SWFF Program & Innovator News
May 3, 2018
Planting the Seeds of Female Empowerment

The International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) and SWFF are working to close the agricultural gender gap in Egypt.

Over the last year, ICBA has focused on designing trainings for women in the New Valley of Egypt that address gender inequality in agriculture. The training looks at the areas of crop production that most involve female farmers and focuses on opportunities for empowerment.

"Rural women are the backbone of agriculture and food security in most of the developing countries," says Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, Director General of ICBA. "We need to create more avenues [for growth] by empowering them and providing them with equal opportunities for development."
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  • Hydroponics Africa founder speaks on "Growing Food in the Cities: Successes and New Opportunities." Peter Chege, CEO and founder of Hydroponics Africa , served as a panelist at the Brussels Development Briefing on April 10th. Panelists discussed the development of urban agriculture in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, and looked at successful urban agribusinesses and the partnerships and policy developments that are creating new opportunities. Watch the full-day panel here .
  • SWFF to attend Stockholm World Water Week 2018. SWFF innovators responded to SIWI's call for abstracts for the 2018 conference theme "Water, ecosystems and human development." The event will take place in August, drawing over 3,000 participants from 135 countries. SWFF will bring a delegation of current innovators, graduates, founding partners, USAID staff, and the TA Facility/Kaizen team. This annual meeting will feature the popular "Unconference" for innovator peer-to-peer exchanges.
  • SWFF pens article on development impact and lessons learned. SWFF's Dr. Ku McMahan and Dr. Donna Vincent Roa wrote an article that appeared on Agrilinks and USAID's Global Waters website. Read their findings on milestone-based funding, multi-stakeholder collaboration, and how customer segments and relationships are vital to scaling innovations here.
  • MimosaTEK at the Smart City Innovation Challenge. MimosaTEK was the 2nd runner-up in the Smart City Innovation Challenge organized by Mekong Business Initiative (MBI) in Hanoi in November 2017. The Smart City Innovation Challenge Vietnam received 197 submissions from over 30 countries to find solutions for urban challenges in Vietnam. MimosaTEK pitched their solution for urban agriculture for cities in Vietnam and was the only Vietnamese start-up in the top three finalists.
  • Hydroponics Kenya receives quality award. Hydroponics Kenya was selected to receive the BID Quality Award in the Gold Category at the International BID Quality Convention in Frankfurt, Germany, March 17-18, 2018.
  • Meat Naturally develops Botswana feasibility assessment and business plan. Conservation International (Meat Naturally) has partnered with students at the Anderson School of Management at UCLA to assess the uniquely challenging landscape of Ngamiland. In addition to creating strategic recommendations and conducting a financial analysis for Botswana, the team updated the organization's 2016 business model with cost and production data from the past three years.
Opportunities
  • The SOCAP Social Entrepreneur Scholarship Program is now accepting applicants for scholarships to attend SOCAP18 in San Francisco, California. Scholarships cover accommodations, a full conference pass, access to a pre-conference program for entrepreneurs, and dedicated mentorship from social-impact leaders. The deadline for international applicants is June 1, 2018. For U.S. applicants, the deadline is June 30, 2018. Apply.
  • The 2018 Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition YES! Research Grant Competition invites young PhD and post-doc researchers from any background and nationality to submit a research project to improve the sustainability of the food system. Country case studies, intersections of food sustainability and environmental sustainability, and identification of best practice are strongly encouraged. The award is a 20,000€ research grant applied to a one-year investigation. Completed proposals must be submitted online through the BCFN website by June 14, 2018.
  • Cutting-edge startups and research projects across the ag-bio, renewable energy, sustainable materials, food production, animal health, and farming technology sectors are invited to apply to present their business/technology at the 2018 Ag Innovation Showcase in St. Louis, Missouri. The showcase will take place September 10 ---- 12, 2018, and presenter applications are open May 1 ----     May 31, 2018.
  • As Southeast Asia's population continues to grow rapidly, so does demand for food. Experts believe that by 2050, 40 percent more food will be needed to feed the region. The 2018 ASEAN-U.S. Science Prize for Women seeks to identify and recognize ASEAN-based women who are using applied sciences to produce more food through precision agriculture. Winners will receive up to $20,000, and applications are open now and will close on May 6, 2018. Apply.
  • Wondering whether results-based financing is right for your social enterprise? Check out Financing for Scaled Impact, a new report created by Scaling Pathways, a partnership which shares the lessons, insights, and analysis from transformative social enterprises in scaling their impact. Read the report.
  • Food Tank has collected 20 of the best new books in food and agriculture to celebrate spring. These books cover critical topics including the paradox of obesity and malnutrition, building strong communities through socially-conscious food systems, and the essential link between food and health. Learn how people all over the world grow, harvest, sell, and eat food, and why it's important to the future of this planet.
1001 Words

Claire Reid, founder and CEO of Reel Gardening, recently visited with students at Sekwati Primary School in Jabavu, Soweto to plant a Learn and Grow kit. The kit was donated to the school through Reel Gardening's buy-one, give-one program, which donates a kit to a school in need for every kit purchased.