A fantastic new video featuring iDE created social enterprise Hydrologic, which produces water filters, as a case study for carbon finance. Hydrologic is Gold Standard accredited – where carbon reduction is quantifiable and measurable:
This creates a win-win solution for the environment, health, businesses wanting a low risk option to reduce their carbon footprint, and for rural communities.
Lewis Temple, Chief Executive of iDE UK has just taken part in a radio discussion panel for Voice of Russia to debate the role of women farmers in Africa in poverty alleviation and economic growth. He thinks it’s time to invest in women farmers! Why not have a listen?
To listen to the broadcast on Voice of Russia click on the picture.
Here are some of the key points Lewis made:
“The United Nations has calculated that one dollar invested in a woman farmer achieves the equivalent of eleven dollars invested in a male farmer, in terms of the benefits for nutrition and health for the children in that family. So, you can see if you want to get your bang for the buck, it makes good economic sense to invest in women farmers. The experience is that in the aid business, the aid industry, investment in women farmers has been sadly lacking. Only something in the region of 10% of agriculture investment through aid is directed towards women farmers. So something’s gone wrong there. We [iDE] are part of the global coalition called Farming First, which is strongly pushing for increased investment into women farmers.”
“At iDE we work a lot to introduce smallholder farmers into horticultural production to grow fruit and vegetables for the local market. Often that’s a kind of production system that is particularly suited to balancing the responsibilities of women with their families, with also producing produce for the market and selling. This is essential to give them a chance to increase their incomes. In our programme in Ethiopia we’ve seen an increase in income up to 300 dollars, as a result of moving to horticultural production of fruit and vegetables.”
“With the growing urban population in many African countries there’s increased demand for that kind of produce as people’s appetites become greater for fruit and vegetables. There is that market opportunity for them, and women farmers are often in the best place to be able to take advantage of that market opportunity.”
“The key message is – smallholder farmers and women in particular, are viable businesses. That to move from subsistence agriculture to growing for the market can have transformative impacts on incomes and the livelihoods of those farmers.”
Why did they visit?
The main purpose the visit was to look at ‘scaling up’ agricultural projects, or reaching huge numbers of food insecure, malnourished people. Dr. Shah and Denise were very impressed by iDE Nepal’s innovative, cost-effective work using the private sector to reach scale, especially for drip irrigation. They both felt that iDE’s approach which ensures that the very poorest farmers adopt technologies like drip is a vital form of assistance, and that the extra income farmers’ receive can have a life-changing impact. For example one of the farmers that Dr Shah visited is now earning about $1,500 a year. She is able to send her children to college and has built a new house.
What did the USAID team see in Nepal?
The visit of Dr. Shah and Denise Rollins of USAID was a great success. John Stam head of the SEED office (Agriculture and Environment) who accompanied them whilst visiting the projects expressed this was the best site that Dr. Shah’s and Denise had visited. They all thanked iDE Nepal for showing them the project and said we should expect more visits!
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After recently returning to The Andrew Marr show, we are delighted that he has chosen to record the BBC Radio 4 Appeal – a weekly radio programme highlighting the work of a charity and appealing for donations – to support us.
His commitment and support to iDE at this time is truly inspiring.
Andrew has been a keen supporter of iDE’s work since 2007. Watch the video and find out why!
“In a world of huge charities with big big bureaucracies I like the idea of getting money to the smaller charities who do the real work on the ground” – Andrew Marr, 2014
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“This is basic sustainable and highly practical help. It’s the old business of providing not fish but fishing rods and tackle. That’s why I support them so strongly and I hope you will too!“
Listen on Sunday 2 Feb 2014 at 7:55AM and 9:26PM. Listen again that week online. It is also broadcast for a final time on the following Thursday at 3:27PM.
Please help us spread the word!
One year after the start of our WIN (Wealth Creation through Irrigation in North-Western province) initiative in Solwezi, Zambia, many farmers like Lucia have improved their knowledge, productivity and income. Thanks to iDE’s fruitful relationship with mining company Barrick Lumwana (a division of Barrick Gold) – they are able to sell their produce to Africa’s largest copper mine in order to feed over 3,000 workers. Read on for a snippet written by an EU team after their recent visit to the project:
Increasing Farm Productivity
East of Solwezi, Zambia, farmer Lucia Kaseba Mwansa (left) explains how a loan obtained earlier in 2013 allowed her to buy fertilizer to improve her crop of impwa (a variety of aubergine).
With this, training on irrigation techniques, and access to a wider community of farmers and agro-dealers, she hopes to continue to improve her yield, increase her income and allow her to save for a treadle pump – which could allow her to expand further.
Lucia’s story isn’t unique: she is one of thousands of farmers in North-Western Province identified by the WIN project who are on the verge of turning their farms into sustainable and profitable enterprises.
Selling the Produce
A decisive reason for the success of this project is the partnership with the mining company Barrick Lumwana, which funds 25% of the 1m Euro project. Barrick has become a bulk purchaser of the farmers’ produce, since they have a great demand of fruits and vegetables to feed the miners. For Barrick there is a huge advantage in that they can buy local, healthy food and avoid expensive transportation from as far away as South Africa. This has created a win-win situation for both parties.
Read IDE’s description of the project
Key facts
IDE believes that giveaways are harmful to local markets and cannot be sustained in the long term. Read more about the approach and similar work in Nepal and Bangladesh and Ethiopia
To see the full report go on the EU Website: http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/zambia/press_corner/all_news/news/2013/20131129_1_en.htm
World Toilet Day, Tuesday the 19th November is here. To mark the day, we want you to think about the benefits of toilets when you visit the lav today, and tweet your thoughts to @IDE_UK
Why toilets?
This might sound weird but toilets are amazing.
They help people stay healthy by preventing the germs in human waste from contaminating water sources, which has a huge impact of diarrhoeal disease. They limit open defecation which makes living conditions intolerable. And, by providing a private place to do your ones and two’s, they help women and girls stay safe from attack.
Toilets are one of the most basic human rights, yet one in three of the world’s population don’t have one.
This year, for the first time, World Toilet Day has been recognised as an official day by the UN, which is fantastic news!
What is iDE doing?
iDE has developed a network of local entrepreneurs who have sold over one hundred thousand unsubsidised toilets to rural poor communities in Cambodia.
Our approach – known as sanitation marketing – uses the private sector as the exclusive channel for delivering latrines (as opposed to heavily subsidised or free governmental or NGO distribution).
We work with local communities and apply world-class product design to develop toilets that are attractive to both consumers and supply chain enterprises, and encourage competition to ensure low prices and high quality.
As interest increases for new ways to address the Millennium Development Goals including the woefully off target goal relating to water, sanitation and hygiene – working through the market offers an exciting solution for reaching large numbers of people, quickly and sustainably.
Spending on sanitation has huge economic benefits – for every pound invested in sanitation and water, there’s around a £4 return. Health is improved, fewer days are lost to sickness, and girls stay on at school longer.
Read more about Sanitation Marketing here.
iDE was the runner up in the 2013 Sarphati Sanitation Award – find out more.
In October 2013 iDE was announced as the runner up in the inaugural Sarphati Sanitation Award during International Water Week in Amsterdam. The award recognises iDE’s dramatic impact in improving sanitation and hygiene in rural Cambodia by selling over 100,000 unsubsidised latrines to bottom of the pyramid customers through a network of local entrepreneurs.
The Mayor of Amsterdam awarded a certificate and flowers to Yi Wei from iDE Cambodia. The other two finalists, selected out of 22 outstanding candidates were ‘Mr. Toilet’ Jack Sim and SANERGY, the overall winners.
iDE was nominated for providing a remarkable sustainable business solution for “turning shit into gold”. No, not literally…what this means that iDE have shown that it is not only possible to address sanitation and public health issues in developing countries – it is possible to make profit whilst doing so. Over the past few years interest has increased for new ways to address the Millennium Development Goals (MDG); especially the goal for sanitation which is one of the least likely to be achieved. Working through the market offers an exciting solution for reaching this goal quickly and sustainably. iDE’s innovative approach is evidence of this fact:
Watch Yi Wei’s pitch (which starts at 6:00 minutes in) to find out more about iDE’s approach:
The Sarphati Sanitation Award is a biennial international award honouring the outstanding contribution of an individual or organisation to the global sanitation and public health challenge through entrepreneurship. It is an initiative of the Municipality of Amsterdam, Aqua for All and the Netherlands Water Partnership, and is endorsed by the Dutch Government.
One of the most entertaining parts of the Awards ceremony was when the lights went out and the inspiration behind the award, Samuel Sarphati, dramatically took to the stage to explain a bit about himself and tell us why iDE was nominated. According to Wiki he died in 1866 so there was a general surprise and murmuring among the crowd and select panel which included Mrs. Uschi Eid, Vice-Chair of the United Nations Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB), Mr. Kulwant Singh, Regional Advisor of UN-Habitat Asia; Arno Rosemarin, Senior Research Fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute.
Samuel Sarphati was appalled by the bad sanitary conditions in the poorer quarters of the city and understood the importance of good hygiene. His compassion for his patients led him to initiate various entrepreneurial projects to improve the quality of life in the city and the health of its inhabitants.
In 1847, Sarphati linked the public and the private sector by establishing a company that collected the human waste of the city dwellers. Faeces and urine were transformed into manure for the agricultural sector. A true entrepreneur, Dr Sarphati applied the fertiliser to crops on his estate and brought fruit and vegetables back to Amsterdam for the benefit of his patients.
The projects he initiated included also a bread factory that produced wholesome, affordable bread. Both the city and the rural areas around it benefited tremendously from this initiative. He understood that improving sanitation was key to improving the public health situation. His efforts helped to eradicate cholera from Amsterdam before the end of the 19th century.
So Mr Sarphati demonstrated a keen entrepreneurs spirit and turned shit into something useful, profitable and beneficial.
In many parts of the world hygiene is as bad today as it was in 18th Century Amsterdam. In fact it could be said to be worse: according to the UN 2.5 Billion of the world’s population do not have access to adequate sanitation. At iDE we believe that part of the solution is to start seeing these 2.5 billion people not as victims but as customers or 2.5 billion opportunities.
Press/ Media
http://www.worldwaternet.com/publicaties/nieuws/genomineerden-bekend-sarphati-sanitation-award/
Richard and Conor from iDE Bangladesh are off to the World Bank in Washington DC on Friday to talk about our Agriculture & Nutrition Extension Project, funded by the EU. The project is pioneering new ways of working through the market to link increased agricultural production to improve nutrition, for example in fish and vegetable markets. It is helping 16,000 vulnerable households in Bangladesh.
Date: Friday November 8th
Time: 12:30pm – 2:00 pm
Venue: World Bank Building, Washington Room I2-250
| In Bangladesh low income families often suffer from poor access to healthy foods and low ability to make good nutritional choices. iDE UK’s Agriculture and Nutrition Extension Project (ANEP) has been supporting vulnerable families to make healthy food choices in the south of Bangladesh and the Nepal plains since January 2012. It aims to sustainably raise agricultural productivity, promote effective market linkages and nutritional awareness to improve the nutritional behaviour of poor rural and urban households. The project is targeting 16,000 vulnerable households (HHs), such as those with pregnant-lactating mothers, adolescent girls and children up to 5 years of age, directly and some 43,000 HHs indirectly through value-chains.
Highlights so far:
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Richard Rose leads the Technology Portfolio for International Development Enterprises (iDE) in Bangladesh. He is responsible for agricultural technology commercialisation initiatives including the EU-funded Agriculture and Nutrition Extension Project (ANEP) and the USAID-funded Cereal Systems Initiative South Asia – Mechanization and Irrigation (CSISA-MI) program.
Conor Riggs leads the iDEsign product innovation team, and is the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Portfolio lead for International Development Enterprises (iDE) in Bangladesh.
To read the full article – please click here.
David Curry has become Chair of the Trustees of iDE UK. David’s appointment follows the tragically early death of Andrew Hunt. David’s career has been in journalism and politics.
About David: He was correspondent for the Financial Times in Brussels and Paris before becoming one of the first directly elected Members of the European Parliament where he chaired the Agriculture Committee. Elected as a UK Member of Parliament in 1987 he was Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries under Mrs Thatcher before becoming Minister of Housing, Local Government and Urban Regeneration under Prime Minister John Major. In Opposition David chaired the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee as well as serving on the Public Accounts Committee.
David and iDE UK: He was recruited to the iDE UK Board in 2010 by Andrew Hunt – a friend for more than 50 years since university. Like Andrew David has strong links with the US – he was one of the first Kennedy Scholars, studying international relations under Henry Kissinger at Harvard University.
The future: David has defined three priorities for iDE UK:
1. Working with a wider range of donors and attracting more flexible funding – not tied to particular projects but enabling iDE UK to innovate
2. Putting help for women in the poorest communities in the developing world
at the heart of its operations
3. Developing its capability in assisting farmers to access financial services.
David says: “Like all organisations we need constantly to be aware of changing circumstances and be capable of re-engineering our work to meet new needs,” he commented. “In our field there is no such thing as a non-challenging environment and we must keep iDE right at the forefront both of innovation and down-to-earth practicality, delivering value-for-money and outcomes which are manifestly sustainable.”
This was the question asked by Colalife – an organisation that started as an online ‘movement’ in 2008, and became an independent UK charity in 2011.
On Monday I went to the premier of the ColaLife Documentary ‘- ‘The Cola Road’ – at the RSA in London on Monday. The documentary follows the ColaLife team in Zambia as they attempt to make an anti-diarrhoea kit as ubiquitous as Coca-Cola. It was a incredibly inspiring documentary – so much so that I felt obliged to write this blog post!
Like the staff at iDE the folks behind Colalife are curious about the world we live in and creative when looking at solutions for change.
They pondered whether Coca Cola’s distribution network could be harnessed for good – to get new innovative products out into developing countries where they are needed most.
After a creative design process they came up with the fantastic ‘Kit Yamoyo’ basic medical kit – a small kit containing anti-diarrhea medicine – which slots perfectly between crates of Coca Cola.
These beautifully designed kits are being trialed in Zambia. They have great potential to reach even the most remote areas where 1 in 9 children die before their fifth birthday from preventable causes, especially dehydration from diarrhoea.
With the inadequacy of current initiatives, this innovative product coupled with a private sector distribution model, could have a real impact on child mortality figures that have not changed significantly for at least 3 decades.
Cola Life is engaged with the likes of Coca-Cola, UNICEF and other key stakeholders, including 10,000 online supporters and myself and the iDE UK team are excited about the outcome!
Sam – iDE UK
iDEuk 