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Food Distribution in the Horn of Africa Goes High-Tech

Mon, 2012-10-15 23:18 — Kathy Gilbeaux

huffingtonpost.com - by Cathy Herholdt - October 10, 2012

Getting food into the hands of the hungry in the Horn of Africa is about to go high-tech. Seattle-based humanitarian organization World Concern is piloting a new mobile phone app in the drought-stricken region, aiming to streamline the process of tracking food distributed to hungry families and payment to local merchants.

The system tracks beneficiaries and the food they receive via bar codes that are scanned into a mobile phone. Merchants have an I.D. card with a bar code, which is also scanned so they can be paid via wire transfer almost instantly.

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World Concern
http://www.worldconcern.org/

Scan My List
http://scanmylist.com/

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
General Topic Tags: 
Disaster Response
Food
Technology
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Solutions

The ‘Avon Ladies’ of Africa

Thu, 2012-10-11 23:39 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Tine Frank… Living Goods managers explained business opportunities to new recruits in Masaka, Uganda.

submitted by Alisa Keesey

The New York Times
by Tina Rosenberg
October 10, 2012

Living Goods, which operates in Uganda, has a very promising model.  It brings goods the poor need to their doorsteps, at below-market prices.  Most important, Living Goods is building a business with the potential to sustain itself — it has already hit some important milestones.  That’s the key to a long life and wide growth — to helping vast numbers of people.

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Living Goods
http://livinggoods.org/

Country / Region Tags: 
Global
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Economics
Sustainable Development
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Solutions

Global Food Supply - We Need to Plan for System Failure

Wed, 2012-10-10 18:34 — Kathy Gilbeaux

ethicalcorp.com - by Mallen Baker - October 4, 2012

Mallen Baker argues that it’s irresponsible not to make contingency plans, especially when the potential failures concern the fundamentals – such as food

Imagine your critical business systems depend on one computer server. This server is huge – it has immense capacity – but you have grown into that space and now every single day you are pushing it to its limit. . .

. . . Now let’s substitute the global food system for the server. Here we have a system that is operating at full capacity. Any hiccups in normal production can lead to serious problems. This year we have seen such hiccups.

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Global
United States
General Topic Tags: 
Agriculture
Capacity
Disaster Risk Reduction
Food
Vulnerability
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The Bicyclean Uses Pedal Power to Safely Recycle E-Waste

Mon, 2012-10-08 00:26 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

              

inhabitat.com - by Morgana Matus - September 28, 2012

The Unites States generates more electronic waste than any other nation on earth.  According to the EPA, more than 4.6 million tons entered domestic landfills in 2000, and 50-80% of our total e-waste is exported to developing nations where defunct electronics wind up in dumps, polluting the environment, and littering neighborhoods. That’s why 22-year-old engineering graduate Rachel Field has invented the Bicyclean – a pedal-powered grinder and e-waste separation system.

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United States
General Topic Tags: 
Environment
Pollution
Waste
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World Habitat Day: A Day to Recognize the Basic Need for Shelter

Tue, 2012-10-02 17:54 — Maeryn Obley

huffingtonpost.com - October 1st, 2012 - Jimmy Carter

In the waning hours of a January afternoon, as children played after school and parents prepared to end their work days, Haiti was suddenly shaken forever by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. Lives were lost, communities destroyed. An already-challenged country instantly faced even greater odds. Nearly three years later, some progress has been made, but the fact that -- unacceptably -- hundreds of thousands of people still live in tents and makeshift shelters should shake the world community.

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Country / Region Tags: 
Global
Haiti
General Topic Tags: 
Disaster Response
Housing / Shelter
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Solutions

France unveils 'harshest budget in 30 years'

Sat, 2012-09-29 20:18 — Maeryn Obley

François Hollande has described the 2013 plans as a 'combat budget'. Photograph: Andrew Gombert/EPA

Image: François Hollande has described the 2013 plans as a 'combat budget'. Photograph: Andrew Gombert/EPA

guardian.co.uk - September 28th, 2012 - Kim Willsher

To the dismay of a swath of French bankers, business leaders and the wealthy, President François Hollande has remained true to his word and unveiled €20bn (£16bn) in new taxes, including a 75% "supertax" band that will hit the rich.

In what Hollande has described as France's harshest budget in 30 years, business and personal taxpayers were asked on Friday to make an "unprecedented effort" to slash the country's public spending deficit.

However, the Socialist government sidestepped swingeing cuts in public spending, including pensions and state salaries, in its 2013 budget, which aims to find €36.9bn in savings.

(VIEW COMPLETE ARTICLE)

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Global
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Economics
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Team Romania Sells Their Solar Decathlon Plus-Energy PRISPA Home

Sun, 2012-09-23 22:32 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

              

inhabitat.com - by Tafline Laylin - September 18, 2012

Unlike most homes we've visited so far at the 2012 Solar Decathlon in Madrid, Team Romania's enchanting plus-energy PRISPA house already feels like home. The prototype has a comfortable, lived-in look and feel - no wonder it has already been sold! It's a good thing the team opted for simplicity and a modular design, because after the competition ends on 29 September, they will disassemble and reassemble the PRISPA for the third and final time.

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Global
General Topic Tags: 
Housing / Shelter
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Solutions

Video - MSF - An Improved Situation in Yida Camp, South Sudan

Sun, 2012-09-23 21:03 — Kathy Gilbeaux

youtube.com - September 18, 2012

After Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) scaled up its operations in Yida refugee camp in South Sudan, the mortality rate fell sharply in just one month.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2GZYb6fP1N8

Location

United States
31° 43' 41.4012" N, 148° 32' 6.5616" W
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Global
Africa
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Disaster Response
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Moscow Agglomeration Competition Unveils Sustainable Master Plans for the City of the Future

Sun, 2012-09-16 00:26 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

              

inhabitat.com - by Lidija Grozdanic - September 12, 2012

Moscow authorities recently announced the results of the Moscow Agglomeration Competition for the Moscow metropolitan area. The 3-stage international competition called for master plan designs for the city that include the existing city development and the design of new city districts (Federal City, Innovation City, Logistics City and Science City). Entrants responded with ambitious urban planning proposals that include massive green belts, high-speed transportation systems and zero-waste, zero-emission buidlings - read on for a closer look!

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Global
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Cities
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Extreme Weather Means Extreme Food Prices Worldwide, Aid Agency Warns

Sun, 2012-09-09 00:22 — Kathy Gilbeaux

      

Somali girls line up to receive a hot meal in Mogadishu last year after the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in decades, compounded by war, put millions in danger of starvation.  Roberto Schmmidt/AFP/Getty Images

npr.org - by Elizabeth Shogren - September 6, 2012

Reducing greenhouse gases and saving the polar bears tend to dominate discussions on climate change. But to the booming world population, one climate change issue may be even more pressing – hunger.

A new report by a leading international relief agency warns that climate change will increase the risk of large spikes in global food prices in the future, and lead to more hungry people in the world.

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Oxfam report - Extreme Weather, Extreme Prices
http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/extreme-weather-extreme-prices

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Global
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Climate
Economics
Extreme Weather
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Water
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