Diageo is reducing its emissions by innovating in its packaging. It is trying to introduce circular economy in the traditional glass bottles. The company is also trying to use new types of material: aluminum and paper. At the same time, Diageo faces climate risks. Agricultural commodities and water are the inputs to manufacturing your favour beverages. In response, Diageo is supporting regenerative agriculture and water conservation projects. Innovation involves working thoughtfully with partners (start-ups and non-profits). It also involves crucially a high tolerance of failure. Mark Sandys is the Chief Innovation Officer at Diageo, the British multinational alcohol beverage company. Sections Section 1: First 18 minutes : Getting to know Mark and understand Diageo’s approach to innovation. Section 2: Next 31 minutes about Diageo’s innovations in packaging. Section 3: Last six minutes about climate risks and Diageo’s response. Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Mark Sandys Chief Innovation Officer, Diageo https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-sandys-b629b6b8/ https://www.diageo.com/en
Digital innovation in agriculture is already bringing solutions to farmers that helps them use their mobile phones to obtain a range of useful services. They can get information about product prices and advice on pest control. They can also buy farm inputs as well sell their products. Almost always underbanked, they can also get credit. Is AI adding an extra fizz to these solutions? We discussed with Daniele Tricarico about the GSMA report AI for Africa: Use cases delivering impact. We learnt that AI is adding an extra layer of additional benefits to these existing solutions and also helping develop some new solutions (such as better weather predictions and tracking food security). Both machine learning and generative AI are being used in these applications. Grant capital is available to develop initial pilots. Local talent who knows the agricultural landscape and brainy young people who work on the data and the programming are there as well. Companies are working around the problem of lack of data. Partnerships of start-ups with large IT companies and with mobile networks is critical to deployment of solutions. Sections Section 1: First 5 minutes : introduction Section 2: Next 54 minutes the AI use cases in food and agriculture Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise New Ventures www.regainparadise.org Guest : Daniele Tricarico Senior Director, Central Insights & Monitoring & Evaluation, Mobile for Development https://www.linkedin.com/in/danieletricarico/ https://www.gsma.com/solutions-and-impact/connectivity-for-good/mobile-for-development/gsma_people/daniele-tricarico/
Too much food is wasted by consumers. Reducing this wastage is important. It is good for the climate and for one’s own wallet, not to mention the conscience. Everybody agrees that it is important and yet reducing food waste is hard. People waste food not because they don’t care but often they do not know better ways to buy, store, cook and eat. Luckily, there are a whole set of tools from the discipline of psychology to help people become aware and have the right skills and behaviour. Dr. Sophie Attwood behavioural scientist and a thought leader on sustainable food and heath choices. She holds a doctorate degree from the University of Cambridge and has worked with the global think tank WRI. In the podcast she also touches upon how companies who are developing solutions for the problem of food waste and selling plant based meats could market their products. Sections Section 1: First 8 minutes : introduction Section 2: Next 34 minutes about food waste: how much, why and how to solve the problem? Section 3 : Last 6 minutes about plant based meats. Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Dr. Sophie Attwood Behavioural Science Consultant https://www.behaviorglobal.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-sophie-attwood/
The World Fair Trade Organisation certifies small and medium enterprises which practice fair trade principles. Chief among them is that 50% of their profits are contributed towards a cause. The objective of WFTO is to prove that innovation and entrepreneurship is consistent with stakeholder capitalism. Innovation – the process of increasing productivity – is not just restricted to a shareholder capitalist system. WFTO members include food processing enterprises both in the Global North and Global South. Leida Rijnhout, based in the Netherlands, is the Chief Executive of the World Fair Trade Organisation. She has extensive experience in Netherlands and in the world of non-profits before finding her entrepreneurial calling at WFTO. Sections Section 1: First 25 minutes about WFTO certification Section 2: Next 25 minutes about WFTO enterprises in practice Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Leida Rijnhout Chief Executive World Fair Trade Organisation https://wfto.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/leida-rijnhout-b5258a5/ info@wfto.com
Rabindranath Tagore, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913 was also a leading thinker on education. The central tenets of his thoughts on education were learning among nature, striking a balance of the arts and science in the curriculum and internalising a spirit of internationalism. Tagore was also a practical man and he put his ideas in action by setting up a school for children and an University. His ideas on education are key to creating the consciousness that is needed for to solve the climate crisis and (if we ever get out of this mess) avoid creating a similar crisis again. AI may help in reviving Tagore’s thoughts in the 21st century. Section Section 1: First 20 minutes about Tagore’s thoughts on education. Section 2: Next 20 minutes about how Tagore implemented his ideas on education. Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Dr. Tom Kane Programme Director MSc: Business Analytics https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1376839 https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-kane-4010066/ t.b.kane@stir.ac.uk
In Kenya there has been droughts for the last four out of 5 seasons. Most farmers depend only rains and are very vulnerable to changing weather. SunCulture provides irrigation solution to small holder farmers. The challenge is to make the product affordable to farmers. This means right sizing the pumps, working with suppliers to reduce costs and providing financing solutions. It also means using subsidies such as results based financing and carbon credits efficiently. Hack Stiernblad is the Chief Growth Officer of SunCulture responsible for market expansion and raising donor funds. SunCulture provides solar irrigation solutions to farmers in Kenya and is now expanding to Uganda and Côte d'Ivoire. Sections Section 1: First 7 minutes about Hack and SunCulture. Section 2: Next 40 minutes about SunCulture’s product and business. Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise New Ventures www.regainparadise.org Guest : Hack Stiernblad Chief Growth Officer hack.stiernblad@sunculture.com https://sunculture.io/https://www.linkedin.com/in/hack-stiernblad-8276819a/?originalSubdomain=se
Financial institutions have to take into both short term and long term horizons in assessing climate risks. This is not easy for banks in the emerging world. It requires expertise, access to data and new management processes. In this podcast, Rutang and myself explain the types of climate risks and we demystify climate risk scenarios which help financial institutions straddle these time horizons. Then we apply the concepts to banks in four emerging countries. Dr. Rutang Thanawalla is a risk assessment expert for financial institutions with experience across global commercial banks, credit rating agencies and consultancies. He now focuses on climate risks and sustainability finance. Sections Section 1: First 10 minutes introductions and climate risks. Section 2: Next 13 minutes about climate risk scenarios. Section 3: Next 22 minutes about applying the concepts. Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Rutang Thanawalla Risk Management: Strategy Adviser on Climate Risk Assessment https://www.linkedin.com/in/rutang/
With climate change El Nino droughts will become more frequent and more intense. To be fore warned is to be fore armed. Warnings will have to be taken seriously and farmers should not plant their seeds hoping that rains will come only to face a total crop failure. Kvuno, a social enterprise spun out of Solidaridad, the international NGO, is developing a digital database of farmers in Southern Africa. This digital platform can be used to provide inform and help farmers learn how to adapt to the changing weather patterns. It can also be used to provide farm inputs and finance products such as loans and insurance. Both non-profits and commercial organisations can reach small holder farmers using the digital platform. Sections Section 1: First 20 minutes introductions and the drought in Southern Africa. Section 2: Next 20 minutes about what Kvuno does and how it will help. Host: Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Joshua Chela Business Development Lead Kvuno https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-chileshe-chela-00623369/ https://kvuno.io/
A child substantially shorter than their age in the first three years often fails to reach their full potential. It is often caused by poor nutrition. Save the Children, an international NGO with roots in the UK, has been implementing a three year project in Bangladesh with support from the European Union and UK AID to reduce stunting. Reducing stunting involves household members changing their behaviour. Unfortunately, climate change is making it harder. Sections Section 1: First 20 minutes about the context and how the project was structured Section 2: Next 40 minutes about the project lessons and results Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest: Sheikh Shahed Rahman Ex Chief of Party, Suchana pogram, Save the Children in Bangladesh https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheikh-shahed-rahman-4a036635/?originalSubdomain=bd Rubaiyath Sarwar Managing Director, Innovision Consulting https://innovision-bd.com/team/md-rubaiyath-sarwar/
Seychelles is the richest country in Africa but as a small island country it is also being impacted severely by climate change. Sadly it is not just climate changed caused by humanity as a whole, it is the damage to the environment that is caused by the individuals living in and visiting the islands. The environment damage is making it hard to grow food and the island is becoming more dependent on imported food. A GEF funded project is trying to reverse this using an integrated approach called Ridge to Reef. Listen to Johan Mendez, an international water expert who has made Seychelles his home explain the project. Sections Section 1: First 16 minutes about Johan and the issues in Seychelles. Section 2: Next 31 minutes about the Ridge to Reef project. Host: Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest: Johan Mendez, Seychelles based hydrogeologist https://www.facebook.com/BaieLazareWS/oyunchimeg.amartuvshin@gggi.org jmendez@live.fr
A top down infrastructural project, in the Aral Sea area, goes terribly wrong. Instead of increasing cotton production and prosperity, the project leads to unprecedented droughts and poverty. The Global Green Growth Institute is implementing a project funded by the South Korean government to rehabilitate the region. Oyunchimeg Amartuvshin, Senior Program Development Officer, Central Asia of the Global Green Growth Institute takes us into the details of the project. Sections Section 1: First 15 minutes about Oyuna, GGGI and the Aral Sea problem. Section 2: Next 35 minutes about GGGI’s project Host: Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise. www.regainparadise.org Guest : Oyunchimeg Amartuvshin, Senior Program Development Officer, Central Asia of the Global Green Growth Institute https://gggi.org/oyunchimeg.amartuvshin@gggi.org
The Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture helps small holder farmers access quality inputs and sell products at fair prices. To do that the foundation has developed the Farmers Hub, a franchisee based business model which helps both agri-entrepreneurs and businesses to invest in products that serve small holder farmers. This approach has helped farmers adopt new technologies for paddy, mangoes and vegetables. The access to better markets and improved technologies is helping improve income. Sections Section 1: First 34 minutes about the approach of the Syngenta Foundation’s Farmers Hub approach. Section 2: Next 15 minutes about how the approach works in various parts in Bangladesh. Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Abdur Rouf Program Development Lead at Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture Guests : https://www.syngentafoundation.org/ abdur.rouf@syngenta.com WA: +880 17 4890 4373
Saran Song is the CEO of Amru Rice, Camobodia’s largest producer and exporter of organic rice from Cambodia. In this podcast he talks about the contract farming business model, the advantages that farmers can derive from growing organic and sustainable rice and peers into the future of rice. Sections Section 1 : First 10 minutes introducing Saran and his company Amru Rice Section 2 : Next 31 minutes about the how and the whys of organic and sustainable rice Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Saran Song CEO – Amru Rice https://amrurice.com.kh/ ceo@amrurice.com.kh WA: +855 12303 016
Heather Couture is an international consultant in computer vision (applying artificial intelligence to images). In this episode, she explains the different types of modern artificial intelligence and its use in a variety of food-related applications. It is used for monitoring crops and trees in fields and automating activities such as harvesting and spraying inputs. Artificial intelligence is also applied for monitoring aquaculture, preventing food waste and predicting weather events. Sections Section 1 : First 15 minutes Helen introduces herself and help you understand what AI terms really mean. Section 2 : Up to 32 minutes AI applications in agriculture Section 3 : Up to 38 minutes other food security applications. Section 4 : Broader questions on the use of AI for emerging countries. Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise New Ventures Website www.regainparadise.org Guest : Heather Couture Founder & Computer Vision Consultant Pixel Scientia Labs LLC https://pixelscientia.com/newsletter/ https://pixelscientia.com/podcast/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/hdcouture/
Futurepump is a small company from the UK with a factory in India manufacturing solar pumps. One of its partners in Africa is Celfre Energy, an even smaller company, which operates in Zimbabwe. Celfre Energy started by importing one Futurepump and creating awareness among farmers. It raised grants and then used the money to import a container load of pumps. This was the first time that farmers were being introduced to a solar pump product in the company. The fact that Futurepump’s product comes with a warranty of ten years and is simple to use has helped farmers to use them. Even in the middle of the terrible drought in Zimbabwe, this product can create real impact. Sections Section 1: First 18 minutes about Celfre Energy and its partnership with Futurepump. Section 2: Last 15 minutes about the impact of the partnership. Host: Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise New Ventures Website www.regainparadise.org Guest: Isaiah Nyakusendwa Founder & CEO, Celfre Energy Helen Yapp, Operations Director, Futurepump Guests Website and contact details. nyakusendwai@regatta.co.zw https://www.facebook.com/celfreenergy https://celfreenergy.co.zw/ helen.yapp@futurepump.com https://futurepump.com/
Futurepump is a small company from the UK with a factory in the UK manufacturing solar pumps. It is distributing its product in Africa through Davis & Shirtliff, a large company with a 78 year old history. The partnership is bringing the pumps to small holder farmers across 11 countries in Africa. As climate change is having a “real negative impact” on farmers, solar irrigation pumps help farmers “take backs some control.” Partnerships between start-ups developing innovative products and large companies are key to bringing climate products to the market. But partnerships are not easy to build. In the case of Davis & Shirtliff, the robustness of the product of Futurepump and its ten year warranty was crucial to build trust between the two companies. Sections Section 1: First 9 minutes about Davis & Shirtliff and Futurepump Section 2: Next 15 minutes about lessons from the partnership Section 3: Last 15 minutes about the impact of the partnership Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise New Ventures www.regainparadise.org Guest : Stephen Wambua, Group Irrigation Manager, Davis & Shirtliff Helen Yapp, Operations Director, Futurepump Guests details. Stephen.Wambua@dayliff.com https://www.davisandshirtliff.com/ helen.yapp@futurepump.com https://futurepump.com/
Rice millers in the Central and East Java provinces in Indonesia are facing a shortage of paddy from farmers. Production has been impacted by changing rainfall patterns, pest attacks and the occasional non-availability of pesticides and fertilisers. The industry association Indonesia Rice Millers and Traders Association -PERPADI has partnered with Preferred by Nature, an international NGO to implement sustainable rice practices for both farmers and millers. For farmers this means practices that optimise the use of chemical inputs (even if they do not go fully organic) and water. For millers this means shifting to electricity instead of using diesel. By making these changes, both farmers and millers can decrease costs. The side benefit is carbon and methane emissions are reduced. The project is financed by a grant from SWITCH Asia, a programme of the EU to promote sustainable consumption and production. Sections Section 1: First 23 minutes about how the project by Preferred by Nature, its goals and activities Section 2: Next 13 minutes about building partnerships to take it further Host: Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise New Ventures Website www.regainparadise.org Guest : Angga Maulana Yusuf Lead Project Manager in the SWITCH Asia Low Carbon Rice project amaulana@preferredbynature.org https://preferredbynature.org/newsroom/indonesias-low-carbon-rice-project-leads-way-sustainable-rice-production
Fishing methods of small-scale fishers are more sustainable because they capture less bycatch (fish that is discarded). Unfortunately, like in many places of the world, the livelihoods of small-scale fishers in the Occidental Mindoro province in Philippines are vulnerable both to climate change and overfishing by large fleets. The fishing community supplies both domestic and export markets. WWF Philippines was able to utilise this linkage with export markets to help implement a project (with EU financing) that help connect the fishing communities with local food processing companies. The fishing association has obtained the Marine Stewardship Certification. WWF Philippines is now working with community members – especially women – to start businesses that help diversify income. Sections Section 1 : First 23 minutes about how WWF Philippines was able to get the MSC certification for the fishers Section 2 : Next 23 minutes about efforts to diversify incomes and create alternative livelihoods Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise New Ventures Website : www.regainparadise.org Guest : Melody Melo-Rijk, Project Manager Project Manager, WWF Philippines mmelorijk@wwf.org.ph https://sustainabletuna.wwf.org.ph/
Description: Small fishing communities in South Africa (and many other parts of the world) have often been discriminated against. First there is colonisation and (in the case of South Africa) the apartheid regime. Then there is the interest of national governments to create an industrial fishing sector. And yet these communities live on thanks to the strong bonds to the ocean and age-old cultural traditions. A new threat has now emerged: climate change. Climate change is leading to erosion, flooding and hurricanes. Green energy infrastructure projects (needed to reduce global emissions) threaten the fragile ecosystem and livelihoods of these vulnerable people. Would the quest to save the planet sacrifice people? Sections Section 1: First 24 minutes about the threats to the small scale fishing communities in South Africa Section 2: Is there a better future? Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Prof. Merle Sowman, Professor Emerita : Menka Vansant, Doctoral Researcher Environmental and Geographical Science, University of Cape Town merle.sowman@uct.ac.za mkvansant@gmail.com https://science.uct.ac.za/department-egs
Bangladesh is acutely vulnerable to the climate crisis. BRAC, the world’s largest NGO is implementing adaptation clinics in very vulnerable areas. The process involves understanding the specific problem the community is facing and then implementing a solution, while taking the community along. The results are extremely encouraging. Sections Section 1: First 25 minutes about BRAC’s approach Section 2: Next 20 minutes about how this approach is applied to the various geographies Host: Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Tausif Ahmed Qurashi Senior Programme Manager, Climate Change Programme https://www.brac.net/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/tausif-ahmed-qurashi-54287b85/