Meat Production that Mimics Nature Bodes Well for Biodiversity

Picture what protecting biodiversity looks like. Eating more meat isn’t often what comes to mind. Like the rest of the world, livestock production is one the leading causes of biodiversity loss in South Africa. This is because of overgrazing and degradation of grasslands. On the African continent, up to 65% of productive land is degraded. 



It’s possible to restore the imbalances caused by overgrazing through strategies like rotation, resting, and bush control. By mimicking the ecosystem function of wild herbivores, meat production can maintain – and even restore – biodiversity and soil fertility. When livestock trample the ground, it facilitates water penetration and plays a role in land fertilization, which also helps limit bush fires.

Fighting food loss in Kenya – a partnership ends, the mission goes on

In the husky hills of Taita Taveta, a seven-hour drive from Nairobi towards the South, lies a tranquil, little known hidden treasure. It is the processing site of Miyonga Fresh Greens – a woman owned fruit processing company that has successfully partnered with WE4F for more than two years now. InAugust 2020, the East Africa Hub started a development partnership with the company to support farmers in getting more climate resilient, reduce post-harvest losses and to pilot innovative technologies. This partnership ended in December 2022, but the work will go on.

How Women in Science Drive Creativity and Innovation at Science for Society (S4S Technologies) in India

Women play a significant role in science and technology. Despite having little say in farm decision-making, women account for nearly half of the global agricultural workforce. On International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we asked Ms. Nidhi Pant, Co-Founder of Science For Society, or S4S Technologies, a few questions about the importance of women in science, her journey from chemical engineer to entrepreneur, and her advice for women entering the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) field.

Crowdfunding with AlvaTech

ALVÁTECH is a ground-breaking tech and social business that has developed an affordable solar-powered water treatment technology that effectively mitigates water and soil salinization. The treatment involves changing the molecule behavior of water as a result of which, high-salinity water can be efficiently absorbed by crops. Towards the end of the year 2022, the UK-based company, which is expanding into multiple countries in the MENA region, ran its second successful crowdfundingcampaign. To help others learn from his experience, CEO Zac Gazit sat down with our MENA RIH Communication & Knowledge Management Key Expert, Hannah Wuzel. They talked about his key learnings and impressions, as well as some previews on what’s to come for his company.

Turning Waste into Energy Gold – EGreen’s Biogas Tech Tackles Challenges in Vietnam’s Pig Industry

Pork is king in Vietnam – the country is Asia’s second-largest pork producing country and the 6th largest in the world. Also, pork is the most consumed meat in Vietnam. It’s an industry that is nowhere close to slowing down. From 2021 to 2022, the total number of pigs in Vietnam grew by 11.4%. In 2023, the industry is expected to grow by about 5.5%. However, with this growth, comes increasing challenges.

WE4F Southern and Central Africa Regional Innovation Hub Announces Winners its first Open Call for Innovations Winner

Today, the Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) Grand Challenge Southern and Central Africa Regional Hub (S/CA RIH) announced its first Open Call for Innovations winner. Reel Gardening, a legacy innovator from Securing Water for Food (SWFF), joined the hub’s innovator cohort as a WE4F grantee. 

Reel Gardening manufactures patented seed tape and began its journey addressing food security in schools across South Africa. Through their new WE4F award, this innovator will focus on household gardening which helps address food security, poverty reduction, and base of the pyramid integration while promoting environmental sustainability. In addition to the grant, the innovator will receive technical assistance and investment facilitation.

Impact in Numbers: Solar-Powered Irrigation Increases Productivity and Incomes in Kenya

Solar powered irrigation is a simple farming technology that is radically changing the lives of thousands of smallholder farmers for the better. This applies especially to farmers in regions where water is sparse or only provided by more and more unreliable rainfalls.

To further assess the benefits that solar powered irrigation brings, the WE4F East Africa Hub is closely monitoring 17 pilot systems that have been installed between 2018 and 2020 in Kenya. The systems operate in various climatic and geographic regions in Kenya and are run by farmers that previously relied on rain-fed irrigation or used petrol-powered systems.

S/CA Hub and Innovators Tackle Women Agribusinesses’ Challenges at the Africa Agriculture Science Week

The WE4F Southern and Central Africa Hub convened a session on tackling enabling environment challenges faced by women agribusinesses during the Africa Agriculture Science Week. The session included speakers from Lanforce Energy, Solidaridad, and Nature’s Nectar.

CALL FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) FROM SERVICE PROVIDERS

Join a pre-vetted pool of service providers for Water and Energy for Food (WE4F): A Grand Challenge for Development (MENA). Work with game-changing innovators in the water-energy-food nexus and be a part of scaling solutions and unlocking opportunities across the MENA region.

With this document, the MENA Regional Innovation Hub invites eligible service providers to respond to Water and Energy for Food: A Grand Challenge for Development (WE4F)’s Call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) to become part of the pool of pre-vetted providers.

DUE DATE: EOIs shall be submitted by August 15th, 2023.

Water and Energy for Food Launches Open Calls for Innovations

WE4F is proud to announce the launch of Open Call for Innovations (O-CFI) in the Middle East and North Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Southern and Central Africa. WE4F’s O-CFIs will foster innovations that enhance food security, water security, renewable energy usage, and sustainable water usage in their respective regions. Individual O-CFI awards will receive support in the form of technical assistance, investment facilitation, enabling ecosystem support, and grants. The awarded innovators will match the grant amount by at least 100%. All O-CFIs are now accepting applications on a rolling basis.

Events & Other Resources

Accelerate Your Growth: A Deep Dive into B2B Digital Marketing

Hosted by Ahmed Roushdy, an eCommerce and Online Presence expert, and facilitated by Noura Abdelwahab, the MENA RIH Gender Specialist, this workshop will offer a deep dive into the world of B2B digital marketing!

Unlocking Investment: Empowering Innovators in the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

In the South and Southeast Asia region, promising micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are bringing their innovative ideas to life and creating positive impacts on livelihoods. However, they face many challenges when it comes to scaling – one particular challenge is raising investment.

For World MSME Day, Asmita Moon, Business and SME Development Specialist for the WE4F South and Southeast Asia (S/SEA) Regional Innovation Hub shed light on the crucial role innovators play in driving global sustainable development, while highlighting key first steps MSMEs should take when pursuing investment.

What You Need to Know About Using Water Efficiently when Irrigating

In sub–Saharan Africa, droughts are common. In fact, the frequency of droughts in the region has almost tripled from 2010 to 2019, affecting nearly 115 million people. Even with these climatic changes, the region still relies mainly on rainfall for irrigation. Irrigation systems that distribute a controlled amount of water can secure uninterrupted agriculture production caused by irregular, insufficient or uncertain rain. When water is used efficiently through irrigation, agricultural yields have the potential to increase by at least 50%. By the end of the century, it is projected that all crop yields could decrease by between 15 and 20% in sub-Saharan Africa (World Bank Group, 2021). WE4F Southern and Central Africa Communications and Knowledge Management Specialist, Tebogo Masombuka, interviewed Agricultural Water Expert, Dr Manuel Magombeyi, about key information, best practices, and efficient water use when irrigating.

Gender lens investing – A brief guide for innovators in South and Southeast Asia markets

Capital is an essential ingredient of every business. An enterprise needs cash to run its day-to-day operations and longer-term funding to support its expansion plans. Access to adequate capital – and, very importantly, the appropriate type of capital – is frequently a challenge for growth-stage companies and small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), especially in developing countries and underserved markets. For women entrepreneurs founding and running companies in these places, it’s even more complex. Women entrepreneurs face distinct challenges in accessing capital, limiting their ability to scale. Common challenges include human and social capital limitations, meaning a lack of access to formal education, skills training, and commercial networks; social expectations (balancing dual responsibilities between work and home); and institutional barriers that further limit access to finance (for example, lack of legal ownership of assets that can be used as loan collateral).

Being intentionally focused on closing the gender gap through social impact- and returns-oriented private investment is the first step towards change and equality. This is the notion of gender lens investing (GLI).