Katswiri

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; MALAWI

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Livestock market bundle.

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Katswiri's mission is to distribute livestock and livestock services on loan to rural smallholder farmers in order to promote a better quality of life.

The Katswiri distribution model is based on three part approach, that includes financing through the provision of livestock and livestock services on loan, training of rural farmers in livestock production best practices, and marketing support.

Katswiri’s plan is to provide long term sustainable livestock services to farmers in need and drive evidence-based impact.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Enroll 100 households in livestock program within first six months

• Directly distribute 1,400 livestock units, offer a series of 3 agriculture production trainings and vaccinate 1,400 livestock units

• Raise 20,000 USD in first six months and then scale operations in the next year pilot to reach 450 farmers with an estimated fundraising budget of 100,000 USD

FOUNDING TEAM

Sopani R. Neba - Founder and Team Lead

Judith Kamanga - Training and Livestock Extension Specialist

Graciano Ulemu Gawamadzi - Project Management and Evaluation Specialist

Haraka Home

COOK STOVE CHALLENGE; KENYA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Liquid Petroleum Gas.

Learn more about the Cook Stove Challenge and how clean cook stoves reduce health and safety risks, lower fuel expenses, and help reduce poverty.  

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Haraka Home, based in Nairobi, Kenya, uses a distributed goods model of delivery that allows low prices and a superior consumer experience while still retaining healthy margins. Instead of receiving an order, loading a vehicle hours or days later with goods, and then traveling to the customer, Haraka’s delivery vehicles leave their warehouse every morning preloaded with products and continuously complete deliveries. This distribution strategy cuts delivery time, distance, and expense significantly.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Complete 1,000 deliveries within first month of operations

• Achieve delivery times of 45 minutes or less

• Aiming for full net profitability

FOUNDING TEAM

Max Weiner - COO

Vytas Bradunas - CTO

Nutri You

CUSTOM AGRICULTURE CHALLENGE; KENYA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Drip irrigation systems.

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

The Nutri You model seeks to provide smallholder farmers in Busia County, Kenya, with affordable access to a low-cost drip irrigation system through a bundled low-cost irrigation package. This system will allow farmers to irrigate their crops all year round, relieving them of their dependence on rain, thus enabling them to increase local food production. The project has adopted a pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) finance model that offers farmers a micro-leasing option to acquire the system upfront with just a 30% down payment. The farmers then get as two month grace period before continuing to make slow payments over the course of 6 months.

Nutri You strives to create simplicity in agriculture by offering farmers affordable yet practical products and services that simplify their lives and help them grow.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 300 farmers in first three months

• 2 agents to distribute 35 drip irrigation systems within first three months

FOUNDING TEAM

Ellen Savude - Project Manager

Laetitia Mukungu - Technical Lead

Haggai Pepela - Operations Lead

Mpumalanga Zwane - Communications Lead

Adolescent Health Champions

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; INDIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Improving health outcomes by distributing a health education program. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Adolescent Health Champions cultivates a network of youth health educators (Champions) in Mumbai, India who lead the health education process in their schools and communities. We use an innovative, evidence-based peer education model that leverages the voices, talent, and leadership of adolescents themselves. Our approach provides adolescents with the knowledge, dialogue, support, and prevention strategies they need to navigate their health needs during this pivotal transition to adulthood.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Educate 5,000 adolescents during pilot

• Train 625 peer educators during pilot

 

FOUNDING TEAM

Ricky Sharma - Co-Founder

Priya Shankar - Co-Founder

CORD's Positive Escort Project

PMTCT CHALLENGE; NIGERIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Retention in care and adherence to anti-retroviral treatment for people living with HIV. 

Learn more about the PMTCT Challenge and how increasing completion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to prevent mother to child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV can decrease HIV rates and improve lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

CORD’s Positive Escort Project aims to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV by training and engaging experienced women living with HIV to follow up and ensure 150 HIV+ pregnant women complete Antiretroviral Therapy (ART).

HIV+ positive women who have experienced PMTCT services and maintain close links with the community will be trained and engaged as Positive Escorts to facilitate community-facility continuum of care for PMTCT activities. They will provide pre-test group education sessions, one-on-one and couples counseling, individualized education, psychosocial support, appointment reminders and follow-up services to ensure women adhere to treatment. They will also be role models whose support and presence will reassure the newly diagnosed that HIV related challenges can be successfully overcome.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 150 expectant mothers during the pilot phase

• Train 50 HIV+ women to serve as Positive Escorts during the pilot phase

FOUNDING TEAM

Adebanjo Adetosoye Moses - Executive Director/Project Lead

Econome

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; KENYA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Solar Lamps.

Learn more about the Solar Lamp Challenge and how these lamps create enormous benefits for developing world families.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Econome is a one-stop trusted distribution brand for a variety of affordable utility products such as clean energy and productive use appliances for low-income households across Kenya. Our vision is to make life better for African households, one product at a time.

The Econome model is based on building a trusted and cost-effective last mile distribution channel through sales of a range of quality, affordable and impactful energy products to rural households. We work with mainly women entrepreneurs by offering them a business opportunity to make good sales that can sustain their livelihoods. With a full basket of different products, the probability of one making sales in each household is higher than if it were only one product being sold by the same entrepreneur. The pilot location is in western Kenya counties of Kakamega, Bungoma and Busia where we aim to work with over 30 women entrepreneurs during this period.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Directly reach 3,000 beneficiaries within three months

• Distribute 600 products comprising of solar lights, cook stoves and water storage tanks within three months

• Raise $20,000 from sales revenues and other sources within 3 months

FOUNDING TEAM

Linda Wamune - Managing Director

Martin Theuri - Business Advisor

Health Support Initiatives

IMMUNIZATION CHALLENGE; UGANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Routine childhood immunizations.

Learn more about the Immunization Challenge and how increasing routine childhood immunization rates in low-coverage areas could prevent millions of childhood deaths.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Health Support Initiatives contributes to the reduction of morbidity, mortality and disability due to preventable diseases by incentivizing parents and caregivers to bring children to health facilities for immunizations.

The model is centered on Conditional Cash Transfers that incentivize parents and caregivers to bring their children for immunization services at local health facilities. This project will be implemented in Mayuge District's fishing island communities, which have very low immunization rates. Immunization focal point persons will conduct outreach camps to identity children eligible for immunization.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Immunize 500 children in first three months

• Train 64 community health workers and 12 immunization focal point persons in first three months

POST-PILOT UPDATE

Measles is one of the leading causes of outbreaks among the vaccine preventable diseases. In Uganda, measles vaccine is the last vaccine to be received for completion of the immunization schedule at 9 months of age. In Uganda the coverage rate for fully immunized child is at 52%.

In the pilot, we sought to improve immunization completion rates in Mayuge District, which has one of the worst immunization indicator scores in Uganda and suffered chronic measles outbreaks. The project implemented a conditional cash transfer through a transport voucher scheme blended with dynamic community outreaches among hard-to-reach populations for the catchment population of Malongo Health center III, Mayuge district, Uganda. This facility was chosen because it has highest number of unimmunized children (2,068) and low measles coverage rates at 39%. The transport vouchers targeted children that had missed the measles vaccination while the outreaches were generalized.

During the three-month pilot, over 4,000 were reached with immunization services and 1,900 children completed their immunization schedule thus the total number of unimmunized children reduced by 94%. In addition, the annualized measles coverage increased by 18% within duration of three months.

FOUNDING TEAM

Pamela Bakkabulindi - Executive Director

Esther Anyimo - Program Coordinator

Julius Kirya - Monitoring and Evaluation Officer

Mary Etit - Finance Manager

Community Technology Worker Program

COOK STOVE CHALLENGE; TANZANIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Cook stoves.

Learn more about the Cook Stove Challenge and how clean cook stoves reduce health and safety risks, lower fuel expenses, and help reduce poverty.  

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

To transition families to LPG stoves from firewood and charcoal, the Community Technology Worker (CTW) Program trains local experts in Shirati, Tanzania to teach families how to use the gas stove, check in regularly, and provide any technical or maintenance support to the households.

A Community Technology Worker teaches the family how to use the stove safely, leaves resources and their phone number in case there are issues, and revisits to check in. The Community Technology Worker thus provides a three-fold objective to help transition the family: to help with any technical issues, to remind the family to be saving up for the next cylinder, and to reinforce and encourage the adoption of gas.

The program buys the initial stove, pays the CTW, and empowers the families to refill on their own by changing their saving mechanisms around cooking fuel. The CTW model stands out as it relies on community-based empowerment to reach households. This intervention of CTW is about people in the community supporting their community. Every barrier the community faces, the CTWs address it, listen, and adapt.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 500 during Step-Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial with 1 LPG stove per family

• Hire and onboard 15 Community Technology Workers

• Track LPG adoption metrics through a yearlong study

FOUNDING TEAM

Annelise Gill-Wiehl - Co-Founder

Fred Chacha - Co-Founder

Nayome Aguttu- Co-Founder

Mary Frances - Co-Founder

Green Action One

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; MALAWI

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Solar lamps. 

Learn more about the Solar Lamp Challenge and how these lamps create enormous benefits for developing world families.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Green Action One aims to reduce climate change effects in Malawi and beyond by distributing solar lights and other clean energy options to under-saved and marginalized populations. Green Action One is distributing solar lights in Malawi targeting southern region districts where rural teachers, health officers have benefited in larger numbers.

The model is centered on a network of sales agent in the community. Green Action One one will procure solar products and sell through farmer cooperatives, teachers center, health clinics, and village savings groups, using pay-as-you-go for customer financing to help people enjoy the benefits of clean energy.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 4,000 customers during the pilot

• Distribute 26,000 solar lamps by the end of year 1

FOUNDING TEAM

Enock Palapandu - Co-founder

Christopher Said - Co-founder

Ella Liwonde - Co-founder

Agri Eco Enterprise (AEE)

CUSTOM AGRICULTURE CHALLENGE; MALAWI

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags are a triple-layered plastic bag that serves as an air-tight storage method for harvested crops. 

Learn more about the Custom Challenge and why we only fund ideas that focus on distributing proven poverty interventions.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Agri Eco Enterprise (AEE) aims to boost the lives of 100,000 Malawian smallholder farmers over the next few seasons through the distribution of Purdue Improved Crops Storage (PICS) bags in the districts of Dowa, Lilongwe, and Kasungu. Many enterprises focus on selling local bags, which are less effective.

AEE will recruit agents who will be distributing the PICS bags to smallholder farmers on commission basis. PICS will be supplied by poly pack Malawi Company which will be distributed to various agents in the targeted districts. The agents will be the shop owners who are already selling farm produces, seeds, pesticides, fertilizers and many others.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Distribute 50,000 PICS bags in first three months

• Reach 10,000 farmers with training and PICS bags in first three months

• Reach 1 million farmers by Y5

FOUNDING TEAM

Ms. Joyce Sikwese - Executive Director

Mr. Sanderson Banda - Marketing Officer