SWFF Program & InnovatorNews: Innovating in Energy and Waste Management
March 27, 2017 11:07 am | Published by admin
Water Governance Institute Innovator Exhibition Stall at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Johannesburg, South Africa.
SWFF Program & Innovator NewsMarch 27, 2017Green Heat Uganda: Using Less Water to Create Cleaner, More Abundant EnergyFor farmers in Uganda and other developing countries facing energy and waste-management issues, anaerobic digestion systems seem like a great solution. They help break down waste from plants and animals and create fuel. Waste and water go in; fertilizer and biogas come out. The problem is that every kilogram of waste needs to be mixed with a kilogram of water. Women and children in Uganda might gather upwards of 80 liters of water every day just for the digester. This burden leads to half of digesters being abandoned within a year. Green Heat Uganda has worked to improve the standard digester, using gravity to recycle water within the system. It’s a solution that requires farmers to put in less labor and fewer precious resources.
Reel Gardening has taken home the prestigious Agripreneur of the Year Award at the Future Agro Challenge. Founder Claire Reid bested eight other competitors in a live pitching competition, securing a win for Reel Gardening’s Biodegradable Seed Tape — an easy-to-use seed delivery system that uses 80 percent less water to grow staple herbs and vegetables.MetaMeta’s partner Salt Farm Texel and ICCO were awarded €2.1 million in support from The Postcode Lottery to introduce salt-tolerant crops in the coastal areas of Southern Bangladesh.SWFF TA Facility service provider, Imagine H2O assisted Green Heat with an investor pitch deck and a marketing strategy to scale their operations. Green Heat Managing Director Vianney Tumwesige used these tools in recent conversations with angel investors, resulting in a convertible loan investment of €51,000. Si Technologies was featured in Nextbillion: Find Good Partners and Don’t Quit: Lessons from a Water-Ag Innovator and in Water Online: The New Silicon Valley: How A Forgotten Mineral Solves Our Water Problems.Green Heat was featured in Water Online: Green Heat: Using Less Water To Create Cleaner, More Abundant Energy.aQysta co-founders Lennart Budelmann and Pratap Thapa were honored in the Forbes 30 Under 30 social entrepreneurs category for their work enhancing food security with the Barsha pump, a hydro-powered irrigation technology.Groasis has been selected by Sustainia, UN Global Compact and DNV GL in their influential Global Opportunity Report as one of the 15 sustainable business opportunities for global risks, in the category of soil depletion.aQysta will be featured as part of a USAID webinar series on innovation on April 12 at 9am ET. Hear from aQysta co-founder Lennart Budelmann about the company’s innovation process, and their next steps for growth and adoption of the Barsha pump.
SWFF Featured at Special USAID Event on Water A special event to release USAID’s Safeguarding the World’s Waterreport for FY 2015 in Washington, D.C., brought together USAID staff and a wide range water-sector stakeholders to reflect on accomplishments and lessons learned. SWFF Team Lead Ku McMahan spoke about the creation of SWFF, the program’s approach and challenges, and the importance of experimentation for development. Photos from the Global Entrepreneurship Congress
Thank you, Johannesburg and the 6,000+ delegates from over 165 countries, for making this an amazing Congress!
Cutting edge start-ups and research projects across ag-bio, renewable energy, sustainable materials, food production, animal health, and farming technologies are invited to apply to present their business/technology at the 2017 Ag Innovation Showcase in St. Louis, Missouri, September 11-13, 2017.Are you working on a promising, innovative and scalable business in a bottom of the pyramid (BoP) market? The Inclusive Business Accelerator connects you to investors and business coaches. Register your profile!The SOCAP Social Entrepreneur Scholarship Program is now accepting applicants to receive a scholarship to attend SOCAP17 in San Francisco, California-including accommodations, full conference pass, and dedicated mentorship from impact leaders, among other benefits. International applicants’ deadline is June 1, 2017. For all other applicants, June 30, 2017.The Government of Australia and other partners (including the World Bank) are launching the Water Data Challenge. This challenge seeks breakthroughs in enabling low-income farmers to access and make use of affordable, timely water data, resulting in better management of scarce water resources to support resilient, productive farms. Applications accepted on a rolling basis. Grants – $10,000. Winners announced July, 2017. First round winners eligible for early-stage awards up to US $250,000 and ready-to-scale awards up to US $1million.Lessons from Successful Social Enterprises: Best Sales Practices for BoP Customers. Join the next USAID Live Discussion webinar on Thursday April 6th at 10AM EST to hear speakers share their lessons learned from developing sales strategies for bottom-of-the-pyramid (BoP) customers.
SWFF Innovator World Hope GRO Greenhouses field agents, Umar Manseray and Mohamed Jawara, with a vegetable seller purchasing lettuce nursed in a GRO greenhouse at the University of Makeni, Sierra Leone. She will take the lettuce to the market and sell it.
SWFF Program & Innovator NewsMarch 27, 2017
Green Heat Uganda: Using Less Water to Create Cleaner, More Abundant Energy
For farmers in Uganda and other developing countries facing energy and waste-management issues, anaerobic digestion systems seem like a great solution. They help break down waste from plants and animals and create fuel. Waste and water go in; fertilizer and biogas come out. The problem is that every kilogram of waste needs to be mixed with a kilogram of water. Women and children in Uganda might gather upwards of 80 liters of water every day just for the digester. This burden leads to half of digesters being abandoned within a year.
