The Acceleration of Innovation

This idea won a prize in the 2009 Africa Rural Connect Competition and therefore cannot compete in any subsequent ARC competitions.

The Full Belly Project's "Acceleration of Innovation Program" will increase the effeciency of  international development.This business driven program is being piloted in Malawi over the next 3-5 years in order to establish a replicable model.  

The idea is to open channels of communication amongst groups of people interested in designing simple technologies that can be reproduced in developing countries.  By using the "wisdom of the crowds" The Full Belly Project will be able to provide training on a finished product at an accelerated rate.  

First, The Full Belly Project will implement a needs assessment survey to collect data and feedback on the needs of farmers throughout Malawi.  This information will be uploaded instantaneously using Datadyne surveying tools.  (datadyne.org)

Data collected from this survey will provide us with a prioritized list of what technologies to develop to drive lasting economic change.

 Through this survey, as well as with hundreds of video interviews, the farmers themselves will be able to voice their needs and their ideas. This information will be used to develop products that address their needs.  All these products will be manufactured and sold locally, linking farmers to micro-credit when necessary.

Secondly, The Full Belly Project's website is currently undergoing changes that will allow for Members and Chapters to login and participate in developing new devices for real problems faced by the people of Malawi.

Using our website as a global workshop, The Full Belly Project will post design challenges to our members who will create inexpensive, easily replicable solutions.  These solutions will then be passed on to our "Network of Entrepreneurs" throughout Malawi through hands-on training.

This will assure that the knowledge and skills needed to manufacture such products will remain locally. By training local entrepreneurs, The Acceleration of Innovation Program is advancing the manufacturing industry while simultaneously developing products designed to increase income of subsistence farmers.

Currently, our Malawian entrepreneurs are manufacturing our Universal Nut Sheller, which increases the value of Peanuts, Coffee and Jatropha by removing the shell.  This means the farmers can process their own crops and sell them at a higher value.

We are also working with the Peace Corps to field test a new inexpensive water-pump.  This water-pump will give farmers the ability to grow their crops in the dry season, thus increasing their annual income through the sale of "off-season" crops.  The water-pump has a simple design which is less strenuous than current "treadle-pump" technologies.

Another advantage to this device is  that  it is made of concrete and locally available metal parts, which can easily be mass-manufactured for sale throughout the country/region.  This allows invaluable manufacturing knowledge to also remain locally, rather than outsourcing fabrication to China or elsewhere.

The Acceleration of Innovation Program is being piloted in Malawi, with hopes to expand to other countries once we have a better understanding of how each business can sustain its sales of product. 

In many developing countries, 80-90% of the population is considered subsistence farmers. The Full Belly Project's "Acceleration of Innovation Program" will focus in on this demographic.  By listening to the farmers needs in order to develop simple solutions that are produced locally this program will turn business into the driving force of economic change throughout Malawi.  As The Full Belly Project expands our "Network of Entrepreneurs" and our membership base grows as a grassroots movement we will truly Accelerate Innovation and begin to break the poverty cycle.

Join us today! www.fullbellyproject.org