Our Stories

Boosting Incomes through Improved Access to Banana and Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato Plant Materials GKI is proud to announce the release of the LINK (Learning and Innovation Network for Knowledge and Solutions) Uganda Context Analysis, which fits into a larger initiative to forge, optimize, and sustain an international network aimed at solving challenges in propagating and distributing…

Biotechnology: An answer to food insecurity and malnutrition? In Uganda, food insecurity and malnutrition pose enormous challenges.  Large proportions of rural Ugandans face food insecurity, and nearly half of Uganda’s population suffers from malnourishment.  Compounding this challenge, up to 80% of Uganda’s main staple crop of bananas have been destroyed by disease over the past…

Solving the most pressing challenges of our time requires that we capture the imagination, passion, and skills he many, rather the select few. Indeed, the challenges of food insecurity, climate change, and water and energy shortages will never be overcome by a single individual, institution, or discipline. Addressing such challenges requires that we find new…

Sparked by France’s passage of a recent law making it illegal for supermarkets to waste food, Al Jazeera produced a 30 minute piece on an issue central to GKI’s work on innovation for global development:   food loss. France’s bold new law forces stores to donate unsold food to charities or animal feed instead of discarding…

The GKI team traveled to Kampala, Uganda in April, 2015 to work with The Uganda National Council of Science and Technology (UNCST) to train Ugandan researchers on key entrepreneurship skills for successfully launching ventures. In back-to-back intensive trainings, GKI trained two cohorts on entrepreneurship tools such as value propositions, rapid prototyping, and “strategy shaping” –…

Through our Learning and Innovation Network for Knowledge and Solutions (LINK)  programs and Social Innovation Labs, the Global Knowledge Initiative (GKI) actively supports top agricultural innovations that address issues of global food security. This past February, GKI COO Sara Farley participated as a judge in the Thought For Food (TFF) Global Summit in Lisbon, Portugal. At…

For many people coffee serves as an important ritual in their daily routines; for others, coffee makes up most of their income. As the world’s second most traded commodity, after oil, coffee plays an integral role in many economies. For countries in the so-called “bean belt” in Africa-Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo-the…

For many people coffee is an important ritual in their daily routines—for others, coffee provides most of their income.  As the world’s second most traded commodity, after oil, coffee plays an integral role in many economies.  For countries in the so-called “bean belt” in Africa—Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—coffee  accounts for a considerable…

Four teams of intrepid African innovators form the centerpieces of the fourth round of the Global Knowledge Initiative’s (GKI) award-winning LINK (Learning and Innovation Network for Knowledge and Solutions) program. GKI is proud to work closely with the LINK winning team and three finalist teams, all selected by an independent, international technical committee. With small-scale…

Since the devastating 1994 genocide, Rwanda has enjoyed rapid economic growth and social transformation. It now stands as a model of effective governance and economic planning for Africa. Much of this success derives from a commitment to building the capacity of Rwandans, as well as through forward-looking economic policies and investments in science, technology, and…