WE4F's Month Ahead - East Africa Call for Innovations, New MENA and S/SEA Innovators, and Other Activities

East Africa Regional Innovation Hub Releases Their Call for Innovations

WE4F East Africa is looking for promising and innovative businesses working at the nexus of water, energy and food. This call for applications is an incredible opportunity for water-energy-food businesses that are looking to scale and increase their impact in the areas of food security, gender equality, and poverty reduction in an environmentally sustainable way.

Congratulations to the S/SEA CFI Winners!

For the first South and Southeast Asia Call for Innovations, a total of $2 million in grants coupled with technical assistance will be awarded to 11 innovators with an additional four innovators receiving technical assistance and investment facilitation support. WE4F and the innovators are projected to impact 1 million farmers and their families across South Asia and Southeast Asia. To learn more about the innovators and their solutions for the region's water-energy-food challenges, view the press release.

Meet the MENA CFI Winners!

For the first Middle East and North Africa Call for Innovations, a total of $2.38 million in grants and additional technical assistance will be awarded to 14 innovators with an additional four innovators receiving technical assistance and investment facilitation support. WE4F and the innovators are projected to impact 750,000 farmers and their families across the Middle East and North Africa. To learn more about the innovators and their solutions for the region's water-energy-food challenges, please view the press release.

Using TV to Educate Millions of Farmers About Solar-Powered Irrigation

For millions of farmers across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, Saturday or Sunday at 1:30 PM means switching on the TV and leaning back on the sofa: it's TV time! Shamba Shape Up, the most popular farming TV program in East Africa has just started its new season. WE4F leveraged the appeal of the show's make-over style for farmers and its reach to raise awareness about solar-powered irrigation and share knowledge about the pertinent issues around solar-powered irrigation systems.

World Creativity and Innovation Week Interview Series

To explore creativity and innovation in the water-energy-food nexus, Wanweena Tangsathianraphap, Communications and Knowledge Management Specialist from the S/SEA Regional Innovation Hub, conducted a series of interviews with three of the Asia EDGE Agriculture Energy Prize winners to find out what creativity and innovation mean to them, and how they mobilize these principles while bringing change to the region. Click on the quotes to check out the interviews.

Using Mobile Solar Food Processing to Improve Kenyan Fruit Value Chains

Milling is a crucial step when processing agricultural products. In areas where electricity is not available, too unreliable, or expensive, mills powered by solar energy can be a viable alternative. Miyonga Fresh Greens harnesses the power of solar technology to fight food loss by processing food right at the farm gate. The company produces fruit powders from mangos, banana and pineapples for the national and international markets, adding value to lower quality fruits and income to farmers' pockets.

MENA RIH Manager Ramy Boujawdeh Talks Innovation & Food Security

Ramy Boujawdeh, our WE4F MENA Regional Innovation Hub Manager, recently spoke at the FOODSEC - Middle East Food and Security Summit and Expo (www.food-sec.com) on the role of innovation in promoting food security in the region. In his talk, Ramy highlighted the need to step up support for sustainable agriculture to address challenges of scarcity and mismanagement in the MENA region, and illustrated a range of options for interested investors and partners to get involved. If this resonates with you, check out the recording of Ramy's speech and drop us a note at we4f@berytech.org!

Investing in Scale: The opportunity at the nexus of food and energy

In this episode of the Power for All podcast, William Brent speaks with Seth Silverman and Morgan DeFoort of Factor[e] Ventures, a builder of companies working at the intersection of food and energy. This podcast is a series highlighting the critical link between food systems and decentralized renewable energy in support of this year's UN Food Systems Summit. The goal is to shed light on game-changing ideas in Africa and Asia that can help ensure sustainable energy for all, improve farmers' lives, and support economic growth. Factor[e] has been one of the earliest investors in this space, exploring the opportunity to scale the food value chain on the back of renewable energy.

Income Alone Is Not Enough: The Importance of Increasing Women's Decision-Making in Agriculture

When women have control over how they spend their income, they invest a far greater percentage of it on their families than men do. Their spending helps improve education, health and nutrition outcomes for the whole family. While many agriculture programs invest in women's economic empowerment, there is no clear understanding that women's access to income necessarily correlates with their control over how to spend that income. Although there can be many positive outcomes of increasing women's income, increasing income alone is not necessarily enough to improve women's empowerment and benefit the household. Women's empowerment requires additional steps to improve their ability to make decisions or participate in joint decision-making with their spouse. If women lack control over the decisions regarding how their income is used, the positive impact on their family and community is limited.

Mapping the Gender Digital Divide

The digital divide is the gap between those who have internet or mobile phone access and those who are systemically excluded from using these services effectively. Digital divides exist for marginalized populations all over the world and can be based on geography (urban vs. rural), income, indigeneity, disability, age, caste, ethnicity, religion, and other factors. The gender digital divide (GDD) reflects inequalities in digital connection due to gender. The GDD is particularly important for development.

Decentralized Renewable Energy Solutions for Food Value Chains in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region

ICIMOD, IRENA and SELCO jointly organized this virtual dissemination workshop to discuss the findings of the assessment study carried out to highlight the techno- economic viability of the decentralized renewable energy in four selected food value chains (Buckwheat, Potato, Vegetable and Yak) in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas. The aim of this workshop was to collect the feedbacks from the member countries and the participants and also to demonstrate market opportunities to entrepreneurs and technology providers, and share best practices across the region. The event engaged experts from across the region who bring with them a keen understanding of the HKH region and diversity of experience on energy and/or food value chains.

Women's Empowerment in Beyond-Production Activities

Are Feed the Future efforts in beyond production activities affecting women's empowerment? How are Feed the Future efforts in beyond production activities affecting women's empowerment? What are the opportunities and practices to increase women's participation in and returns from higher value activities in agribusiness or employment?

DigitalAg4Her Hackathon

The DigitalAg4Her Hackathon is coming soon for innovators interested in solving challenges in the agri-food sector, with the ultimate goal to empower women in the agriculture sector through digital technologies.

Apply to receive, over the course of ten days, the technical and business support you need to transform your idea into a valid business solution through intensive online workshops and hands-on validation. Three winners will receive in-kind grants of $4,000 each as well as 2-month incubation support from Berytech including further technical and business assistance.

Students, agronomists, engineers, scientists, makers, agri-food specialists, environmentalists, innovators, entrepreneurs, or young professionals interested in innovating in the agri-food sector, in teams led by a woman are encouraged to apply.

Office of Global Partnerships: COVID-19 Private Sector Engagement & Partnership Fund

The Department of State and USAID have launched the COVID-19 Private Sector Engagement & Partnership Fund with an additional $10 million in new assistance funds. The Fund has been established to strengthen the efforts of the private sector and bolster ongoing response efforts, helping the world's most vulnerable overcome the devastation inflicted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Concept papers will be accepted beginning August 5, 2020 and be reviewed on a rolling basis through 11:59PM Eastern Time on May 30, 2021. Please note that projects will be funded on a rolling basis. The Department reserves the right to close this announcement sooner than the given date if the available amount of funding has been exhausted.