Guest Posts

Guest Post: Utilizing Carbon Finance – Innovative Financing for Improved Cookstoves

January 12, 2012

This is the second article in a two-part series submitted through Impact Carbon a non-profit organization that implements high quality and highly scalable emission reduction projects in developing countries. Aneri Patel is their Business Development Fellow based in Kampala, Uganda.

Increasing access to energy-saving technologies through carbon finance

Impact Carbon (IC) is a non-profit organization that implements high quality and highly scalable emission reduction projects in developing countries.

IC develops projects that generate carbon credits from the distribution and sale of energy-saving household appliances such as the Ugastove to local communities. In addition, IC has a core team and network of partners that provide exclusive access, technology, and capabilities for the design, development, and implementation of efficient biomass cookstoves and other healthy household energy technologies in developing countries around the world. Read more »

Guest Post: Cooking in the Developing World

January 11, 2012

By Aneri Patel

This is the first article in a two-part series submitted through Impact Carbon a non-profit organization that implements high quality and highly scalable emission reduction projects in developing countries. Aneri Patel is their Business Development Fellow based in Kampala, Uganda.

In the neighborhood of Makindye located in Kampala, Uganda, Florence Kibuuka is cooking matoke (mashed plantains) with an improved charcoal cookstove. Florence proudly exclaims “the Ugastove product is so great that if I had the money, I would buy them for all my friends! This stove saves me 1000 Ugandan shillings (about 50 US cents) per day on charcoal compared to the traditional stove.”

Florence Kibuuka, with an Ugastove and her older traditional cookstove

Florence is the proud owner of a Ugastove, manufactured by Ugandan Stove Manufacturers Limited (Ugastove Ltd.), a local company that produces improved cookstoves.

These improved cookstoves burn biomass more efficiently, lower family expenditure, mitigate deforestation, curtail green-house gas emissions and can help to reduce the exposure of families and cooks to dangerous air pollutants in smoke from indoor cooking.

The stoves have a thick clay lining that retains the heat using 35-50% less charcoal, thus saving families an average of US $80 a year. The design was developed in consultation with US cookstove experts, which help manufacturers such as Ugastove produce these technologies using local materials and labor.

The problem
More than ninety percent of Ugandans rely on charcoal or firewood as an energy source, which contributes to significant destruction of national forests. Uganda’s National Environment Authority estimates that the country has lost two-thirds of its forests in the last twenty years and would lose it all by 2050 at present rates of deforestation. Read more »

Micro Home Solutions: Ensuring a Lasting Impact (Part 7)

March 23, 2011

By Josiah Filler

The following is part 7 of 7 in an interview series put together by guest writer Josiah Filler on Micro Home Solutions in New Delhi. Please refer to part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, and part 6. Josiah had a chance to sit down with with Aden Van Noppen of Micro Home Solutions, based in New Delhi and here is what transpired:

Josiah, RP: So what is the number one thing you need to have to be successful in social enterprise? Is there one thing that stands out to you?

Aden, MHS: This is kind of cliché and maybe too typical but for me it’s all about the people. You have to have the right people in play in order for things to fall into place.
Read more »

Micro Home Solutions: How to Get More Involved (Part 6)

March 22, 2011

By Josiah Filler

The following is part 6 of 7 in an interview series put together by guest writer Josiah Filler on Micro Home Solutions in New Delhi. Please refer to part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5. Josiah had a chance to sit down with with Aden Van Noppen of Micro Home Solutions, based in New Delhi and here is what transpired:

Josiah, RP: In terms of identifying and recruiting talent, or on the flip side, from the perspective of professionals interested in going into this space [social enterprise], any words of advice for how people can best position themselves?

Aden, MHS: I think that one of the main characteristics of this sector is that it’s really meant to combine the skills and mechanisms that are used in the private sector and apply to the goals of the social sector. Because of that, having a combination of experiences is really important. For example, try to get the perspective of what’s happening on the ground, but also gain that professionalism and hard skills that comes from working in the private sector.
Read more »

Micro Home Solutions: The Contrast Between Idealism to Reality (Part 5)

March 21, 2011

By Josiah Filler

The following is part 5 of 7 in an interview series put together by guest writer Josiah Filler on Micro Home Solutions in New Delhi. Please refer to part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4. Josiah had a chance to sit down with with Aden Van Noppen of Micro Home Solutions, based in New Delhi and here is what transpired:

Josiah, RP: One thing that I’m trying to dig into during these interviews is identifying where there has been a level of disconnect between your notion of social enterprise as an idealistic college student vs. what you know now, having spent multiple years working in the sector. What have been the biggest areas of disconnect between what you expected and are hoped for and what you’ve actually seen? You know, the things that people should know about going into this sector so that they don’t have their hearts broken or get let down when they start?
Read more »

Micro Home Solutions: Understanding the Housing Needs of India’s Underprivileged (Part 4)

March 18, 2011

By Josiah Filler

The following is part 4 of 7 in an interview series put together by guest writer Josiah Filler on Micro Home Solutions in New Delhi. Please refer to part 1, part 2, and part 3. Josiah had a chance to sit down with with Aden Van Noppen of Micro Home Solutions, based in New Delhi and here is what transpired:

Josiah, RP: What are some of the biggest obstacles you face on a daily basis or from a strategy perspective?

Aden, MHS: It’s really hard for us to prioritize because there’s so much that needs to be done. On the one hand, we want to be really opportunistic and take advantage of partnerships and projects that come our way, but we also need to continually reevaluate how we prioritize what products are having the most impact towards our goal to build sustainable cities. I think that it’s a constant challenge for a lot of early stage companies who are figuring out the criteria are for evaluating potential projects.
Read more »

Micro Home Solutions: Scaling Impact through Collaboration (Part 3)

March 17, 2011

By Josiah Filler

The following is part 3 of 7 in an interview series put together by guest writer Josiah Filler on Micro Home Solutions in New Delhi. Please refer to part 1 and part 2. Josiah had a chance to sit down with with Aden Van Noppen of Micro Home Solutions, based in New Delhi and here is what transpired:

Josiah, RP: So it seems that MHS plays a very central role in bringing multiple parties together?

Aden, MHS: Yes, there are multiple projects housed under MHS’s roof and the idea is that we can be a catalyst/facilitator for the sector by bringing together the partners who aren’t coming together otherwise. In most cases that would include government, private sector and NGOs. The NGOs really have the community relationships that are important to bring into the equation. Aside from that we are doing some straight policy advocacy along with smaller projects.

Josiah, RP: What kind of smaller projects?

Aden, MHS: For example, we’ve built a semi-permanent homeless shelter for migrant men. The government of India has been talking a lot recently about the homeless and shelters. We feel there are much better ways to build and manage these shelters, including a business model that makes it more sustainable for all parties involved. We partnered with an NGO to build a shelter with a different kind of design.
Read more »

Micro Home Solutions: Design, Affordability and Community (Part 2)

March 16, 2011

By Josiah Filler

The following is part 2 of 7 in an interview series put together by guest writer Josiah Filler on Micro Home Solutions in New Delhi. Please refer to part 1. Josiah had a chance to sit down with with Aden Van Noppen of Micro Home Solutions, based in New Delhi and here is what transpired:

Josiah, RP: So let’s talk a little about Micro Home Solutions. I’ve browsed through the website and thought it looked really interesting. If you were to summarize the objectives and goals of the organization for our readers at home, what would they be?

Aden, MHS: Our overall goal is building inclusive cities in developing countries around the world, starting with India. We’re trying to do that primarily through the platform of housing, which ends up also being tied to related areas like infrastructure development, access to basic services like water, sanitation, etc. We develop projects based on three major principles of design, affordability and community. We saw that typically the affordable housing sector in India is very siloed and you don’t often see the financial partners, the real estate partners and the affordable design people, and community groups coming together.

Josiah, RP: What is the biggest gap MHS is trying to address? Read more »

Housing Solutions for India’s underprivileged: An interview with Aden Van Noppen of Micro Home Solutions (Part 1)

March 15, 2011

By Josiah Filler

New Delhi, India. As part of my ongoing series of interviews with Social Enterprises across Africa and Asia I had the opportunity to sit down with Aden Van Noppen of Micro Home Solutions, based in New Delhi. Aden is originally from North Carolina, USA but has significant experience working in social enterprise, having previously worked with Acumen Fund in New York before starting a two-year Piramal Fellowship with MHS.

Josiah, RP: Hi Aden, thanks for meeting with me! So what is your story and background? How did you get into social enterprise and how did you decide to live in India? Read more »

Buy a massage and help your neighborhood?

March 5, 2011

By Ethan Montoya

This month’s guest poster, Ethan Montoya, is the co-founder of DoloresDeals.org, a deal site for San Francisco that donates 15-20% of every deal to a charity in your neighborhood.

If you’re like me, you would feel guilty paying hundreds of dollars for a spa treatment. Because when you peel away the kiwi slices from your eyes, you see the world differently than most. You notice the homeless man on the corner or the run-down elementary school across the street. Read more »