Culitvating Innovation: Vote for Best Rural Solutions on Changemakers

Ashoka's Changemakers announced the top ten finalists in their "Cultivating Innovation, Solutions for Rural Communities" competition.

In February, Changemakers launched a global search for innovative solutions to often complex issues facing rural development and sustainable agriculture, from food security to sustainably scaling-up production.

Sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the competition uncovered 455 ideas from around the globe. The judges have settled on ten finalists and now it is up to you and the Changemakers community to vote to select three winners. But hurry: the voting closes on July 8th.

Here are the finalists:

Demonstrating technologies that work in transforming rural agriculture for sustainable development	Uganda Rural development and Training Programme, URDT	Uganda
Social Security for Rural populations through sustainable and interdependent livelihoods	Organisation for Awareness of Integrated Social Security (OASiS)	India
Building the movement for women’s land rights	SRREOSHI	India
Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM CRSP)	IPM CRSP(Integrated Pest Management Collaborative Research Support Program)	Bangladesh
Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO): promoting rural livelihoods around a business partnership to achieve conservation	Wildlife Conservation Society	Zambia
Ensuring Food Security to small farmers through their own agri business company RUDI	SEWA Gram Mahila Haat	India
FONDO DE APOYO ALIMENTARIO	ECOSTA YUTU CUII	Mexico
Weaving Sustainability - Tramando sustentabilidade	Cooperativa central justa trama	Brazil
Mandalla’s Integrated Production System	Agência Mandalla DHSA	Brazil
Business School for Rural Women	The Mann Deshi Foundation	India

Vote here: Changemakers Cultivating Innovation (Note: you must join the Changemakers community to vote.)

Changemakers is a community of action where participants helped develop and refine and select solutions through a collaborative competition model.

(Disclosure: The author was part of the team that developed the partnership between Ashoka and the Gates Foundation for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship to Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa and India.)

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