SWFF Program & Innovator News
July 30, 2018
Turning Waste Into Prosperity

Water is precious in India, and especially precious for the nation's farmers. In rural areas, a lack of water infrastructure like sewer pipes can waste or harm water sources. For example, in the Ketti Valley in Tamil Nadu State, household waste collectors used to gather up wastewater containing feces, urine, and water from toilets, and dump it into local rivers. WASTE Stichting is working to solve these problems by building community systems that recycle wastewater in places like Ketti Valley. In the process, they're also creating organic compost to help local women farmers grow their crops.
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  • 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 August 26-31, 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 Innovators Reduce Water Consumption by 11.4 Billion Liters. SWFF released its 2018 Semi-Annual Report, highlighting the program's successes in the last six months and opportunities for growth. The report details SWFF innovators' impact to date, major program achievements and challenges, and the solutions that were developed to address those challenges.
  • Reel Gardening has launched its Digital Training Programme which includes a Learn & Grow Kit to implement. Reel Gardening has worked with Hours 2 Impact to create a programme that will equip non-profit organizations and social enterprises to adequately create large gardens and teach people how to look after those gardens in natural, economical ways. 
  • Claire Reid, founder of Reel Gardening, was selected as an Ashoka Fellow.  Ashoka is the largest global network of social entrepreneurs, and Ashoka Fellows are selected by a jury of national and international experts based on their innovative and sustainable approach, potential positive impact at a large scale, and visionary entrepreneurial skills. Claire joined the Ashoka network in June and attended the Impact!Africa Summit.
Opportunities
  • What Should You Send a VC Before Your Meeting? One of the hardest things to know when you're new to fundraising is what you're supposed to send to an investor and when. Mark Suster, managing partner at Upfront Ventures offers useful guidance on pitching  here.
  • 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 .
  • Applications are now open for the Chobani Incubator Food Tech Residency program. The program helps emerging natural food and beverage product companies grow, and aims to solve challenges all along the food and agriculture value chain: from waste reduction to food safety to supply chain traceability and more. To apply please visit  here. Learn more about the Food Tech Residency program  here and visit the FAQ page for additional information.
1001 Words

Farmers in Bangladesh are using new techniques to grow food on the sand bars caused by river erosion, fighting back food insecurity with innovation.