SWFF Program & Innovator News
May 30, 2017

Pumpkins in the Sand: Innovation turns sandbars into a reliable source of food and income

As Nazmul Islam Chowdhury surveyed the scene at the Pumpkin Carnival held at Taluk Shahbaz in Rangpur, Bangladesh, he couldn't help but indulge in a rare moment of reflection. "It was a war against poverty, and war against hunger," he said. "And now we can finally declare a small victory."
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  • Research group A4Lab deployed a drone from FutureWater's Mozambican ThirdEye project to assess the water availability in the dry river beds of the Limpopo river, near the city of Chókwè in Moazambique.
  • ICBA ( International Center for Biosaline Agriculture) has formed a new partnership with the General Secretariat of the Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation to step up efforts in date palm research and production.
  • Ignitia was recently at the Sustainability, Technology and Innovation Forum at the United Nations in New York City. Their innovative mobile weather forecasting work was featured in a Facebook Live video from the conference. 
  • Practical Action launched a new newsletter called "STEM Matters." The newsletter, which comes out every twice a year keeps stakeholders up to date on new website materials, conferences, STEM and other global issues.
  • In a new blog post, titled "In parched South Africa, herders find ally in nature," Conservation South Africa discusses their work with SWITCH Africa Green to help small-scale farmers form cooperatives to obtain market access.
Opportunities
  • The SOCAP Social Entrepreneur Scholarship Program is now accepting applicants for scholarships to attend SOCAP17 in San Francisco, California --- including accommodations, full conference pass, and dedicated mentorship from impact leaders, among other benefits. The deadline for international applicants is June 1, 2017. For all other applicants, the deadline is June 30, 2017.
  • 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 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 water management to support resilient farms. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis for planning grants of $10,000, and winners announced in July 2017. First round winners will be eligible for early-stage awards up to $250,000 USD and ready-to-scale awards up to $1million USD.
1001 Words

Naireeta Services   ---     a SWFF Innovator and makers of the Bhungroo irrigation system   ---     are the 2016 winners of Innovation in Agriculture within the DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia.