Tag: Poverty

BoP, Business3 Comments

Mobile Technology, Kiosks, and Last Mile Distribution: Three Trends in Rural/BoP Social Enterprise

Jen Hutchinson@dwbdg

    In her Blog Post, Jessica Santana, follows three trending tools in Rural/BoP models which, “currently show great promise in terms of financial self-sustenance, scalability, and provision of tangible social benefits to low-income people.” Non-financial services via mobile devices: health, agricultural, and other information Africa embodies the promise of mobile communication. Mobile cellular subscriptions in Africa have skyrocketed from 11 million to 333 million over the past ten years. Nearly half of all African villages are covered by mobile networks. Africa has led the world in the adoption and penetration of mobile-based money transfer solutions. Nearly all of the … Continue reading Mobile Technology, Kiosks, and Last Mile Distribution: Three Trends in Rural/BoP Social Enterprise

BoP, Business, Environment, Health, Hunger, Micro-enterprise goods and services, Social Change, WomenLeave a comment

In Honor of Three Women and a Peace Prize…We are Recognizing a Social Enterprise That Empowers Women to Bring (More) Healthy Women Into the World

Jen Hutchinson@dwbdg

“We cannot achieve democracy and lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men to influence developments at all levels of society,” said Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in announcing the prize.  In honor of three women sharing the award of the Nobel Peace Prize today, we are Blogging about a social enterprise that will be directly responsible for decreasing maternal mortality and bringing more, healthy baby girls into the world (and we hope), into the Peace process as well! In India for example, a recent Save the Children report, ranked the country … Continue reading In Honor of Three Women and a Peace Prize…We are Recognizing a Social Enterprise That Empowers Women to Bring (More) Healthy Women Into the World

BoP, Business, Energy, Environment, Health, Hunger, Micro-enterprise goods and services, Social Change, WaterLeave a comment

Social Entrepreneurs in Africa: Let “Trickle Out” Know Where You Are! Directory, Coming Soon….

Jen Hutchinson@dwbdg

The Trickle Out Research project is busy compiling a Directory of 19 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, specifically:  Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe The need arises from only a small footprint of Microfinance in the region, and what NextBillion determines as the prime Socent focus in the Global South being trained on India. The purpose: (From the Trickle Out website): The primary objectives of this study are to: (a) identify examples of social and environmental enterprises in the Southern Africa … Continue reading Social Entrepreneurs in Africa: Let “Trickle Out” Know Where You Are! Directory, Coming Soon….

BoP, Business, Energy, Environment, Jobs1 Comment

Let There Be Light (For the 3M People in the Philippines Without Electricity)…In a Soda Bottle?

Jen Hutchinson@dwbdg

Light…one Litre at a time. Take a used Soda bottle, add Water, Bleach and My Shelter Foundation’s Illac Diaz, and you get 50w of daytime light for 5 years. As reported by Brynn Opsahl, on the Global Envision website- using an MIT student design, Mr. Diaz has brought light to some 300,000 Phillipinos who had no, or illegal and unsafe access to electricity- without using electricity or any other non-sustainable energy The bottle is inserted and secured through a hole in the ceiling, and allows sunlight to refract, bringing 360 degrees of light into the room below. The design/application is: Sustainable Made from Recycled … Continue reading Let There Be Light (For the 3M People in the Philippines Without Electricity)…In a Soda Bottle?

BoP, Business, Environment, Health, Hunger, Social ChangeLeave a comment

Farm in a Pack?

Jen Hutchinson@dwbdg

With all eyes now on Somalia, one Social Entrepreneur, Rachel Zedeck, has been focusing on the systemic causes of food shortage and drought in the greater region, as well as the design and delivery of ‘colonial’ Aid programs for some time. In an August Dowser interview by Rachel Signer, Ms. Zedeck related the following: “Drought happens every year in this region. Every year there’s a famine. Every year there’s economic loss. This year is particularly bad but it’s not new. It’s like Somalia is a poster child for the aid world now. The real problems are systemic and that’s where … Continue reading Farm in a Pack?

BoP, Business, Clothing, Micro-enterprise goods and services, Social Change, WomenLeave a comment

Ahkun: Providing a Marketplace Where the Micro-Finance Model Usually Ends

Jen Hutchinson@dwbdg

Like a cross between Kiva and Etsy, Ahkun works to close the cycle for artisans and micro-enterprise owners who have received micro-finance loans to begin their own business enterprises, by providing them a marketplace to sell their goods. The potential to sell their goods in non-local and international markets (where they may receive higher prices for their products), allows them to continue creating goods, and also to scale up their micro-enterprises. From the Ahkun website: “Ahkun CONNECTS artisans and entrepreneurs to the global marketplace. We harness the power of the web to provide microloan recipients access to the global market, … Continue reading Ahkun: Providing a Marketplace Where the Micro-Finance Model Usually Ends

BoP, Business, Environment, Jobs, Social Change, Water, YouthLeave a comment

Can Pay Toilets Save Lives?

Jen Hutchinson@dwbdg

….the transformation, restoration and sustainability of social dignity in our ever growing urban population. Providing pay toilets in schools, slums and cities may not seem like a revolutionary idea. But when you consider that 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation and that 1.5 million children perish annually as a result- and that 2008 marked the year when 50% of the population resides in cities (which could rise to 5 billion in 2030 per UNFPA)- it’s literally a life saving concept with great future implications. This is why, Ecotact, provider of the Ikotoilet, describes its mission as going beyond … Continue reading Can Pay Toilets Save Lives?

BoP, Business, Energy, Environment, Health, Jobs, Water, Women1 Comment

Is the “Micro Consignment Model” The New Micro-Financing Model (that Traditional Investors Have Been Waiting For?)

Jen Hutchinson@dwbdg

First there was Micro-Finance, connecting the ‘unbankable’ and traditionally un-collateralized to sources of credit that could be leveraged into their own businesses or micro-enterprises. If, however, some loanees were not able to develop businesses, or scale, or sustain them, they were left with outstanding debts, that when difficult to repay resulted in default.  Not an attractive social entrepreneurial (socent) model for traditional investment. Although an incredible boon to individuals in developing countries, especially to women, and a testament to innovation in the socent and social capital arenas. Enter, Micro-Franchising. It adds an already existent product or service to sell by the “entrepreneur” … Continue reading Is the “Micro Consignment Model” The New Micro-Financing Model (that Traditional Investors Have Been Waiting For?)

BoP, Business, Environment, Jobs, Social Change, WaterLeave a comment

Pumps with Purpose: KickStarting Families Out of Poverty

Jen Hutchinson@dwbdg

The Number One Need of the Poor is a Way to Make Money. Everyone today lives in a cash economy. When you have cash, you can get food, water, shelter, medicine, and other basic necessities. If you don’t, you can’t. It is that simple. The cause of poverty is a lack of money, so what a poor person needs most is a way to make more money. WHY WE SELL OUR TOOLS? “Wouldn’t it be better to just give your pumps away?” This is a question we get asked a lot. By “better” people usually mean, “less expensive” or “more effective”. The … Continue reading Pumps with Purpose: KickStarting Families Out of Poverty

BoP, Energy, Environment, Health, Hunger, Women, YouthLeave a comment

Re-inventing the Wheel…for Water

Jen Hutchinson@dwbdg

Helping people help each other, worldwide. The Problem The burden of fetching water, invariably over long distances by cumbersome and far too often, unhygienic means, is all too evident in developing countries… The Solution The Q Drum is user friendly and the unique longitudinal shaft permits the drum to be pulled using a rope tied through the hole. There are no removable or breakable handles or axles, and the rope can be repaired on the spot or easily replaced… Efficient & Fun Even a child can pull 50 litres of water over flat terrain for several kilometres without undue strain, … Continue reading Re-inventing the Wheel…for Water