NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - Kenya

Camel Mobile Library Services

_Alex Bloom — Tue, 23 May 2006 11:20:25 -0500

Managing Organization: Kenya National Library Service

Activity URL:

www.knls.or.ke

Activity Description: KENYA NATIONAL LIBRARY SERVICE (KNLS) operates mobile library trucks and two Camel mobile libraries in Wajir and Garissa in North Eastern Kenya for primarily pastoralist people, who have no access to schools or static libraries. In the Northeastern Province, the illiteracy rate is 85.3%, compared to 31% nationally.

Better-suited than a car to the terrain, the camel transports books to the nomadic communities from Mondays to Thursdays. From Fridays to Sundays, the camels are released to go and feed, recuperate and vetted for any signs of disease and treatment.

Chardust briquettes

_Alex Bloom — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 11:46:50 -0500

Managing Organization: Chardust Ltd.

Activity URL:

http://www.chardust.com/

Activity Description: Although illegal, using charcoal for fuel in Kenya is cheap ($150 per tonne) and therefore popular: more than two million tons of charcoal are used for fuel per year. Chardust Ltd. was founded in 2000 with the aim of producing viable substitutes for charcoal on a commercially sustainable basis. Chardust developed techniques to convert biomass wastes into low-cost charcoal briquettes.

Chardust creates local employment and sells over 200 tonnes per month into institutional and domestic markets in Kenya, displacing an equivalent amount of unsustainably harvested lumpwood charcoal. While providing a cheaper energy alternative to traditional charcoal, Chardust sales contribute to job creation, waste recycling and environmental conservation.

Bushproof low-cost water pumps and filters

_Alex Bloom — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 13:01:08 -0500

Managing Organization: Bushproof Ltd.

Activity URL:

http://www.bushproof.com/index.html

Activity Description: Bushproof is a humanitarian and for-profit business that develops and installs low-cost, durable water-filters and well-pumps to increase access to clean, low-cost water. In order to increase local wealth, Bushproof situates production of its pumps in low-income countries and re-investing a percentage of profits into pilot-programs and research.

Bushproof also offers training courses and consultancy services regarding water filtration, sanitation, and NGO management.

HealthStore franchise medical center

_Alex Bloom — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 11:19:03 -0500

Managing Organization: HealthStore (formerly SHEF)

Activity URL:

www.healthstore.org

Activity Description: HealthStore franchisees are trained health care workers who operate small "CFW" drug shops strategically located to improve access to essential drugs in underserved areas of Kenya. The HealthStore micro-franchise model gives local entrepreneurs the opportunity to own and operate sustainable, profitable businesses while simultaneously curtailing incentives for corruption, as franchisees risk losing their business if they fail to comply with franchise regulations.

Kiwanja

_Alex Bloom — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 11:15:44 -0500

Managing Organization: FrontlineSMS

Activity URL:

http://www.frontlinesms.com/

Activity Description: FrontlineSMS provides full text messaging management from a Windows desktop application via a mobile phone, removing the need for the user to be anywhere near an internet connection. Almost all existing commercial SMS applications tie the user to the web, and require bulk purchase of messages. FrontlineSMS, which was designed to enable NGOs and conservation groups to gain entry to SMS arenas, requires neither.

MamaMikes Online

_segeni — Sun, 25 Sep 2005 13:21:27 -0500

Managing Organization: MamaMikes Services

Activity URL:

http://www.mamamikes.com

Activity Description: The MamaMikes remittance service empowers Kenyan immigrants in North America and Europe to transfer help home - not via cash, but by sending shopping credits, cell phone airtime, and other gifts. MamaMikes operates a courier delivery service in the Nairobi area, and its web site allows senders to set up a monthly remittance payment automatically deducted from their secure account.

The Upesi Project

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 09:44:20 -0500

Managing Organization: Intermediate Technology Development Group Eastern Africa (ITDG-EA)

Activity URL:

http://india.shellfoundation.net/goto.php/view/1688/forum.htm

Activity Description: The Upesi Project, supported by the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), was initiated in 1995 to promote the adoption of more efficient stoves in rural areas of western Kenya. Its goal was to improve the living and working conditions of women in rural households by enabling a significant and increasing number of women and their families to benefit from fuel-saving wood-burning stoves.

SMS-based Commodity Pricing

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 09:44:09 -0500

Managing Organization: Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange (KACE)

Activity URL:

http://www.kacekenya.com/marketinfo/sms.asp

Activity Description: The Kenya Agricultural Commodity Exchange (KACE), in conjunction with mobile telephone company Safaricom, has developed a system to keep farmers better informed of commodity market prices. Short Message System (SMS) technology is behind the system, which will cost farmers only 15 shillings (about $0.20 USD) per use, giving them access to price information that was previously only available directly at the market.

Bureau of Environmental Analysis (BEA) International

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 09:43:56 -0500

Managing Organization: Bureau of Environmental Analysis (BEA) International

Activity URL:

http://www.beainternational.org/

Activity Description: Kenya-based BEA develops green technologies for poor communities with the intent of attracting private investment. The underlying theme for the program is capacity building for policy, regulatory frameworks and investment approaches that are compatible with development goals.

Securing a Source of Natural Pyretheum

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 09:43:55 -0500

Managing Organization: SC Johnson

Activity URL:

http://www.scjohnson.com/PR05/cnv_4_cvk.asp

Activity Description: SC Johnson assisted Kenyan farmers to grow greater quantites of pyretheum consistently, because supply and price fluctuations in the pyretheum market had affected SC Johnson's ability to confidently develop growth strategies. SC Johnson providing the financing for KickStart to market a water irrigation pump to pyretheum farmers in Kenya, of whom only 12% had previously used irrigation techniques.