VENTURE with us
Our goal is to expand this technology.
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Manufacturing (expand the lab, permitting and registration).
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Distribution to smallholder farmers - through partnerships with NGOs and input distribution companies, and extension agencies.
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Training pathologists in other countries as the first step to international permitting, etc.
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Evaluating the impact on women through a WEAI survey.
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Evaluating soil samples to determine other limiting factors.
This project is sustainable: after the first initial investment in the toothpick technology, the farmer's increase in yield will allow them to invest in the technology for the following season. Additionally, they'll be able to invest in better inputs (hybrid seed and fertilizer), showing an even higher yield in subsequent seasons.
Project collaborators:
We highly recommend the book The Last Hunger Season by Roger Thurow to get a deeper understanding of the complications involved in smallholder farming.
“Our farmers’ interest is to kill Striga and increase yield and income from the farm. If all it requires is to boil rice and drop in the fungus, we can do it for our food security.”
Implementer, Liberty Initiators Network