iHub, Adeso (Africa Development Solutions) and Mastercard Labs (AIM consortium) will for 21 months implement a project dubbed DEPP labs that will see two innovation labs set up in Marsabit and Garissa. The project is jointly managed by Start and CDAC Networks and funded by UK Aid. The consortium will create community idea spaces in which the local communities can explore and develop better mechanisms to build resilience and preparedness in the face of drought. The two Labs will provide the disaster-prone communities resources and services to innovate solutions to better prepare for, mitigate and address the impacts of drought. Using a user-centric design, the project will allow for a fail-fast approach where innovators receive feedback quickly in an environment that allows for frequent information sharing and testing and continuous questioning and examination of their prototypes. The Lab will be accessible to all segments of the community and the consortium will ensure participation of rural communities at the village level rather than focus on urban issues.
The counties of Marsabit and Garissa are areas that have a predisposition to droughts further aggravated by historical marginalization manifested in some of the highest poverty and food insecurity rates in Kenya. With the lead by Adeso; the consortium will be drawing on their deep knowledge of pastoralist to work at the grassroots level to ensure that development comes from within, not outside, communities in the two Counties. Adeso is a humanitarian and development organization that has been changing the way people think about and deliver aid in Africa for over 25 years. The Consortium will also leverage the consortium members’ in-house experience in managing labs, catalyzing and proven innovation methodology as well as experience in disaster management. The consortium will identify and reinforce existing disaster coping mechanisms and refine new contingency measures emerging from the target communities to also ensure participation of rural communities at the village level.
MORE ABOUT THE PARTNERS:
Start Network is made up of 42 aid agencies across five continents, ranging from large international organizations to national NGOs. Together, their aim is to deliver more effective emergency aid, harnessing the power and knowledge of the network to help people affected by crises. They advocate for radical change in the system so that the world can deal better with the humanitarian challenges of today, and of the future.They are developing more effective ways to work together, and new approaches that will reduce the scale of human suffering.
Adeso is an African founded and led humanitarian and development organization based in Nairobi, Kenya and with operations in Kenya, South Sudan and Somalia. They work to prevent, manage, and overcome situations that threaten the environmental, social, and financial well being of African communities. They believe development must come from within, not outside African communities.Together with communities, humanitarians, donors, government and local authorities, they work towards a vision to bring positive change to the way in which aid is delivered. By listening to communities and responding to the needs that they value the most, Adeso works alongside African communities to co-create programs that develop sustainable outcomes and lasting change at the grassroots level.
MasterCard International was established in 1966 as a cooperative of US banks in order to create the basic infrastructure and governance to allow bank credit cards to be issued by individual banks with limited geographical reach but be accepted by merchants nationally and eventually globally. The seventh in a series of Mastercard Innovation Hubs, Mastercard Labs for Financial Inclusion is the first Lab in Africa and the first to focus exclusively on financial inclusion.With the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Lab seeks to impact more than 100 million people by bringing together Mastercard’s innovation and global financial inclusion capabilities under one roof, combining these with local expertise and insight.
The iHub, founded in 2010, is a globally-recognized organization that is deeply steeped in the local tech innovation culture. The iHub has been a catalyst for regional tech acceleration across emerging markets. We serve the tech community, by surfacing information, connecting organizations and people, building market-relevant solutions and being ahead of the curve of innovation. Since its founding iHub has supported the creation of more than 200 start-ups, who employed more than 1,000+ individuals, and reached more than 350,000 people through communications outreach. iHub strives to become the best African support system for technology entrepreneurs and individuals who aspire to tackle large-scale challenges by creating an environment of trust and experimentation that facilitates the growth of entrepreneurs and their companies with the acknowledgment that this is only possible with strong partnerships.
The three agencies of the AIM Consortium/DEPP Lab Consortium have a combination of more than 50 years’ experience connecting organizations and people, building market-relevant solutions and being ahead of the curve of innovation. Community connectedness is one of the Lab’s key advantages. We are able to convene a community around the issues of disaster, emergency preparedness, and innovation.
Src Ihub
