After years of off-and-on droughts and with the specter of continued climate change looming, Kenya faces an enormous challenge in providing access to water to its citizens. Many rural and poor urban communities do not have access to clean, safe water. One reason for this: large parts of the country are arid or semi-arid, and…
You are reading the third installment of GKI’s “What We’ve Been Reading” series, where we share what a few of our staff and/or interns have been reading (and have enjoyed/found interesting) over the past few weeks. We read a lot of fascinating and thought-provoking articles in the course of our work, and want to share…
Meet Thomas Miller, GKI featured collaborator. Dr. Thomas Miller is a professor at the University of California, Riverside’s Department of Entomology. Aside from being an eminent leader of the international entomological community, Miller is an important member of the team working on LINK: Rwanda’s “antestia-potato taste” specialty coffee challenge. In partnership with Dr. Susan Jackels…
Working in conjunction with Rwanda’s Ministry of Education and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, a Global Knowledge Initiative team presented preliminary findings from the Rwanda Science, Technology and Innovation Policy review on June 20 in Kigali, Rwanda. In attendance were various stakeholders representing a range of interests, including university administrators, government officials, and…
John Thumbi never thought he would be an international trainer. Raised in Mweiga, Central Kenya by his grandparents, John grew up with little money and distinctly inauspicious prospects. He did not complete secondary school, and—as a young adult—had no marketable skill. In 2009, however, John discovered the Children and Youth Empowerment Center (CYEC), a non-profit…
We are proud to announce the commencement of trainings next week in Uganda for youth to learn the technology, production, and business of haymaking. On June 16th, 70 students, extension workers, and farmers from Uganda and Kenya will gather outside Kampala to learn the intricacies of the haymaking business in a two week intensive training…
We our happy to welcome our two newest interns, Srujana Penumetcha and Colin Huerter. Both will be joining us as international program interns, and both are about to begin the second year of their Master of Public Policy degrees at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute. We will put their bios on the GKI website soon,…
This week, the US Agency for International Development released its first ever Water and Development Strategy (2013-2018). We at the Global Knowledge Initiative were thrilled by this important step, both because of the importance of USAID’s leadership in international development and policy, and also because of the stake we have in sustainable access to and…
A group of over 100 policymakers, industrial representatives, academicians, and others met at the Kigali Health Institute on May 2, 2013 to kick off a review of Rwanda’s Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI) Policy. The policy, which was published in 2005, describes far-reaching goals for harnessing STI for economic development and poverty reduction. Rwanda’s Ministry…
From GKI Chief Operating Officer, Sara Farley: Dear Friends, I write to share the exhilarating news that the Global Knowledge Initiative’s program, Learning and Innovation Networks for Knowledge and Solutions (LINK), which brings people and organizations together around big development goals, was just recognized as one of the world’s top 100 most transformative innovations for…
Explore our new initiative promoting mutual gains in US-China relations!