New Ventures Podcast

A top down infrastructural project, in the Aral Sea area, goes terribly wrong. Instead of increasing cotton production and prosperity, the project leads to unprecedented droughts and poverty. The Global Green Growth Institute is implementing a project funded by the South Korean government to rehabilitate the region. Oyunchimeg Amartuvshin, Senior Program Development Officer, Central Asia of the Global Green Growth Institute takes us into the details of the project. Sections Section 1: First 15 minutes about Oyuna, GGGI and the Aral Sea problem. Section 2: Next 35 minutes about GGGI’s project Host: Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise. ⁠ www.regainparadise.org⁠ [ www.regainparadise.org] Guest : Oyunchimeg Amartuvshin, Senior Program Development Officer, Central Asia of the Global Green Growth Institute ⁠https://gggi.org/oyunchimeg.amartuvshin@gggi.org⁠ [https://gggi.org/oyunchimeg.amartuvshin@gggi.org]

The Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture helps small holder farmers access quality inputs and sell products at fair prices. To do that the foundation has developed the Farmers Hub, a franchisee based business model which helps both agri-entrepreneurs and businesses to invest in products that serve small holder farmers. This approach has helped farmers adopt new technologies for paddy, mangoes and vegetables. The access to better markets and improved technologies is helping improve income. Sections Section 1: First 34 minutes about the approach of the Syngenta Foundation’s Farmers Hub approach. Section 2: Next 15 minutes about how the approach works in various parts in Bangladesh. Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Abdur Rouf Program Development Lead at Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture Guests : https://www.syngentafoundation.org/ abdur.rouf@syngenta.com WA: +880 17 4890 4373

Saran Song is the CEO of Amru Rice, Camobodia’s largest producer and exporter of organic rice from Cambodia. In this podcast he talks about the contract farming business model, the advantages that farmers can derive from growing organic and sustainable rice and peers into the future of rice. Sections Section 1 : First 10 minutes introducing Saran and his company Amru Rice Section 2 : Next 31 minutes about the how and the whys of organic and sustainable rice Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise www.regainparadise.org Guest : Saran Song CEO – Amru Rice https://amrurice.com.kh/ ceo@amrurice.com.kh WA: +855 12303 016

Heather Couture is an international consultant in computer vision (applying artificial intelligence to images). In this episode, she explains the different types of modern artificial intelligence and its use in  a variety of food-related applications. It is used for monitoring crops and trees in fields and automating activities such as harvesting and spraying inputs. Artificial intelligence is also applied for monitoring aquaculture, preventing food waste and predicting weather events.  Sections Section 1 : First 15 minutes Helen introduces herself and help you understand what AI terms really mean. Section 2 : Up to 32 minutes AI applications in agriculture Section 3 : Up to 38 minutes other food security applications. Section 4 : Broader questions on the use of AI for emerging countries. Host : Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise New Ventures Website www.regainparadise.org [http://www.regainparadise.org] Guest : Heather Couture Founder & Computer Vision Consultant Pixel Scientia Labs LLC https://pixelscientia.com/newsletter/ [https://pixelscientia.com/newsletter/] https://pixelscientia.com/podcast/ [https://pixelscientia.com/podcast/] https://www.linkedin.com/in/hdcouture/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/hdcouture/]

Futurepump is a small company from the UK with a factory in India manufacturing solar pumps. One of its partners in Africa is Celfre Energy, an even smaller company, which operates in Zimbabwe. Celfre Energy started by importing one Futurepump and creating awareness among farmers. It raised grants and then used the money to import a container load of pumps. This was the first time that farmers were being introduced to a solar pump product in the company. The fact that Futurepump’s product comes with a warranty of ten years and is simple to use has helped farmers to use them. Even in the middle of the terrible drought in Zimbabwe, this product can create real impact. Sections Section 1: First 18 minutes about Celfre Energy and its partnership with Futurepump. Section 2: Last 15 minutes about the impact of the partnership. Host: Sanjoy Sanyal, Founder Regain Paradise New Ventures Website www.regainparadise.org Guest: Isaiah Nyakusendwa Founder & CEO, Celfre Energy Helen Yapp, Operations Director, Futurepump Guests Website and contact details. nyakusendwai@regatta.co.zw [nyakusendwai@regatta.co.zw] https://www.facebook.com/celfreenergy [https://www.facebook.com/celfreenergy] https://celfreenergy.co.zw/ [https://celfreenergy.co.zw/] helen.yapp@futurepump.com [helen.yapp@futurepump.com] https://futurepump.com/ [https://futurepump.com/]