Ouallam, Niger. Eighty percent of Nigeriens are subsistence farmers.
As population growth and climate change collide, farmers worldwide are struggling. Farmers can’t change the weather, but they can change how they prepare for and respond to it.
PORTLAND, Ore. (PRWEB) February 19, 2020
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation today announced that the global organization Mercy Corps is one of the highest-scoring proposals, designated as the Top 100, in its 100&Change competition for a single $100 million grant to help solve one of the world's most critical social challenges.
Mercy Corps' innovative AgriFin program works with a global network of partners to design, test and scale high-impact digital solutions for more than 4 million smallholder farmers, particularly women and young people.
AgriFin leverages the power of mobile phones to link farmers to products and services they need - from better seeds to banking - boosting harvests and incomes. Together with NASA and supported by Digital Green, Mercy Corps is integrating hyper-local, satellite-to-soil insights to help millions of farmers adapt in the face of a changing climate. Support through 100&Change could bring this solution to millions more farmers across Africa and Asia.
The Top 100 represent the top 21 percent of competition submissions. The proposals were rigorously vetted, undergoing MacArthur’s initial administrative review, a Peer-to-Peer review, an evaluation by an external panel of judges, and a technical review by specialists whose expertise was matched to the project.
Each proposal was evaluated using four criteria: impactful, evidence-based, feasible, and durable. MacArthur’s Board of Directors will select up to 10 finalists from these high-scoring proposals this spring.
“As population growth and climate change collide, farmers worldwide are struggling,” says Beth deHamel, Chief Executive Officer of Mercy Corps. “Farmers can’t change the weather, but they can change how they prepare for and respond to it. With support from the MacArthur Foundation, we could mobilize 25 million small-scale farmers to transform the way they feed the world.”
“MacArthur seeks to generate increased recognition, exposure, and support for the high-impact ideas designated as the Top 100,” says Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change and MacArthur Managing Director, 100&Change. “Based on our experience in the first round of 100&Change, we know the competition will produce multiple compelling and fundable ideas. We are committed to matching philanthropists with powerful solutions and problem solvers to accelerate social change.”
More About 100&Change
100&Change is a distinctive competition that is open to organizations and collaborations working in any field, anywhere in the world. Proposals must identify a problem and offer a solution that promises significant and durable change.
More About Mercy Corps
Mercy Corps is a leading global organization powered by the belief that a better world is possible. In disaster, in hardship, in more than 40 countries around the world, we partner to put bold solutions into action—helping people triumph over adversity and build stronger communities from within. Now, and for the future.