Farmer M is leasing one acre of land. He asked around to find a crop that had good potential revenue and decided to plant watermelon. It was a crop that was coming at the right time. With only 90 days from seed to harvest, if he planted in early March, he expected to see the first crop in the market by May/June 2016. This happens …
Blog Archives
Innovative Solutions for the Food Security Crisis
Guest blog by Kaitlyn Stalnaker (2015 summer intern | LinkedIn Profile), student at the University of Maryland, College Park
For the past three months I have been scouring the internet in search of interesting ag tech news for my company’s Twitter. What I noticed along the way was a growing concern for food security. As so many articles point out, the human population is …
Summer Learning: Oh Goodness, What is ICT?
Guest blog by Kaitlyn Stalnaker (2015 summer intern | LinkedIn Profile), student at the University of Maryland, College Park
Have you ever faced a project that made you feel like you’re in over your head? I have. At the start of this year, I applied for an internship with Appropriate IT. This opportunity was seemingly perfect for me as it dealt with business development …
Short Video on Shakthi, our Youth Engagement SaaS Platform
Shakthi is a SaaS platform for private social network, lifelong learning, and social action in a fun and playful environment. It is ideal for youth engagement, learning communities, and knowledge networks.
Summer Learning: Bottom-Up Approaches in Development
Guest blog by Maren Wenzel (2015 summer intern | LinkedIn Profile), student at John Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies
This blog post is probably supposed to be about all the revelations of my summer internship. However, for me this summer was less about revelatory moments and more about seeing international development from a new angle. That may come across as underwhelming to …
Categories: solutions
Payment Banks to Bring DFS & Financial Inclusion to Rural Poor in India
* DFS = Digital Financial Services
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced an ‘in principle’ approval for 11 payment banks this week. And I, with my exalted seat on the sidelines, would like to shout with all the excitement I can muster “don’t stop, keep going.” It is hard to believe that I can be that excited about something that sounds so out of …
Tags: digital financial services, financial inclusion, india, krishi janani
Categories: asia, innovation lab, solutions
Categories: asia, innovation lab, solutions
Finding Krishi Janani’s Social Value Proposition for Farmers
June was Krishi Janani’s “get out of the office” month. It was intense. We set out to meet as many individuals and institutions along the agriculture value chain as possible. As mentioned earlier, we are utilizing lean startup approaches to build Krishi Janani. Customer discovery and validation are THE opening steps of that approach. As Steve Blank outlines in his customer development model:
Almost …
Tags: ag field notes, ict4ag, krishi janani
Categories: asia, innovation lab, krishi janani, solutions
Categories: asia, innovation lab, krishi janani, solutions
Science, Technology, & Spirituality Must Unite for a Sustainable & Balanced Existence ~ Amma
[Note: Spirituality has always been one of Appropriate IT’s existential questions. Is there spirituality in technology or in running a profitable business? How can we search for this elusive goal? Why search even? There were many answers to be found in a recent keynote that Amma gave at a United Nations conference that I had the good fortune to be attending. – usha]
Excerpts from …
Theory of Unintended Consequences
Proponents of the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid point to shampoo sachets as an example of affordability. Exponential adoption of mobile phones is a boon, especially for ICT innovation projects. Drone transport can solve last mile delivery issues in inaccessible locations. Yet, buried in these innovations are unintended consequences that cause damage as well. Can you guess what those are?
This was part …
Sifting Through The Payment Gateway Maze Of India (Part 2)
(Guest blog by Sibi Gnanasundaram)
Continuation of the introduction and context from Sifting Through The Payment Gateway Maze in India (Part 1)
Payment gateways available in India (information as of April 2014)
CC-Avenue: Probably CC-Avenue is the best known of all payment gateways. Until recently, they were a monopoly, which led to awful customer service and no innovation within their website, or payment features. Some …
Krishi Janani: Stepping Out Into the Great Unknown
So…Appropriate IT is working on a new sustainable agriculture technology platform – Krishi Janani. We have been at it for a while now, launching a partially working prototype earlier this year. Before I go into the ‘Great Unknown’ parts of the story, a quick summary:
Krishi Janani is an ag tech network (online platform + young women-led rural ag tech centers) enabling organic and sustainable …
Pay It Forward: A Training in Namakkal
A three day technology training in building websites with WordPress at PGP college in Namakkal, Tamil Nadu
By Alexandra de Vogel, Assistant Trainer
With a background in Industrial design and innovation management, being part of this training was a first experience for me. But now I know that it will definitely not be my last experience in this field. These three days in Namakkal …
Learning is a Mindset
(Guest blog by Heather A. Moore)
Usha recently invited me to share some words of advice with the inspiring young women that had recently graduated from the pilot program of AIDA, Appropriate IT’s Development Academy, and with those from the community. Having gathered some sage advice from a few wise and generous mentors throughout my career, as well as the hard earned wisdom that comes …