December 23, 2019
New USAID Program Emphasizes Private Sector Investment
The ultimate goal, according to an architect of an innovative USAID initiative, is for the agency to “work itself out of a job” when it comes to helping fund enterprises in poor, developing markets. This,…
Read MoreDecember 22, 2019
SWFF Seed Money Aids Desalination Breakthrough
Innovation is a long game. In 2014, Dr. Amos Winter’s team at MIT entered the USAID/BRM Desal Prize—a competition to develop a desalination product for aiding farmers plagued by brackish water in many developing countries….
Read MoreDecember 21, 2019
Impact Investing Expert Kohler Helps Innovators Overcome Challenges
John Kohler is a recognized expert in impact investing and venture capital, but an experimental program targeting innovators in emerging markets six years ago posed a challenge. It was also a rewarding experience. The program…
Read MoreDecember 20, 2019
USAID’s WE4F Maps Investment in East Africa and West Africa
It was, by any measure, a challenging task to map the investment possibilities for a program that hopes to gain more private capital to sustain and scale enterprises in East Africa and West Africa. Thomas Flahive,…
Read MoreDecember 19, 2019
By Priska Prasetya Uncomfortable though it might be to consider, poop—a generally accepted English word for a plentiful natural resource—can stimulate endless opportunities around the world for farmers. Every individual on the planet—some more or…
Read MoreDecember 18, 2019
The Other Shark Tank: Securing Water for Food
Three decades ago, the World Wide Web was introduced, Taylor Smith was born, and the Dalai Lama won the Nobel Peace Prize. Only three decades from now, in the flutter of an eyelid, nine billion…
Read MoreDecember 17, 2019
The Battle Against Salt: Lal Teer On Front Line in Bangladesh
If you ask Tajwar Awal, a director at the Lal Teer Seed Limited in Bangladesh, he will tell you one of the most crucial problems facing world food production is the prevalence of salt. That’s…
Read MoreDecember 16, 2019
Bangladeshi Activist and NGO Practical Action Recognized for Poverty Fighting
If there were an award for collecting awards, there is a good chance Nazmul Chowdhury‘s name would be affixed to the golden statue, a tribute to him and the poverty-fighting NGO Practical Action. But the…
Read MoreDecember 15, 2019
In Agriculture, Innovate or Stagnate: Kenyan Entrepreneur Chooses Innovation
In modern agriculture, you innovate or stagnate. That’s why Peter Chege, CEO of Hydroponics Kenya, quickly picked up on new technology when he visited the Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA) in Abu Dhabi…
Read MoreDecember 14, 2019
Claire Reid’s Reel Gardening Innovation: Time to Take a Step Back
Claire Reid, who dreamed up the idea that became Reel Gardening as a 16-year-old school girl in South Africa, has an attribute that many entrepreneurs never acquire—knowing when to step back. What’s this CEO and…
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