WE4F Releases 2022 Annual Report
WE4F, through its Regional Innovation Hubs, provides financial support, technical assistance (TA), and investment facilitation to water-food, energy-food, and water-energy-food (WEF) innovations. The supported innovations impact smallholder farmers, helping them unlock missing inputs, finance, technology, and markets. By using these innovations, farmers and food companies can enhance their climate resilience and reduce CO2 emissions. Overall, 2023 was a successful year for WE4F. Of WE4F’s 10 key performance indicators, the program is on track to exceed, or has already exceeded, 8 of them.
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Norad Joins the Water And Energy for Food Grand Challenge
Today, we are pleased to welcome the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) to the Water and Energy for Food Grand Challenge for Development (WE4F). Norad has joined WE4F along with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union (EU), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Netherlands, Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Norad will contribute 85 million Krone (about $8.5 million) to the program, helping scale water- and energy-efficient agricultural innovations.
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WE4F Highlighted by Results for America
Results for America included Water and Energy for Food in their assessment of USAID! Results for America is an organization that scores US federal agencies on how they are building the infrastructure necessary to use evidence and data in their budget, policy, and management decisions. They highlighted WE4F's collaboration with innovators on milestone-based grants, technical assistance work, and use of MEL in unlocking funding.
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Innovations in the News and Around the World | |
Hydroponics and Green Transformation – towards resilient food systems in the far North of Kenya
In this environment, the Turkana Basin Institute (TBI) operates a research facility close to Ileret, on the eastern side of Lake Turkana, near the Ethiopian border. From October 2020 to December 2022, the Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) East Africa Regional Innovation Hub collaborated with TBI and contributed to another type of transformation.
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How Technology Can Empower Women in Agriculture
WE4F visited Batlhoka Temo Agricultural Cooperative to learn how the introduction of Virtual Irrigation Academy’s (VIA) chameleon sensor changed their operations. The cooperative is led by a female farmer in South Africa and has exported their citrus to the global juice market since 2019. Batlhoka also works with youth who are in university, providing them with positions and on-the-farm training.
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Women Empowerment in West Bengal – WE4F External Surveyor Shares Her Experiences
Pooja Gupta is a monitoring and evaluation expert and has been working on various projects and policies pertaining to facilitating the implementation of a wide range of development programs, including promoting various rural agribusiness enterprises, inclusive businesses, and Policy Advocacy with a particular focus on agency among women. In this blog she shares her experience as an External Surveyor.
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RFP to Conduct MEL Annual Surveys of WE4F S/SEA RIH Innovators
Proposals are due on July 5, 2023, at 5:00 PM Bangkok time (GMT+7) Bangkok Time. Proposals must be submitted to the designated email of WE4FAsiaBids@tetratech.com with the subject line “RFP-WE4F-2023-017- Conducting MEL Annual Surveys of WE4F SSEA RIH Innovators.” All Proposals must fully respond to the Technical Specifications in Attachment A and must include a financial offer in the format in Table 1 of Attachment B. Proposals received after the above-stated due date and time will not be considered for this procurement.
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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.
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Application form for ACMI’s African carbon credits catalogue
ACMI is excited to announce it is compiling a catalogue of African carbon credit projects to increase visibility and transparency of the continent’s diverse existing and pipeline supply.The ACMI catalogue is intended to be an extensive compilation of projects with credits for immediate or future delivery.
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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!
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High-Tech Emergency Response: How mobile phone technology helps remote communities in Nepal access food and information after a disaster.
USAID's Building Hope Along the Karnali River Basin (BHAKARI) program showcases best practices in digital solutions for addressing challenges that remote communities, such as in Nepal's Karnali River Basin, face when crises hit and throughout the phases of an emergency. Because of its innovative use of mobile phone apps, interactive voice response, and other digital tools, the BHAKARI program was selected as a winner of the 2022 Digital Development Awards.
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