#Development hacks 10 products for better aid

Can charcoal save trees? There’s no shortage of innovative ideas to protect the environment and lift people out of poverty, and Devex is proud to highlight some of them. Here are 10 of the #innov8aid solutions we featured in 2013.

Pratt Pouch By Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering

What it is: It’s like a ketchup packet, only it’s filled with antiretroviral drugs for expecting mothers and their babies

What makes it innovative: The pouch when sealed keeps ARVs stable for 12 months, allowing the drugs to be stored

and administered when needed such as during the second trimester of pregnancy and after a home birth delivery.

Read more about Pratt Pouch

JustMilk nipple shield By JustMilk.org

What it is: A disposable silicone device that comes with an insert containing micronutrients, antimalarials, probiotics

or antiretrovirals

What makes it innovative: It is designed as a low-cost, safe and effective way to administer medication or nutrients

to breastfeeding babies, especially those at risk of infection such as HIV.

Read more about JustMilk nipple shield

Green charcoal By Carbon Roots International

What it is: A cooking briquette made of charred agricultural waste

What makes it innovative: It offers an alternative source of fuel for cooking and energy, particularly in a country like

Haiti where charcoal consumption is so staggering that it has left the country with little forest cover.

Read more about green charcoal

Tsetse repellent collar By International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology

What it is: A wearable device that dispenses repellents with compounds sourced from urine of wild animals that

tsetse flies avoid such as zebra and waterbuck

What makes it innovative: The technology holds promise of improving food security and boosting incomes in Africa,

where tsetse is endemic. In areas where livestock wore the collar, there was a reduction in animal mortality and

disease incidence, and herders sold twice as much livestock as they did from unprotected areas, according to

research.

Read more about tsetse repellent collar

Cyanobacterial fertilizer By Thin Air Nitrogen Solutions

What it is: Fertilizer made from blue-green algae

What makes it innovative: Rich in nitrogen, cyanobacteria offers an organic and likely cheaper alternative to

conventional fertilizer and is proven to increase micronutrient concentrations in plants’ edible parts, such as zinc,

iron and beta-carotene.

Read more about cyanobacterial fertilizer

MamaCarts By MamaCarts

What it is: Food cart microfranchising

What makes it innovative: It promotes social entrepreneurship and good nutrition in food-insecure areas, as

MamaCarts not only helps women earn an income but also teaches them how to prepare healthy meals using

locally sourced materials.

Read more about MamaCarts

DevelopmentCheck.org By Integrity Action

What it is: An online tool using citizen feedback to monitor issues found in development projects in war-torn

countries

What makes it innovative: The tool not only provides verified information on irregularities in aid projects but also

tells if they have been fixed. Integrity Action shares the findings with the community, government and contractors,

and works with them to address the problem.

Read more about DevelopmentCheck.org

Timber frame with mulberry By Habitat for Humanitty International

What it is: A mesh of harvested mulberry branches along with a timber framework covered and finished with a

plaster of mud, straw and wool

What makes it innovative: The material is used to reinforce houses so they can be resilient to earthquakes. In quake-

prone Tajikistan, houses retrofitted with mulberry suffered minimal or zero damage from temblors.

Read more about timber frame with mulberry

Google Glass for aid delivery By Skotkonung

What it is: A solution that uses the wearable gadget’s face recognition function to enrol and verify the identity of

aid beneficiaries

Why it is innovative: Aside from helping fight fraud and increase efficiency in delivering aid, the technology can

promote aid worker security in hot spots such as Afghanistan and Somalia because it removes the need to carry

IDs.

Read more about Google Glass for aid delivery

Anaerobic digester-equipped latrine By: University of Maryland

What it is: An ecological toilet that converts human waste into high-value fertilizer and biogas

What makes it innovative: Aside from helping improve public health, the technology may also provide locals with a

source of income, through the sale of biogas and fertilizer and fees charged for toilet use.

Read more about anaerobic digester-equipped latrine

Join Devex to keep abreast of the latest development innovations. Check us out on Facebook.