A farmer throws water after making a canal to irrigate his field in Kolkata, India. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri
New Weapons for Water Management
In many countries, climatic variability is experienced in the form of more frequent, severe, and less predictable flood and drought events. This situation complicates the lives of those who need to plan for and manage water as part of their job, such as agricultural and industrial producers. Increasingly, people working in these areas are looking to adopt tools that can better support their work. One such example is the use of something called decision support systems, or DSSs, which, as the name suggests, to help people make informed decisions about what to do, what not to do, and when.
Big Farm Opportunities Seen for Business in 2030 UN Goals
Businesses could earn hundreds of billions of dollars a year by 2030 by investing in better agriculture and food ranging from micro-irrigation of crops to reduced waste. A new report has listed opportunities in 14 areas including farming technology, restoring land and forests, urban agriculture, irrigation, aquaculture, and better packaging. The biggest single gain was an estimated $405 billion a year by reducing food waste, it said.
CO2 to Fish Food, Other Ideas Advance in $20 Million XPRIZE
With dreams of turning carbon dioxide into everything from concrete to fish food, teams from six countries have advanced beyond the first phase of a $20 million XPRIZE contest to find profitable uses for CO2 emitted by power plants. The goal is to find new ways to prevent carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from entering the atmosphere and contributing to global warming.
Why Investing in Entrepreneurs Reaps Big Rewards
Many entrepreneurs in developing countries struggle to succeed—not because they don’t have good ideas, but because they are working in challenging ecosystems with limited access to financial resources. To address this gap between entrepreneurs and investors, USAID’s Partnering to Accelerate Entrepreneurship Initiative is bringing more private capital to early-stage entrepreneurs and making impact investing easier.