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

Leaf Global Fintech

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; RWANDA and DRC

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Improving access to financial services for refugees through mobile phones.

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

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Leaf Global Fintech provides digital financial services to refugees so that they can store and transport assets across borders from a feature phone, avoiding cash.

Leaf stores and transports assets across borders from a mobile device—no smartphone required. Refugees and migrants can journey without cash, knowing accounts are safe and accessible globally. Digitizing the process drastically reduces exchange and transfer fees. Friends and family abroad can also contribute into the Leaf customer’s account in a convenient and affordable way. Leaf protects customers’ savings through blockchain technology without exposure to cryptocurrency. By allowing customers to retain more value and increasing accessible funds through contributions from abroad, Leaf gives customers a better start with financial security and lessens their dependence on host countries and foreign aid.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Serve 10,000 customers during the pilot period

FOUNDING TEAM

Nat Robinson - Co-Founder and CEO

Tori Samples - Co-Founder and CFO

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

The Now Exchange

SAYANA PRESS CHALLENGE; BANGLADESH

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Sayana Press injectable contraceptive. 

Learn more about the Sayana®  Press Challenge and why training health providers to administer Sayana® Press can be particularly valuable for women who prefer injectable contraceptives but don’t have regular access.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

The Now Exchange (TNE) will provide women's health services (starting with free injectable contraceptive access) and strengthen health systems (training clinic staff) within garment factory clinics in Gazipur, Bangladesh. By doing so, TNE aims to use and improve pre-existing health clinics as a channel to reach garment workers - 80% of whom are women - with free services that override existing barriers to health access and choice. TNE will reinforce and share knowledge around various family planning options by a) training on-site health clinic workers and b) distributing information directly to factory workers to enhance their decision-making power.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Give 1000 women access to Sayana Press in Y1

• Scale to at least one more factory in Y2

FOUNDING TEAM

Farah Momen - Co-Founder & CEO

Giulia Bova - Co-Founder & Chief of Health Access

Civis

TRANSPARENCY CHALLENGE; INDIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

A mobile platform that enables citizens to understand legislation and share their feedback on laws and policy decisions in local languages while providing an avenue for the government to understand citizens’ priorities and gather feedback on policies in real time.

Learn more about the Transparency Challenge and how citizen reporting platforms can be used to hold government officials accountable and reduce corruption.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

At Civis we are building a scalable, multi sided platform, to ensure that the process of public consultations can be effectively used by citizens and governments alike, to co-create laws together. We do this by:

1. Aggregating all open Consultations seeking feedback.

2. Simplifying them in accessible language.

3. Reaching out to individuals and gathering inputs on these laws.

4. Analysing and sharing citizen’s feedback with the Government - thereby building Government capacity to run effective Consultations, and gather actionable insights.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• 10,000 users by the end of pilot phase

• 100,000 users by the end of year 1

• 1,000,000 users by the end of year 2
  
  

FOUNDING TEAM

Antaraa Vasudev - Founder

MASIH

COOK STOVE CHALLENGE; INDONESIA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Improved 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

MASIH will distribute clean cook stoves and provide affordable financing options to help rural Indonesian communities shift away from open wood burning. The team offers two payment options: (1) a small upfront fee paired with installment payments corresponding to crop cycle, or (2) subsidized rates for households paying in full.

Additionally, MASIH will hold workshops in the pilot region to increase knowledge of the negative health impacts of open wood burning and demand for alternatives. In areas where alternative cooking fuel options are still scarce, MASIH will find local suppliers to ensure that supply will not be a bottleneck. They will work with local leaders for community monitoring and maintenance of products.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Distribute 500 cook stoves by end of pilot

• Distribute 1,200 cook stoves by end of year 1

• Distribute 2,500 cook stoves by end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Tika Diagnestya - Co-Founder

Hillary Buntara - Co-Founder

Lubuto Energy Services

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; ZAMBIA

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

Lubuto Energy Services reaches communities through existing local leadership, mobilizing community members through Chiefs/Headmen, Parent Teacher Associations and farming cooperatives. The pilot will be located in Samfya Town covering three rural villages with five distribution outlets. These outlets will use local solar scouts to sensitize the community and then offer solar products with mobile charging capabilities with both pay-as-you-go and rent-to-own options.

The Lubuto team with provide distributors and solar scouts with ongoing skills trainings including inventory and business management skills to help them grow their distribution networks.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 8,484 people and establish 5 distribution outlets during the pilot phase

• Reach 33,936 people and establish 100 distribution outlets by the end of Y1

• Reach 228,000 people and establish 200 distribution outlets by the end of Y2

FOUNDING TEAM

Kasonde Chomba - Founder

Lengwe Kasonde - Co-Founder

Edwin Nyirongo - Co-Founder

Sauti Ya Mama

PMTCT CHALLENGE; KENYA

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

Sauti ya Mama (Voice of Mothers) is a high impact social enterprise that aims to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMCTC) of HIV by ensuring antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence by HIV-positive expectant mothers and their infants. We strive to ensure as many infants are born free of HIV scourge and continue adhering to ART medication in the next 2 months to ensure the infants are free of HIV completely.

The pilot will take place in Mathare in Nairobi, Kenya. Community Health Volunteers will enroll, advise, and track expectant mothers. SMS reminders will be sent to ensure adherence to the ART regimen. The Sauti ya Mama model will work to create an impact on expectant mothers in low income settings to ensure they live long and productive lives.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 150 expectant mothers during the pilot phase

• Reach 1,000 expectant mothers by the end of year 1

• Reach 2,000 expectant mothers by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Mustafah Otieno - Executive Director

Robert Oliech - Chief Community Health Worker

Empower Energy

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; INDIA

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

Empower is building a rural distribution platform in India to ensure that products and technologies with the potential to improve lives actually reach rural consumers, at scale. Their customers live in remote, rural villages. In most cases they live in poverty and are engaged in subsistence agriculture or seasonal casual labor.

The innovative Empower solution relies on a digital approach to provide rural villagers with access to products that can improve their productivity and quality of life. Their team finds smartphone users in rural villages and equips them to distribute products and services to their communities.

Their vision is to establish a wide-reaching network of digital agents across rural and remote India to meet the product needs of India’s 800 million rural consumers.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 2,500 people and establish 10 franchisees during the pilot phase

• Reach 5,000 people and establish 100 franchisees by the end of year 1

• Reach 1,000,000 people and establish 2,000 franchisees by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Ronit Kanwar - Chief Executive Officer

Gideon Laux - Chief Operating Officer

James Dickson - Head of Data & Impact

Men's Behavior Change Toward VMMC

VMMC CHALLENGE; RWANDA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC).

Learn more about the VMMC Challenge and why scaling up voluntary medical male circumcision can substantially reduce the rate of HIV acquisition for men, and also reduce the risk of transmission of high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) to the men’s partners.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

In rural areas, many Rwandans don’t have access to Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision. Other barriers to the service are cultural norms and a lack of information about VMMC. What’s more, there are often insufficient medical clinics and trained health professionals available to perform the procedure.

The 3 month pilot will highlight the high risk of HIV transmission in uncircumcised men in remote areas of Rutsiro district through grassroots mobilization campaigns for VMMC awareness. Their team will collaborate with local health centers to provide VMMC services and improve access to the procedure in hard to reach areas. Through performances by local artists, the project team will conduct 20 mobilization campaigns (4 campaigns per sector, covering 5 rural sectors, reaching at least 8000 people) about VMMC for HIV prevention.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Reach 800 men with the service during the pilot phase

• Reach 12,000 men with the service by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Jean Pierre Imanishimwe - Founding Member

Fidele Murava - Founding Member

Janviere Mugoragoze - Founding Member

Oninku Health Foundation

MATERNAL HEALTH CHALLENGE; GHANA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

Misoprostol.

Learn more about the Maternal Health Challenge and how the distribution of Misoprostol, a $3 drug that can prevent maternal deaths from postpartum hemorrhage, could save thousands of lives.

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

The Oninku Health Foundation (OHF) is a new venture that seeks to address the occurrence of postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in rural communities of Ghana through training of traditional birth attendants (TBAs). The venture will utilize multiple approaches in distributing and creating awareness about Misoprostol to curb PPH. Due to Ghana’s regulations in the handling of Misoprostol, the venture will leverage the existence of district health facilities to serve as a distributing unit for women. The drug supply will be integrated with antenatal care visits (ANC).

OHF will subsequently raise awareness about the drug through community education activities on maternal health. With technical support from the Ghana Health Service (GHS), OHF will train TBAs on how to administer Misoprostol, and also empower them to have a full set of tools with the proprietary community health box.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Train 120 Traditional Birth Attendants during the pilot phase

• Reach 1,200 women during the pilot phase

• Train 5,000 Traditional Birth Attendants by the end of year 2

• Reach 50,000 women by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Samuel Oninku - Founding Member

Godwin King - Founding Member

Emmanuel Tetteh - Founding Member

Abigail Antwi - Founding Member

WETECH Clean Lights Malawi

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

Waste and Energy Technologies (WETECH) limited proposes to distribute solar lamps through an innovative, sustainable, and scalable model that will help all Malawians access clean lighting and phone charging technologies. It is a direct response to the growing challenges by Malawians especially those on the base of the pyramid and those living in off grid communities. Out of the estimated population of 17 million in Malawi, only 10% are connected to an epileptic electricity grid. Out of the 10%, only 1% of the connected are in rural areas.

WETECH will be offering a unique solution that will be introduced to the market through targeted advertising, value added strategies and direct sales. The organization will form partnerships with companies looking to make large orders of solar lamps. WETECH envisages achieving direct sales through personal sales calls and direct visits to villages and customer premises.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• 2,100 solar lamps sold through the 3 distribution routes during the pilot phase

• Distribute 9,000 solar lamps by the end of year 1
  

FOUNDING TEAM

Edgar Bayani - Chief Executive Officer

Joan Nyirenda - Marketing Officer

Laurent Tito - Technical Services and Logistics

Mariane Chao Mwale - Finance Consultant

Local Links Limited

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; UGANDA

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

Local Links promotes renewable energy products through community-based rural financial services structures, known as savings groups. These groups form Local Links target market in rural Uganda and are a platform for the business model.

There are more than 2,000 Village Agents that support these rural financial groups in Uganda. They provide an excellent opportunity for social entrepreneurship at the last mile. These are Local Links Solar Corps, Local Links’ last mile field salesforce for social products. By working with about 200 Solar Corps during this pilot, Local Links is able to make at least 1,000 sales of solar lanterns and/or solar home systems per month – at least 12,000 units a year, at optimal level. There are more than 125,000 homes served by groups that Local Links Solar Corps are working with; an immense market.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Recruit and train 200 solar corps during the pilot phase

• Distribute 1,000 lamps per month during the pilot phase

FOUNDING TEAM

Anthony Oundo Mang’eni - Fonder and Chief Executive Officer

Betty Among Bennadine - Business Development Officer

Ruth Omongole - Area Team Lead, Teso Zone

Integrated Farming and Extension Network (IFEN)

CUSTOM AGRICULTURE CHALLENGE; GHANA

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

A mobile-accessible platform containing pre-developed video and audio content meant to teach farmers the most relevant practices to increase farm yields and incomes.

Learn more about the Custom Agriculture Challenge and why distributing proven agricultural interventions can greatly improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.  

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

The ratio of farmers to extension agents in Ghana is estimated to be 5000:1; as opposed to the World Bank-recommended ratio of 500:1. Simply put, there aren’t enough agents to distribute extension services to the large number of farmers in need of the service. Mainly because training of new extension agents takes about 2/3 years of school training and another year of field mentoring, which comes with significant costs for both trainees and the government.

IFEN will be a mobile-accessible platform containing pre-developed video and audio content meant to teach farmers the most relevant practices to increase farm yields and incomes. Instead of relying on public extension officers to visit communities to deliver extension services, IFEN’s distribution model proposes the use of community-based members relying on the IFEN platform (accessible offline) to facilitate the same service to farmers within their respective communities.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Facilitate iimproved access to reliable extension for 2,500 beneficiaries by the end of year 1

• Provide technical training on use of smartphones and new technologies for 350 farmers by the end of year 1



FOUNDING TEAM

Xorla Adzoyi - Project Lead

Yuan-Ting Meng - Project Associate

Mohammed Shaibu - Field & Data Application Manager

NA Energy Solutions Limited

COOK STOVE CHALLENGE; GHANA

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

NA Energy Solutions Limited is a social enterprise in Ghana with the aim of distributing energy saving cook stoves to households. NA Energy will focus on slum communities within Accra and Kumasi for the pilot phase. NA Energy Solutions Limited will operate a dual model for distributing the stoves- the first being the sales team led distribution. The second distribution model will be cook stoves campaigns at the community level. The impacts of the intervention are multidimensional- economic, health and also climate resilience. A repertoire of researches has established that cooking with improved cook stoves reduces household spending on charcoal by 50%. NA Energy Solutions will operate a performance based model, and sales agents will be paid based on the number of stoves they are able to sell. Each agent will be entitled to 20% earnings on the total cost of cook stoves sold.

A key determinant for the adoption of the stoves is the knowledge of its associated benefits. Their team acknowledges the entrenched mind-sets of most consumers who are unaware of the cost savings and the health benefits of cook stoves. They will conduct a “one woman one stove” campaign at two levels: the household level and the community level. At the household level, the agents will be responsible for going to homes to market the stoves. Their activities will be complemented with technologies such as mobile money. At the community level, the team will blend entertainment and health education to enhance consumer adoption. The team will organize a cooking competition, and also use projected screens to provide information on the benefits of using clean cook stoves. Organizing cooking competitions will serve as powerful tool to rally women who are the main targets for the venture’s product and services.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Distribute 520 cook stoves during the pilot phase

• Distribute 5,000 stoves by the end of year 1

• Sell 25,000 stoves by the end of year 2

• Reach 1,000 women during the pilot phase

• Reach 10,000 women by the end of year 1

• Reach 50,000 women by the end of year 2

FOUNDING TEAM

Ato Kwamina Addo - Founder and Team Lead

Raymond Owusu Achiaw - Founder

Emmanuel Osei-Owusu: - Founder

ElleSolaire

SOLAR LAMP CHALLENGE; SENEGAL

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

ElleSolarie is the first women-led, pay-as-you-go clean energy distribution network in West Africa.

In Senegal, six million people live without electricity. 58% of the population is rural and the women in these communities suffer the most from energy poverty and the implicit time poverty. They rise with the sun, often completing up to 17 hours of domestic tasks each day, leaving very little opportunity for endeavors that could improve lives, including their own. What’s more, their sources of energy are often pollutant, dangerous, and costly.

Women entrepreneurs from rural communities in Senegal are being recruited and trained by ElleSolarie. They become business women in their own right, distributing much needed, cutting-edge clean energy solutions on affordable pricing plans to remote last mile communities.

ElleSolaire is about women helping women to help themselves with economic opportunity, while growing in confidence, dignity, and choice. It is also about helping their families and communities to tap into a life-changing energy source that is safe, clean, and plentiful: sunlight. Customers get to reduce costs, health risks, environmental damage, and time given to domestic tasks. Solar energy is a key source of poverty alleviation that also increases opportunity through communication, business and studies.

IMPACT TO-DATE:

• 55 women and youths trained

• 545 women benefiting economically

• 2,005 households connected to clean energy source

• 35,000 people benefiting from clean, safe light in their home and Health Clinic

• 18 off-grid Health Clinics electrified

2021-2025 SCALE-UP PLANS

• 350 women trained as clean energy managers

• 8,250 women benefiting economically

• 40,000+ households connected to clean energy source

• 335,000 people benefiting from clean, safe energy source in their home and/or Health Clinic

FOUNDING TEAM

Kelly Nwachuku Lavelle - Founder, Executive Director

UP Scaling PICS Bags Technology

CUSTOM CHALLENGE; MALAWI

PROVEN INTERVENTION TO BE DISTRIBUTED

PICS post-harvest storage bags.

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

DISTRIBUTION MODEL INNOVATION

Despite PICS bag Technology being very effective with up to 100% post-harvest loss reduction, the distribution chain in Malawi has been poor with limited players. There are 3 major barriers to accessing the technology: the distance from the production factory, limited players in the distribution chain, and generally a lack of knowledge amongst the farmers and agriculture extension workers on the availability of the technology and how it works.

The UP Scaling PICS Bags Technology team will establish relationships with rural based farm input traders (agro dealers) and associations as outlets so that farmers can easily access PICS bags instead of relying on central shops. That means the team will have selling points in rural trading centers. 5 selling points will be established. At each selling point, they will have a qualified extension worker responsible for on the spot demonstrations for farmers and agro dealers when they buy PICS bags. These will also be extension agents with designated impact areas where they will be working with farmers in demonstrating use and increasing awareness on the cost effectiveness of the bag. Agro dealers will be provided with training and awareness materials to increase valid sources of information. Each agro dealer through agriculture extension agents will have 10 anchor farmers to pilot and demonstrate effectiveness of PICS bags.

By the end of the pilot year, the team will sell 100,000 PICS bags and reach at least 20000 smallholder farmers, reducing post-harvest losses and contributing to poverty reduction through increased food and income.

As the organization scales, it will begin to distribute other impactful products including other high-quality seed and solar lamps.

PILOT AND SCALING GOALS

• Sell 100,000 PICS bags by the end of year 1

• Reach 20,000 smallholder farmers with information by the end of year 1

• Reach over 100,000 grain growers and consumers by the end of year 5

FOUNDING TEAM

Kondwani Khonje - Manager

Prisca Gondwe - Accountant