NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - Philippines

The Full Belly Project

Seema Patel — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:54:28 -0400

Managing Organization: The Full Belly Project

Activity URL:

http://www.fullbellyproject.org

Activity Description:

The Full Belly Project, spearheaded by Jock Brondis, an ex-Peace Corps volunteer and light and sounds engineer, is a non-profit organization that designs and delivers simple agricultural machines to people in developing countries around the world. This project teaches people how to build hand-operated machines with common materials.

The peanut industry is not only huge in the Philippines but the reach goes as far as the different corners of the hemisphere, to almost 100 countries, feeding 500 million people and making it a great source of protein. It is also a cash crop which provides livelihood for poor people of developing countries.

But for such a big industry, the agricultural technology of peanuts is still trailing behind. People are still shelling peanuts by hand, painfully one by one. In Africa, most of those who do the work are women. (To save on fuel, peanuts are left dried under the sun which makes their shell hard to open.)

Jock Brandis, on his way to visit a friend in Mali, saw the heart of the problem and decided to use his technical skills to provide an agricultural solution. Thus the Universal Nut Sheller was born.

Invented by Brandis, the nut sheller can work 40 times faster than by hand. This coincided with the establishment of The Full Belly project spearheaded by Brondis which aims to “to relieve hunger through appropriate agricultural technology.” The goal of the organization is to distribute these machines around the world and make peanut a number one source of protein of third world countries. Brandis, out of his generous heart, didn´t patent his invention because he believes that it is “a gift to those in need.”

Not only can peanut provide livelihood but it contains highly nutritious properties which could solve worldwide hunger and eventually poverty-this time on a full stomach.

The machine is made of concrete and simple metal parts which only cost 50 dollars to make. It can shell “50 kilograms of peanuts per hour, and one machine can serve the needs of a village of 2,000. Its life expectancy is 25 years.” The Full Belly Project is now working in Uganda, Senegal, Zambia and Ghana. Filipino MIT graduate and Centromigrante head Illac Diaz has also collaborated with Full Belly Project with the help of a local cement company to teach locals how to build the machines.

Shell Solar

Ethan Arpi — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 15:08:17 -0400

Managing Organization: Shell Solar

Activity URL:

http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=shellsolar&FC2=/shellsolar/html/iwgen/leftnavs/zzz_lhn1_0_0.html&FC3=/shellsolar/html

Activity Description:

Shell Solar is part of Royal Dutch Shell and its project to develop alternative sources of energy. It currently has rural electrification projects in India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, China and Indonesia, which provide power to people who are not connected to the electricity grid. The energy comes from CIS (Copper indium diselenide) thin-film technology and silicon solar technology.

Approtech Asia

_Alex Bloom — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 17:55:10 -0500

Managing Organization: Approtech Asia

Activity URL:

http://approtech.org/

Activity Description: The Asian Alliance of Appropriate Technology Practitioners Inc., (APPROTECH ASIA) was established in 1981, to increase the access of the poor to technologies and processes appropriate to their increasing needs and expanding capacities. Its primary role is to facilitate the sharing of appropriate technologies and cooperation among its member and partner-organizations.

Approtech Asia has on-going initiatives on improved cookstove, gasifier, energy-efficient kitchen, clean indoor air, gender-energy-water-poverty, micro-small-medium entrepreneurs (MSMEs) and energy, biofuels and women and rural industry, water-sanitation-hygiene-energy and poverty, green health, community-managed production and processing of herbal medicine, among others.

Duck Ranger and the Golden Snail

Courtland Walker — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 13:08:09 -0500

Managing Organization: University of the Philippines Los Banos

Activity URL:

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/OPPORTUNITIES/GRANTS/DEVMARKETPLACE/0,,contentMDK:20504549~menuPK:1519354~pagePK:180691

Activity Description: A joint project of the University of the Philippines Los Banos and the Provincial Government of Laguna, the Duck Ranger is a transportable duck shed facilitating the introduction of free ranging mallard ducks into pre-existing rice farming paddies in an effort to control golden snail populations.

The teacup-sized golden snails, an invasive species to the Philippines and destructive pest for rice farmers (destroying up to 60% of crop yields), are a favorite food of the water foraging mallard ducks. However in the Philippine lakes where mallards are commonly farmed, dredging and pollution have reduced golden snail populations.

NutriStar powdered beverage

_Alex Bloom — Mon, 12 Dec 2005 16:33:51 -0500

Managing Organization: Procter & Gamble

Activity URL:

http://www.wbcsd.ch/Plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?strDocTypeIdList=1&DocType=1&StrCharValList=771&DateStart=01.01.1753&DateEnd=3

Activity Description: NutriStar is a low-cost powdered drink mix containing all the vital micronutrients (including iron, iodine, and vitamin A, nutrients that are essential to human development) , is stable, easily digestible, and tastes good. Because the packets are sold in single-usage form, they are portable, affordable (US$.30) and easy to store long-term.

After a few unsuccesful marketing attempts in the Phillippines and Venezuela, P&G is now fully-functional and succesful in Nicaragua. By using a partnership/licensing model with a local manufacturer, P&G has ensured cheap manufacture and wide distribution of the product to at-need sectors. This partnership additionally benefitted the local community, as the production and sales of NutriStar required the creation of more sustainable livelihoods.

WaterHealth International

_Alex Bloom — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 18:28:19 -0500

Managing Organization: WaterHealth International

Activity URL:

http://www.waterhealth.com/

Activity Description: WaterHealth International (WHI) provides innovative business solutions to one of the world's most desperate health crises, the lack of safe, clean and affordable water for the more than two billion people who have little or no access to it. Their highly successful model incorporates an innovative, cost-effective technology designed for the poor, with a franchise model to streamline marketing and distribution and assure uniform water quality and service.

Coconets by Juboken Enterprise

_Alex Bloom — Mon, 21 Nov 2005 17:27:45 -0500

Managing Organization: Juboken Enterprise

Activity URL:

http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/finalists4.html

Activity Description: Juboken Enterprises converts coconut husks--which are cheap, plentiful, and normally discarded in the Phillippines--and converts them into useful products, such as fertilizer and erosion-prevention "coconets." These products are then sold to domestic and foreign farmers.

Key to this process is a "decortication" machine, which separates the husk fiber from the coconut; the machine was developed by agricultural engineer Justino Arboleda, the founder of Juboken.

G-Cash: Remittances Find a New Vehicle in Mobile Phones

Courtland Walker — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 15:20:03 -0500

Managing Organization: Globe Telecom

Activity URL:

http://www.myglobe.com.ph/gcash/about.asp

Activity Description:

The Philippine firm Globe Telecom recently announced G-Cash service for its Globe and Touch Mobile subscribers. The 'electronic wallet' feature allows users to send and receive cash and make payments, including bill payments, donations, and online purchases, via texting.

Globe charges a flat fee of Php10.00 for any transaction below Php1,000. For transactions above Php1,000 the fee is 1% of the amount.

SEEDS of Sustainability for Migrant Workers

Courtland Walker — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 14:28:00 -0400

Managing Organization: Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation, Inc. (Unlad)

Activity URL:

http://www.unladkabayan.org/programsandservices.htm

Activity Description: Through its Social Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development Services (SEEDS), Unlad Kabayan Migrant Services Foundation, Inc. (Unlad) empowers local communities in the Philippines to develop, operate, and manage sustainable enterprises. A one-stop-shop for business development services, the SEEDS strategy capitalizes on migrant remittances as a source for development financing. Entrepreneurs can use Migrant Savings for Alternative Investments (MS-AI) to start their own businesses or to invest in businesses initiated by Unlad’s Business Incubation Program which provides feasability studies, training, product development, marketing linkages and other support services. When necessary additional funding can be secured through Unlad's Credit Program.

SMART Phones

admin — Wed, 31 Aug 2005 10:44:34 -0400

Managing Organization: SMART

Activity URL:

http://www.digitaldividend.org/case/case_smart.htm

Activity Description: Smart Communications has transformed the cell phone market in the Philippines by enabling electronic sales of airtime via short message service (SMS) and by reducing the unit size of such sales to as little as US$0.03. This innovation has enabled millions of low-income Filipinos to access communications services - 98% of Smart's subscribers are l ow-income, pre-paid customers. Its distribution system, using SMS technology, allows merchants to re-sell minutes, taking a commission on every sale, in essence creating a business opportunity for 450,000 entrepreneurs.