environment

1. The Fight for Light: Improving energy access through digital payments (2017)

   • This report examines new business models and government initiatives for energy access that rely upon digital payments.

2. Digital Finance for the Real Economy: Energy (2018)

   • This research highlights promising ways for digital finance to address development challenges in energy and provide a better customer experience to make energy services that are essential for achieving the SDGs. 

3. Pay-As-You-Go Solar as a Driver of Financial Inclusion (2017)

   • Assessment providing overview of five key considerations to best leverage mobile money as a key enabler to scale solar off-grid energy.

Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment

1. The Impacts of Digital Financial Services on Women’s Economic Empowerment (2021)

   • This presentation highlights important DFS features that improve women’s economic empowerment through mechanisms that enable women to enact their preferences, lower transaction costs, and improve safety.

2. Digital Finance and Women's Economic Empowerment [in agriculture] (2022)

   • This report is on the outcomes of women’s increased access to digital finance, the lending policies, practices and regulations that are necessary to extend digital finance to women, and the enabling environment necessary for women’s increased economic empowerment.

3. Addressing Gender Norms to Increase Financial Inclusion: Designing for Impact (2021) 

   • This guide advocates for funders to use the market system development approach and proactively take gender norms into account when working to increase women’s financial inclusion.

4. How Digital Financial Services are Empowering Women (2019)

   • This blog highlights how donors and foundations can help women unleash their power to control their own economic futures by investing in financial inclusion.