Banyan Global is a subcontractor on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Improving Market Partnerships and Access to Commodities Together (IMPACT) program in Madagascar. Led by Population Services International (PSI), IMPACT aims to improve the capacity of the Malagasy health system to ensure that quality pharmaceuticals and health commodities are available and accessible to all Malagasy people on a sustainable basis. Banyan Global is working to ensure the engagement of the commercial sector by developing and adapting loan products for small and micro health enterprises such as pharmacies and drug shops. Building on previous experience in Madagascar, Banyan Global is continuing to support Baobab Banque Madagascar and AccèsBanque Madagascar to use the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation guarantee to expand financing to health supply chain stakeholders. In parallel, Banyan Global has developed a training and coaching curriculum to build the financial management capacity of health businesses in the pharmaceutical sector and is piloting a program to establish peer training to help ensure the long-term sustainability of this activity.

Banyan Global also leads the integration of gender and social inclusion into the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of the IMPACT program, using Banyan Global’s signature gender integration framework. We completed a gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) analysis to identify key gender advances, constraints, inequalities, and opportunities and are implementing a GESI action plan with specific recommendations on how the IMPACT program can contribute to greater gender equity, women’s empowerment, and social inclusion in the health commodities sector in Madagascar. Following the action plan, Banyan Global is mainstreaming GESI principles in community awareness and communications campaigns, workshops, and trainings. To support GESI activities, IMPACT collaborates closely with two local women’s organizations – National Council of Women in Madagascar (Conseil National des Femmes de Madagascar or CNFM) and Women Entrepreneurs of the Indian Ocean (Entreprendre au Féminin Océan Indien or EFOI) – as well as government entities such as the Ministry of Population.