Posts made in August, 2013

Empowering farmers with technology in Asia

Posted by Matthew Kovac on Aug 19, 2013 in Stewardship | 0 comments

Advances in technology are helping people all over the world. Not a week goes by without a new announcement of the latest gizmo, widget or technological breakthrough that promises to fundamentally change our behaviour and lives.

But rather than focus on the newest and latest technology, 8Villages, a mobile social network for smallholder farmers, has gone old-school by using simple 2G/GPRS to supply farmers with a range of agriculture-related information via cell phones. It is part of the company’s DNA to ensure farmers in the field are have simple yet actionable information, while connecting mobile carriers and large agribusinesses to the ‘little’ farmer.

Malaysia’s container recycling success story

Posted by Matthew Kovac on Aug 5, 2013 in Stewardship | 0 comments

Recycling would seem to be a no-brainer as so much good comes out of recycling    empty containers and packaging materials.

But given the huge advantages and few drawbacks of recycling, it can be surprisingly difficult to get some new projects off the ground. There are many barriers for organizations like ours in encouraging the farming community to recycle more used pesticide containers.

Malaysia is a good example of the challenges faced when launching such an initiative but of the huge rewards that can be achieved if they are overcome.