NextBillion - A WDI Publication

Solar Irrigation Solutions in Africa

When you have to hand-deliver water to irrigate your farm, you aren’t going to have the best possible crop yields. If you have to pay for water from a nearby pump, if one exists, you’re not going to be able to get very much if your total budget is less than a dollar a day and your crop yield is still going to be pretty limited. But if you can manage to access the underground water table using a solar-powered pump that does not cost much to run, you can ease the burden of everyda...

Source

Dowser (link opens in a new window)

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

How One Woman May Bring Safe Water to Millions

When Cynthia Koenig, from New York, realized that one in six people lack reliable access to water she wanted to do something about it. Her solution was a 25-gallon drum that can be pushed or pulled and takes away much of the burden of carrying water on the head, which is the traditional method women use in many parts of the world. Koenig considers herself a social entrepreneur, a new breed of entrepreneur who has innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems ...

Source

ABC News (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Greenway Smart Stove: A Cleaner Smarter Stove for 150 Million BoP Households

Newly minted MBA graduates in their mid-20’s, especially from top-tier business schools, are supposed to be working at a multi-national bank or maybe a Hindustan Lever, right? Not if you are Neha Juneja and Ankit Mathur who decided to take the less beaten path of social entrepreneurship by founding Greenway Grameen Infrastructure. Zeroing in on the stove Their journey started innocuously enough. A series of consulting gigs in the environment domain gave Neha a...

Source

TechSangam (link opens in a new window)

Tags

Base of the Pyramid, clean cooking

The Women Bringing Solar Power to Sierra Leone

A group of 12 women from villages in Sierra Leone is in the frontline of a battle to bring solar-powered electricity to rural communities. No small feat, given that rural Sierra Leone is not connected to power. The women were all trained at Barefoot College in Tilonia, Rajasthan, in western ...

Source

Guardian.co.uk (link opens in a new window)

Categories

Uncategorized

Region

Sub-Saharan Africa

9 Million Indian Microfinance Clients Crossed $1.25 a Day Threshold

Counting the net number of people who crossed from below the USD 1.25 a day consumption in India between 1990 and 2010, a study by India Development Foundation (IDF) shows that nearly 9 million Indian households involved in microfinance - including approximately 45 million family members moved above USD 1.25 threshold during the last two decades. According to the IDF report which was released by the Microcredit Summit Campaign, a program of the US-based advocacy group RESULTS Educationa...

Source

Microfinance Focus (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

In Bangledesh, ADBB, IDB Loans to Fill In Huge Power Deficit

Bangladesh will soon be developing new sources of sustainable energy, thanks to loans totaling $581 million from the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank. This is expected to fill in the country’s huge power deficit, as almost half of the population does not have access to electricity. The ADB will provide $300 million for the construction of a new natural gas-fueled power station to replace a...

Source

Devex News (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Solar Light Bulb Sheds Light on Social Entre?pre?neur?ship Model

Problems facing the developing world are wide-ranging and include the need for potable water, adequate food and efficient, affordable lighting. Inventor Stephen Katsaros’s solar-powered light bulb may go a long way towards fixing the last of those three. Katsaros created a solar light bulb that uses the sun’s rays to charge a battery-powered LED light supply for roughly four hours. The battery, which is replaceable, lasts roughly 300-500 charges, while the product itself c...

Source

The Washington Post (link opens in a new window)

Microfinance Gets Lending Boost with RBI Nod to Crowdsourcing

India’s microlending sector has got a significant nudge with the central bank giving its first nod to a crowdsourcing company to attract small loans from abroad for the country’s poor. Following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) approval, individuals or institutions from anywhere in the world can use Milaap’s online platform to identify whom they want to lend to, widely expanding the capital source for the company. They can extend as little as Rs.1,000 to fund someone...

Source

livemint.com (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia