January 12, 2015

Big Ideas and Emerging Innovations

 

Bill Gates’ Plan to Help the Developing World Profit from Its Sewage
The OmniProcessor is a new kind of low-cost waste treatment plant funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which they believe can transform global sanitation. Using an innovative blend of steam power and water filtration, this plant can convert up to 14 tons of sewage into potable water and electricity each day. Now that a prototype is up and running, the foundation hopes to bring the OmniProcessor to India, Africa, and other developing parts of the world.
 
The Cloud-Based Tool Improving Health Care across the Developing World
Health care delivery is particularly challenging in the developing world. Enter Reliefwatch, a for-profit social enterprise offered to health centers in emerging markets. It is a cloud-based tool to track both essential medical supplies and outbreaks of infectious diseases. Reliefwatch sees potential for food and disaster aid, as well as in agriculture since the database can track any type of inventory: wheat, lettuce, bananas, whatever.
 
A Venture Firm Looking For the Next Generation of Food Businesses in 2015
Backed by SOSventures, a San-Francisco-based investment group with a $200 million fund, Food-X partners with early stage entrepreneurs and provides a 2-3 month accelerator program for food startups that investors hope will result in the next generation of America’s food producers, manufacturers and distributors.
 
A Bamboo Tower That Produces Water from Air
The WarkaWater tower in Ethiopia is designed to wring water out of the air, providing a sustainable source of H2O for developing countries. The towers harvest water from rain, fog and dew, using mesh netting to capture moisture and direct it into hygienic holding tank accessed via a spout.
 

About

The Global Food and Agriculture Program aims to inform the development of US policy on global agricultural development and food security by raising awareness and providing resources, information, and policy analysis to the US Administration, Congress, and interested experts and organizations.

The Global Food and Agriculture Program is housed within the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, an independent, nonpartisan organization that provides insight – and influences the public discourse – on critical global issues. The Council on Global Affairs convenes leading global voices and conducts independent research to bring clarity and offer solutions to challenges and opportunities across the globe. The Council is committed to engaging the public and raising global awareness of issues that transcend borders and transform how people, business, and governments engage the world.

Support for the Global Food and Agriculture Program is generously provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Blogroll

1,000 Days Blog, 1,000 Days

Africa Can End Poverty, World Bank

Agrilinks Blog

Bread Blog, Bread for the World

Can We Feed the World Blog, Agriculture for Impact

Concern Blogs, Concern Worldwide

Institute Insights, Bread for the World Institute

End Poverty in South Asia, World Bank

Global Development Blog, Center for Global Development

The Global Food Banking Network

Harvest 2050, Global Harvest Initiative

The Hunger and Undernutrition Blog, Humanitas Global Development

International Food Policy Research Institute News, IFPRI

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center Blog, CIMMYT

ONE Blog, ONE Campaign

One Acre Fund Blog, One Acre Fund

Overseas Development Institute Blog, Overseas Development Institute

Oxfam America Blog, Oxfam America

Preventing Postharvest Loss, ADM Institute

Sense & Sustainability Blog, Sense & Sustainability

WFP USA Blog, World Food Program USA

Archive




Live Blog Post - Every Farmer Wants What I Have

A recap of the "Managing Risks Associated with Volatile Weather, Changing Climates, and Resource Scarcity" panel at our fifth Global Food Security Symposium 2014 in Washington, DC.



Expert Commentary by Trey Hill

As a large grain producer, living in the mid Atlantic, I am able to see agriculture and food production from a unique perspective.



Live Blog Post - Climate-Smart Food Security

At the Chicago Council’s Global Food Security Symposium today in Washington, DC, a panel on “Climate-Smart Food Security” addressed the role of family farmers in mitigating the effects of climate change including: climate-smart approaches already being used by smallholder farmers, opportunities to preserve natural resources, and the need for a “brown revolution.”


Expert Commentary by James Cameron

There remains a stubborn lack of understanding about the systemic connection between water, food, energy and the climate – and what this means for the future feeding of the world.


Commentary - Optimism about Agriculture’s Adaptive Capacity

The impacts of a changing climate on food security projected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the National Climate Assessment and now the Chicago Council on Global Affairs raise legitimate concerns about the global food system’s ability to meet increasing challenges.


Expert Commentary by Chris Policinski

Discussions this week about the impact weather volatility and climate change have on global food production provide additional, powerful evidence of the fragile state of our world’s food security.