Today, the Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) Grand Challenge Southern and Central Africa Regional Hub (S/CA RIH) announced its first Open Call for Innovations winner.

Reel Gardening, a legacy innovator from Securing Water for Food (SWFF), joined the hub’s innovator cohort as a WE4F grantee. 

Reel Gardening manufactures patented seed tape and began its journey addressing food security in schools across South Africa. Through their new WE4F award, this innovator will focus on household gardening which helps address food security, poverty reduction, and base of the pyramid integration while promoting environmental sustainability. In addition to the grant, the innovator will receive technical assistance and investment facilitation.

The Open Call for Innovations is an activity under Water and Energy for Food: A Grand Challenge for Development (WE4F). WE4F is an international partnership amongst the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Netherlands, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). 

The WE4F Southern and Central Africa Regional Innovation Hub (a consortium of Tetra Tech, Open Capital Advisors, and International Water Management Institute) supports the scaling-up of energy and/or water-efficient innovations in 12 countries, with a focus on women and the base of the pyramid. Innovations include technologies, business, finance models, and new modes of cooperation. 

To learn more, visit: https://we4f.org/sca and follow @WE4FGCD on Twitter.