News
Bangladesh Community Management Organizations (CMOs)
October 2, 2018
In the early 1950s, a cluster of islands emerged in the shallow Bay of Bengal. In 1979, the main island was named “Nijhum Dwip” (Silent Island) for its natural beauty and isolation. A dense mangrove forest developed over time, and the mudflats and shallow waters are a spawning ground for hilsha, the national fish, and […]
Equation for Transformation
September 26, 2018
On September 25, Dr. Chris Jones, executive director and lead maker of Winrock International’s Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub, appeared on the plenary stage at the Concordia Summit, an annual global affairs forum in New York City that brings together heads of state, Fortune 50 executives and other thought leaders. Here is Jones’s presentation: If you […]
Address of Winrock President and CEO Rodney Ferguson to Redlands Forum
September 25, 2018
Well, thank you, Shelly, and thank all of you for coming out tonight. When I heard that I’m coming before Dolores Huerta, it’s pretty daunting. I don’t have 11 kids, either. Also, I’d like to thank the colleagues at Esri, Jack and Laura Dangermond for their support, and the University of Redlands and the Town […]
Thinking Like a Water Model
September 19, 2018
In the Stung Chinit basin of Cambodia, rice farmers and fishermen depend on the same water. More rice means more water diverted from the river – and if too much water is diverted, unhealthy river flows lead to fewer fish. But that doesn’t mean the two sectors must be at odds. Last month, my colleagues […]
The Future of Forests: An Optimist’s View
September 17, 2018
“I believe that there’s hope, there’s great hope for us to change the course of the future of the planet,” said Winrock President and CEO Rodney Ferguson at the Redlands Forum in Redlands, California. “And the way we can do that is through the application of technology.” The Redlands Forum, sponsored by the mapping technology […]
Pumps and Pineapples
September 13, 2018
Small and medium-scale farmers in Guinea face a common problem that threatens food security, constrains agricultural production and limits incomes. And young entrepreneurs-in-training are helping solve it with motorbikes. “Here in Lower Guinea, we have an irrigation problem,” says Mamadou Sidibe. He is one of many young people gaining hands-on experience in agricultural extension, entrepreneurship […]
Three Steps to $3 Million
September 13, 2018
Could algae address the coming food crisis and provide additional income for women? A European investment firm answered that question with a resounding ‘Yes!’ with their $3 million stake into EnerGaia, a spirulina cultivation technology firm based in Thailand and actively supported by USAID’s Feed the Future Asia Innovative Farmers Activity. To bring this critical […]
Women, Water and World Hunger
September 10, 2018
For hundreds of millions of women, providing food to feed their families is a daily imperative. Many of them depend solely on the meager yields of small plots and farms, with little or no access to support when vital crops fail. At the same time, they shoulder the burden of household chores like fetching water, […]
Towards More Resilient Solutions
August 27, 2018
On August 26, water professionals turned their attention to Stockholm, Sweden. At World Water Week, the world’s premier conference on water issues, attendees chose from hundreds of panels, presentations and plenaries, and enjoy the opportunity to network with other experts, decision-makers and innovators. Sharing experience and information with fellow practitioners, working toward solutions to the most critical water-related challenges — what more could a water wonk ask for? […]
‘The River Belongs to the People’
August 21, 2018
Photos by Bobby Neptune Gordon Mumbo grew up in the small village of Kamuga, in Kenya’s Kisumu County. Year after year, he watched as frequent floods from one of Kenya’s major rivers, the Nyando, disturbed the peaceful flow of village life. “In school we were reading about how the Dutch were able to control floods […]