Opportunity for Non-profit Organizations in Mozambique, Peru, India and Spain

Deadline: 2 September 2019

The ”la Caixa” Foundation and their partner organizations have launched an open innovation challenge targeted at supporting the work currently being developed within the W4P geographies.

Work4Progress is a programme launched by the ”la Caixa”Foundation with the objective of generating new employment opportunities for women and young adults in India, Mozambique and Peru through open platforms for social innovation.

India

How might we use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to create virtual co-working spaces for young women (18-25) in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, thereby enhancing access to entrepreneurial work opportunities in a rapidly transforming economy?

• Objectives/Priority Areas
  • The technology solution should enhance access to livelihood solutions, with a strong orientation and emphasis enabling young women in rural India to:
    • Think beyond conventional income generation options and ordinary jobs – to make a transition in outlook to that is more aspirational, entrepreneurial and leadership oriented.
    • Access new economy job opportunities such as data entry service, online marketing and video editing among others that may not yet be apparent in today’s Indian economy.
    • Build solidarity among them and obtain mentoring support, particularly among aspiring women entrepreneurs, through peer to peer networks and virtual interaction in the equivalent of a “co-working space”.
• Target Groups
  • Women in the age group of 18 to 25 years in rural and peri-urban areas.

Mozambique

How could we take advantage of technology to improve efficiency, especially of weeding and preparing the land, and to increase the productivity per hectare of small-scale agricultural producers in Cabo Delgado?

• Objectives/Priority Areas
  • Development of integrated weed handling techniques that combine plant cover (living or dry) with the use of organic herbicides.
  • Increasing the farmed area up to 3 ha.
  • Development of simple small manual or mechanical machinery adapted to the local context.
• Target Groups
  • Small farmers from Cabo Delgado who live in isolated areas at a distance from decision-making centres. Their income is below the minimum salary and most (>70 %) are illiterate. Many are unable to use current information and communication technology (they can use mobiles but not smartphones). The average area per family is around 1-2 hectares.

Peru

How could we use technology to improve efficiency in the distribution and use of water for irrigation in the high-mountain Ccatcca district so that the area’s farmer producers can enjoy continuous production of fodder for family livestock and thus help to overcome rural poverty?

• Objectives/Priority Areas
  • Incorporation of much more efficient irrigation technologies to make irrigation water available throughout the low-water period in the farming communities of the Ccatcca district.
  • Improvement of the irrigation water management systems as regards distribution, assignment and application (irrigation frequencies and times).
  • Introduction of new species of fodders that, for example, require less water without the volume of plant matter currently produced being affected, or increasing the supply of plant material using the same amount of water, etc.
  • Improvement in fodder storage systems to ensure available fodder in the low-water months.
• Target Groups
  • Families with five members on average, dedicated to agriculture (plots with an average of 1,200 m2) and livestock (mainly guinea pigs).

Objectives

The Work4Progress Challenge is seeking solutions from tech innovators within the following areas of action:

• Technologies to promote entrepreneurship among young women (India).
• Agri-technologies to improve crops (Mozambique).
• Agri-technologies to improve irrigation (Peru).

Who Can Apply?

Universities, companies and non-profit organizations, preferably located in Mozambique, Peru, India and Spain.

How to Apply

Proposals must be submitted electronically through the ”la Caixa” Foundation call for projects online platform.

For more information, please visit https://obrasociallacaixa.org/en/internacional/empleo/challenge-w4p-2019/que-hacemos