Region: Global

  • Ensuring farmer’s access to open source seeds systems in Kenya

    ‘’Farmers, too, have a voice in food security.’’ This comment represents some of the conversations during an open source seeds forum in Nakuru County on 15 to 17 March 2017 convened by Hivos East Africa, Bioversity International, Genetic Resources Research Institute and Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management – Africa. The forum drew participation from…

  • Understanding Gender-Energy Nexus Key to Renewable Energy Uptake

    The heavy focus on technical aspects of renewable energy projects tends to overlook the vital gender aspects that can make or break the uptake of projects. In many cases, energy projects are treated as gender neutral based on the assumption that energy bottlenecks and solutions impact men and women in similar ways.  The failure to…

  • Doña Ángela, the water lady

    Lea la versión en español de este blog acá. It’s three in the morning, when most people are asleep and haven’t even started thinking about the chores of the day, let alone water, a resource many of us take for granted. But not doña Ángela*. She is already up and making her way to Matagalpa,…

  • The real people affected by lack of access to energy must not be forgotten in the COP process

    Looking back on my overwhelming first time attending a Council of the Parties (COP) at COP22 in Marrakech last November, it was filled with so many meetings, side panels, negotiations and networking opportunities that it was easy to overlook the real people affected by lack of access to energy. Acronyms were flying all over the place,…

  • Kajiado County; a champion for renewable energy usage

    You can almost see nothing inside the Manyatta (a home, often temporary of the Maasai/Samburu people). The window and only ventilation is the size of two adult hands. There is fire burning probably to keep the place lit up and warm given it is a rainy day. Even with the choking darkness one cannot fail…

  • Why Ditching the Start-Up Pitch Is Good for Innovation

    The start-up pitch, which involves making a rapid fire presentation of an idea followed by a question and answer session involving selected judges, is increasingly a waste of time and non-efficient in propagating the tech start up ecosystem in Zimbabwe. The start-up pitch is based on the traditional business planning methodology and ignores the fact…

  • Why Southern Africa Needs to Focus on Green and Inclusive Energy

    Zimbabwe’s Minister of Energy and Power Development, Samuel Undenge, recently announced at the 48th Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) meeting in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe that the region will add 30 000 MW to the region between 2017 and 2022. Addressing delegates at the meeting, Undenge lamented the slow pace of commissioning of new projects but hoped…

  • Call for concept notes

      About Community Media Fund The role of media and journalism is not confined to news organisations, broadcasting companies or governments—within Africa, a large and growing community media sector is linked to enterprises, civil society, educational institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that focus on issues of transparency, accountability and governance. The Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa…

  • An event that shall never be repeated

    On March 8, while the world celebrated women’s historical fight for equality and equity on International Women’s Day, almost 60 Guatemalan girls were locked up and burned alive inside the “Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asunción” shelter, located in San José Pinula, Guatemala. At present, 40 have died, many others remain missing and some survived.…

  • Alliance2015 for Syria

    Today, March 15 2017, marks the sixth year of the conflict in Syria. This conflict has resulted in the largest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time. The numbers are massive: almost 50% of the entire Syrian population are uprooted from their homes; five million have fled the country since 2011 and over six million…

  • Hivos Director of Operations Tours Projects in Zimbabwe

    Hivos Director of Operations Sanne Nolst Trenité recently toured selected projects in Harare, Zimbabwe and also held a townhall-type meeting with all staff in the Southern African region. Members of staff for Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe had an opportunity to interact and engage with the DOO on the trajectory of the organizations as well…

  • Calling all open contracting champions and innovators…

    Photo: Bert Kaufmann Calling all open contracting champions and innovators! March 14, 2017 #OCGlobal17, Amsterdam, 28 & 29 November 2017 Open contracting is one of the most exciting areas in modernizing government, fighting corruption, reforming markets and fostering business innovation and entrepreneurship. Better, smarter and fairer government contracting will have a huge impact on citizens’…

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