Train 30 Social Entrepreneurs to Create BIG Impact

Our focus on alleviating energy poverty is growing and expanding. 

January’s Development Entrepreneurship Lab (DELab) was focused specifically on agribusiness and energy. Through this, our most recent training program, we have gained a host of new Development Entrepreneurship Studio (DEStudio) members who are focused on energy, and who tie those energy connections with direct agricultural and agribusiness needs. Our DEStudio program is a year long, which gives us time to effectively work with and build on the goals of these entrepreneurs and to help them increase their energy focus, whether that be production of energy, distribution of energy, or productive use of energy. 

Some of these members are energy suppliers, creating energy through solar or mini-hydro energy systems. This energy is often used for irrigation which can greatly aid in crop yields, financial stability, and improving local food security. Another method of energy production is through bio-digesters which take agricultural and farm waste and produce methane for home use. Such systems are often shared among families and communities, forming a sort of mini-grid energy system. While such systems operate on a small scale, their impacts can be meaningful, helping entire communities. 

Many of our DEStudio members are passing on their knowledge to others around them, further expanding information on how to effectively produce and use energy, and magnifying our training impact. This has been especially true with mini-hydro systems of energy production. 

Thanks to a recent grant from the International Foundation, Flame Tree Initiative is beginning work on a Mini-Grid Lab, to further spread knowledge on how to produce and distribute energy to the most energy-deprived communities. This Mini-Grid Lab will be a sustained effort to network and teach Malawians who are interested in creating mini-grids. It will be an on-site, off-grid, “hands-on” effort that will explore all aspects of mini-grid creation, from site selection and engineering options to policy environment, building community support and identifying potential users of electrical energy.  

Together, current DEStudio members and past DEStudio members will form a Working Group to create a deliverable (report, vidoe, graphics, etc.) to help Malawians understand how to proceed and to give confidence to investors, international and domestic, that accelerated mini-grid construction in Malawi CAN BE DONE.