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The Real Future of Clean Water

David Bornstein

August 21, 2013 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Bengaluru, Karnataka

Water:Charity assumed that money and celebrity exposure would be able to solve the world’s access-to-clean-water crisis. But this approach often led to more abandoned water pumps. Charities – and journalists who cover them – are now working to concentrate on making their solutions sustainable.

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Adopt-a-Lot Program Converts Newark's Vacant Lots into Gardens

Sonia Schnee

June 05, 2013 |

CivicStory |

Video |

Under 3 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Newark, New Jersey

To minimize the problem of abandoned lots, the city of Newark created a program called Adopt-a-Lot. This urban gardening program allows city residents to use a lot to grow flowers, fruits, and vegetables, and the city is working with the Greater Newark Conservancy to provide gardening supplies to residents. Together this program is not only reducing blight, but it is also empowering community members.

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Where YouTube Meets the Farm

David Bornstein

April 03, 2013 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Karnataka

To combat hunger and malnutrition, Digital Green, an N.G.O., is creating and delivering videos about cheap, innovative farming techniques that can substantially increase small farmers' production of staple foods in India, Ghana, and Ethiopia.

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India's rice revolution

John Vidal

February 16, 2013 |

The Guardian |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: India, Bihar

The System of Root Intensification (SRI) method resulted in dramatically high yields from one Indian village. The system centers on a "less is more" approach and results in higher yields—without the use of GMOs. The idea has faced barriers in spreading, as scientists are wary of it, even as villagers embrace the empirically successful approach.

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What a Little Land Can Do

Tina Rosenberg

November 21, 2012 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: India, Kolkata, West Bengal

In many parts of the world, not owning one's own land is more directly correlated to poverty than other factors such as illiteracy, but land reform is controversial, difficult, and expensive. A new program called Landesa is having success in India through a non-confiscatory model that gives families tennis-court size plots.

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Haiti's road to recovery

Jacob Kushner

June 28, 2012 |

Public Radio International (PRI) |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Haiti

An essential roadway in Haiti is being rebuilt in the kind of aid Haitians say is vital to economic recovery after the catastrophic earthquake of 2010. National Route 7 is an important highway for farmers and other merchants who transport their goods for sale to Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince. The current dangerous conditions of the road lead to deadly accidents as well as car troubles which prevent farmers from selling their harvest. Other much larger reconstruction projects in Haiti are often more expensive, yet not as vital in bringing actual change or long-lasting benefits to Haitians.

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Sprouting success in Senegal: trees offer growing solution to Sahel

Cathy Watson

June 11, 2012 |

The Guardian |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Senegal, Kaffrine

Allowing trees and crops to coexist boosts the resiliency of agricultural land. In Senegal, farmers engaged in Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) prune coppiced trees to help the stumps regrow. The practice is more practical and effective than planting new trees. The coppiced trees retain much of the existing biomass under the soil. And as the trees regrow, they help prevent erosion, retain moisture, and can even increase nitrogen levels in soil.

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Can Coffee Kick-Start an Economy?

Daniel Bergner

April 06, 2012 |

The New York Times |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Uganda, Kasese, Western Region

African coffee growers sell their raw beans cheaply to traders, earning very little for their work. The creator of Good African Coffee in Uganda was able to sell the first African roasted coffee internationally by selling consumers the story of the coffee.

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One Acre Fund: a Nonprofit's Business Approach to Helping Small Farmers

Fred de Sam Lazaro

April 03, 2012 |

PBS NewsHour |

Text |

Under 800 Words

Response Location: Kenya, Bungoma

International development organization One Acre Fund opts to set up shop in rural locations like Bungoma, Kenya rather than major cities like New York and Nairobi and treat its stakeholders as customers instead of beneficiaries. This non-profit's business-like approach has helped it grow from 5,000 farm families in 2006 to 125,000 in 2012, and around 99 percent of families repay their farm loans. As One Acre Fund farmers sell their excess produce, they can invest in basic necessities like education for their children.

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Soil Renewal Puts Pakistan's Poor on Stronger Ground

Amy Yee

November 16, 2011 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Pakistan, Sharbaga, Punjab

Thanks to a partnership between the United Nations Development Program and the government of Punjab, the state is seeing a reduction in poverty and a regeneration of agriculture. Since implementation, farmers incomes have doubled or tripled after treating the land with gypsum, a biosaline that neutralizes saline soil.

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