Archive for category: Technology

Information and stories about technology news.

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What to Know About the Pivot to Tackling Rural Poverty in Vietnam

Rural Poverty in Vietnam
Vietnam has long been a standout nation in Southeast Asia for targeting poverty reduction. In 2022, only 1.6% of the population lived on less than $3.00 per day, while 1.9% fell into the multi-dimensional poverty category. The multi-dimensional poverty rate refers to the percentage of the population living with deprivations other than a low income; factors like poor health, education or low access to electricity or clean water. In Vietnam, this poverty is concentrated outside of the cities—70% of the Vietnamese population lives in rural or mountainous regions, and they account for more than 90% of Vietnam’s poor.

The New-Style Rural Development Programme

Vietnam has merged two government tracks, poverty reduction and rural advancement, into one new decade-long national initiative: the New-Style Rural Development Programme. This initiative does not seek to simply temporarily lower rural poverty in Vietnam. Nguyễn Đình Hòa, an expert from the Vietnam Institute of Economics and World Economy, says the New-Style Rural Development Programme’s version of poverty reduction will measure a poor household’s ability to withstand risks and sustain livelihood long term.

Going Green

Due to the agricultural nature of rural and mountainous regions, a core component of the initiative is restructuring the green economy with emphasis on sustainability and climate resilience. It is the first time Vietnamese policy has officially integrated these concepts, with Vietnam placing special significance on a circular economy over linear production methods. A circular economy seeks to reduce waste by keeping products and resources in rotation for as long as possible. Expert Trần Xuân Quỳnh believes that, as market requirements both domestically and internationally become stricter, adopting green measures in the nation will help in “increasing brand value and expanding export opportunities,” thereby stimulating the economy and decreasing rural poverty in Vietnam.

The initiative will also target cutting emissions and preserving the environment. The government will keep forest coverage at more than 42%. There will also be designated investment in climate-resilient infrastructure in rural regions and establishments for flood, landslide and drought prevention. Concerning multidimensional poverty, the New-Style Rural Development Programme will target access to clean water and treating solid waste in line with regulations. By the end of 2026, Vietnam aims for 62% of rural households to have access to clean water.

Digital Development

A digital transformation in rural Vietnam will take place in tandem with greener policy. Rural Vietnamese lack the same abilities to use telecommunication infrastructure as people in urban areas. Consequently, rural digital use is generally tied to providing entertainment rather than generating productivity or economic value.

The application of technology will enhance efficiency for rural businesses by allowing them to track emissions and energy use. Digital development is thus a core component of the One Commune-One Product (OCOP) program, which aims to develop quality and environmentally friendly goods by region, boosting local economies with a unique product. The program will also implement technology to expedite processing, help brands build a name and expand their markets much further than just the region from which they originate.

Increasing Income

By combining these elements, the ultimate economic goal of the program is to increase rural incomes. By the end of the first phase of the New-Style Rural Development Programme in 2030, the state hopes to increase rural incomes by two and a half to three times compared to 2020. Additionally, the aim is for multidimensional poverty to be reduced by 1-1.5% each year, and to stamp out poverty definitively in what the state considers “poor communes” (poverty). The initiative gives remote ethnic minorities special consideration as they are disproportionately concentrated in these communes. It should reduce the poverty rate in these households to below 10%. At the time of the program’s completion in 2035, 85% or more of communes should meet the new rural standard, and authorities should recognize approximately 33% as modern rural areas.

The New-Style Rural Development Programme may be a national initiative, but it operates on a community level to build the livelihoods of those living in rural poverty in Vietnam to withstand risk and ultimately prosper. Combining digital and green developments will stimulate local economies in a unique way, allowing communities all over the country to retain their respective cultures while moving toward a common goal.

– Hana Hardenbrook

Hana is based in Raleigh, North Carolina USA and focuses on Good News and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Veritree Business Growth: A Step Closer to Restoring Nature

Veritree Business Growth
Veritree uses new tracking technology to manage, maintain and accurately gather data on how many trees are being planted through its projects, providing business investors and partners with accurate data.

Company Background

Veritree was officially started in 2019 by the founders of another company, Tentree. Tentree was launched in 2012 by founders Derrick Emsley, Kalen Emsley and David Luba. The company began as a consumer-based business that promised every item sold would result in 10 trees being planted. In just two years, Tentree had successfully planted more than one million trees. Two years later, the company became a certified B Corporation. In 2019, the founders launched Veritree to use technology to track and provide accurate data on trees being planted, allowing business investors to track progress accurately. Veritree reports reaching 100 million trees planted and verified by 2025.

Promise and Impact

Veritree is committed not only to the restoration of forests but also to the humanitarian impact of such development. It aims to restore communities and help developing countries through restoration, technology and job opportunities.

Woman-Led Projects

Veritree has provided women in Haiti with tools and projects to empower themselves, gain financial stability and restore the ecosystem. Along with Mother Tree, Veritree sought to reverse the trend and give women opportunities to farm, grow and create their own businesses.

Fanme Limye is one of the woman-led associations to emerge from Veritree’s project in Haiti. The association employs more than 194 artisans, 72% of whom are women. Their mission is to provide women with training and employment, offering financial stability and skills to enter the economic world. They seek to promote women’s rights, raise awareness and advocate for women.

Businesses Growing

Through Veritree’s initiative and easy-to-track technology, businesses are seeing real impact not only on their contributions but also on their operations. Oak Bay Beach Hotel stated that it has seen increased interest in its sustainability programs that can be verified with Veritree. Hopper donates trees on behalf of its customers. Hopper promotes tree planting to customers, while a BCBusiness profile reports that Veritree’s partnerships helped fuel 6,000% revenue growth since 2021. Sutton Place Hotels sought to become more sustainable while saving on labor costs. They invested in Veritree and advertised a cost-saving initiative to customers, committing to plant 10 trees for every night customers opt out of overnight housekeeping. This proved to be an effective way to engage with customers, saving $36,000 in annual costs.

Projects

Agroforestry projects in Haiti, Senegal, Rwanda and Tanzania are creating an integrated system of trees, woody plants and livestock on the same land to create healthier soil and effective biodiversity, promoting land productivity.

Terrestrial projects in Kenya, Brazil, the U.S. and Australia work to restore and expand forestry on depleted lands to reduce carbon emissions, regulate water resources and create a biodiverse ecosystem.

Mangrove restoration projects in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Brazil are replanting mangrove trees in coastal areas to prevent erosion, enhance biodiversity and sequester carbon emissions.

Kelp sea-forestation projects in Canada are committed to regenerating sea forests to restore ocean health, improve water quality and protect marine habitats.

These are a few of the projects that Veritree led to save the planet and restore nature. These ongoing efforts not only restore the planet’s natural resources but also provide jobs, equality and financial stability to developing countries. Veritree states its restoration projects help generate employment and support women in communities including Haiti and East Africa. The company reports having planted and verified more than 100 million trees worldwide.

– Shannon Waters

Shannon is based in United Kingdom and focuses on Business and New Markets for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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How Floating Technology In Bangladesh Is Transforming Flood Zones

Floating Technology in BangladeshBangladesh’s flood-prone geography leaves nearly 60% of the population exposed to high flood risk, disrupting livelihoods, education and food production. In response, communities are using floating technology in Bangladesh to adapt to rising waters and build long-term resilience.

Bangladesh’s Growing Flood Challenges

Bangladesh has always suffered from flooding due to its location and river systems. Severe flooding has repeatedly displaced families and heightened the risk of waterborne disease.

Experts have warned that the risks from flooding will only increase due to a forecast of increased rainfall in upcoming years.

In 2024, heavy rainfall resulted in overcrowded temporary shelters, compromising the protection of vulnerable young girls. The flooding situation is not getting easier, but the country has begun to combat this devastating common occurrence.

Floating Schools Keep Education Afloat

One example of floating technology in Bangladesh is floating schools. Due to floods causing significant disruption, the country has started to work around it.

Roads in the most flood-prone villages become submerged easily, making children’s school runs very difficult. Floating schools have been created to ensure education remains consistent and undisrupted by floods. Instead of students making the journey to school, the floating school mechanism goes to them.

Since the first floating school launched in 2002, a report published in 2025 described more than 100 floating schools, libraries and health boats together, with more than 70,000 children benefiting from the initiative.

Floating Farms and Food Security

Another example of floating technology is floating farms. These systems allow crops to be cultivated in places affected by prolonged flooding.

Floating farms are essentially “artificial islands” that rise and fall with the river’s tide. They are most popular in Barisal, Gopalganj and Pirojpur. Farmers create platforms out of water hyacinth, plant seeds on these rafts and move them into flooded areas. Nutrients are released into the crops as the raft decomposes, making this process effective in the long run.

Many villages rely on these buoyant rafts to keep their food supply stable during floods. Ultimately, the floating farms and gardens offer a hopeful solution to the food deprivation caused by extreme flooding.

More Floating Innovations

In some flood-prone regions, boats have been transformed into mobile health clinics, libraries and community centers that bring essential services directly to isolated populations.

Floating health facilities provide basic medical care to residents who might otherwise struggle to reach clinics during flood periods.

Floating libraries give children and adults access to books and learning materials, supporting literacy and educational development.

These services help reduce the barriers that flooding creates while ensuring that communities remain connected to critical resources. By bringing assistance to people rather than expecting travel through difficult conditions, floating technologies improve accessibility and strengthen community resilience.

A More Resilient Future for Bangladesh

As changing weather creates flood risks, floating technology offers a promising path forward for vulnerable communities. What began as local solutions has evolved into a broader model of climate adaptation, helping people maintain access to education, food production and essential services even when floodwaters rise.

Continued investment in floating schools, farms and community services could expand opportunities for thousands more families in flood-prone regions. These innovations not only help communities withstand environmental challenges but also support long-term goals related to poverty reduction, food security and sustainable development.

Bangladesh’s success demonstrates that effective climate solutions do not always require costly infrastructure. By combining local knowledge with practical innovation, communities are finding new ways to thrive in changing conditions. Continued support from NGOs like Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, development organizations and government programs will play an important role in expanding these initiatives.

As other countries face increasing climate-related flooding, Bangladesh’s floating technologies may provide valuable lessons for building a more resilient future.

– Lottie Oldreive

Lottie is based in Cardiff, Wales and focuses on Technology and Solutions, and Celebs for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Tracking Ebola in the DRC With Mobile Phone Data

Ebola in the DRC
On May 15, 2026, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared its 17th Ebola outbreak since 1976. Two days later, the World Health Organization (WHO) determined that the Bundibugyo virus outbreak constituted a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. There is no licensed vaccine or specific treatment for this strain.

The virus spread fast. It passed 1,000 confirmed cases within 40 days. The 2018 outbreak in the DRC took about 235 days to reach that mark. As of Sept. 23, the DRC had reported 7,890 confirmed cases and 3,799 deaths across seven provinces, a crude case fatality ratio of 48.1%. For comparison, WHO says past Bundibugyo outbreaks had fatality rates between 30% and 50%. Numbers like these push health workers to find new ways to track Ebola in the DRC before it spreads further.

A Response Under Strain

The response to Ebola in the DRC has struggled to keep up. One month in, Médecins Sans Frontières warned that gaps in testing, contact tracing and community outreach were letting the virus outrun the response. By the two-month mark, confirmed cases had tripled. In just five weeks, they went from around 650 to more than 2,000. Deaths rose even faster, from 130 to over 700 in the same period. Trish Newport of Médecins Sans Frontières said teams were still chasing the outbreak instead of staying ahead of it.

Tracking Movement by Phone

A Swedish nonprofit called Flowminder is trying something different. It works with Vodacom, the DRC’s largest operator, with more than 26 million active subscriptions and nearly 35% of the market. Flowminder studies phone records created when phones connect to cell towers. The data are aggregated and anonymized, so no individual caller is identified. By tracking movement between areas over time, researchers can see where people travel. Linus Bengtsson, founder of Flowminder, told Reuters that knowing how people move offers clues about how infected people might move.

Flowminder published its first report on May 28 and updated it on June 4. Using anonymized Vodacom data, it ranked the health zones receiving the most travelers from Bunia, Mongbwalu and Rwampara, the outbreak’s first hotspots. By June 1, eight of the top 10 recipient zones already had confirmed cases. By the end of June, all 10 did.

The tool does not predict where an infected person will turn up. It flags which areas face a higher risk of importing the virus, so teams know where to look first. Kisangani shows how this works. The major river port does not border the affected areas. Even so, Flowminder’s first report listed it as the top destination in Tshopo province for travelers from the hotspots. Dr. Olivier le Polain, who leads epidemiology and analytics for WHO’s response, told Reuters the data showed significant risk there by mid-June. He said operations were strengthened before the first cases were detected. Those cases were confirmed in early July.

A Heavy Price for Children

Children in affected areas face particular risks. UNICEF estimates nearly 3 million children in affected areas face rising danger. By late June, more than 130 children in Ituri province had already lost a parent to Ebola in the DRC. UNICEF is seeking $70.7 million for its six-month response. As of the appeal, $20 million of that remained unfunded.

A Model Worth Building On

The system has limits. It only captures subscribers on the participating network, so people using other providers stay invisible. So do people who cross into nearby countries. The data are also aggregated and anonymized, which protects privacy but limits detail. That is why mobility data complement epidemiological surveillance rather than replace it. Testing, contact tracing and community work still do the core job. Flowminder and U.N. officials are working to bring other operators on board, which would sharpen the picture.

If that expansion succeeds, the same tool now helping track Ebola in the DRC could become a model for other outbreaks. It would fit anywhere health systems are stretched thin but phones are common. The DRC has faced this virus 17 times since 1976. Mobility data can help responders identify areas at higher risk earlier, complementing testing, contact tracing and community-based surveillance.

– Juan Guillermo Rueda Castrillón

Juan is based in Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain and focuses on Technology and Solutions, and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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10 Ways Smart Cities in India Transform Urban Lives

Smart Cities in India
The country with the largest population in the world, India faces overcrowding and pressure on infrastructure and services in urban areas. However, the government launched the Smart Cities Mission in 2015, which has set up Integrated Control and Command Centers (ICCCs) in more than 100 cities, spearheading a data-driven approach to urban problems. This initiative has aided the urban population by remodeling urban spaces and increasing access to basic services. Here are 10 ways in which smart cities in India transform urban lives.

1. Traffic Management

By integrating data from disparate systems like traffic camera footage and Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping, ICCCs manage traffic congestion in real time. In Agra, a densely populated city in India, the incorporation of Adaptive Traffic Control Systems (ATCS) and Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) into its ICCC optimized green light timings, decreasing waiting time on the road.

The data collected through ICCCs has increased the efficiency and reach of public transportation networks. Bus services in both Aurangabad and Surat have grown to cover over 40 routes. Improvements in traffic management and public transport enable urban citizens to commute safely, efficiently and affordably, reducing the stress and hassle of daily travels.

2. Upgrading the Water Supply Network

The World Bank Group estimates that water stress affects around 600 million people in India. However, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems have expanded access to clean water in Smart Cities. These systems, within the cities’ ICCCs, monitor water levels and detect leakages in real time, facilitating effective water distribution. Ahmedabad has produced an additional water supply of more than 50 million liters per day, serving 150,000 more people as of 2023. Through smart technologies, India maximizes the use of its available resources to meet the demands of a large urban population.

3. Self-cleaning Toilets

The number of people practicing open defecation has dropped from 500 million in 2014 to 75 million in 2023, demonstrating an improvement in public hygiene over the years. The installation of self-cleaning toilets equipped with automated flushing and cleaning systems in numerous smart cities in India, including Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Prayagraj, has sanitized public spaces and toilet facilities. Additionally, the construction of smart toilets both generates revenue for local entrepreneurs and increases their involvement in community infrastructure.

4. Converting Waste to Energy

According to the Central Pollution Control Board, from 2021 to 2022, close to half of urban India’s solid waste generated per day was untreated. However, waste-to-energy initiatives have simultaneously tackled solid waste management and boosted energy output. This shrinks the size of landfills, lowering the risk of contaminating the surrounding environment, and adapts to rising demands for electricity in urban areas. Jabalpur’s innovative Waste-to-Energy plant generates electricity by burning solid waste, powering more than 18,000 homes and saving 4.4 hectares of land.

5. Providing Housing

Urban areas in India suffered from a housing shortage of an estimated 1.5 to 2 crore units in 2025. Smart cities in India have been assisting the urban poor through the provision of affordable housing, along with basic amenities. This allowed Surat to build higher quality homes accompanied by sewage treatment and biowaste converter facilities, decreasing the area of slums by 14% from 2002 to 2022.

6. Incubation Centers

Incubation centers support startups involved in emerging technologies like AI and blockchain. Technical and financial assistance, including data sharing and the provision of modern workspaces, equip startups with the tools they need to thrive. These startups have then created more than 1,500 direct and indirect jobs, helping Smart Cities in India keep up with and prosper from new technological developments.

7. Smart Cards

Eighteen Smart Cities have improved their financial services through the implementation of smart cards. This allows citizens to make financial transactions, such as paying their property taxes or bus fares, conveniently and securely.

8. WiFi Hotspots

There has been a rapid increase in Internet access in India, from 15% in 2015 to 70% in 2025. WiFi hotspots in public locations, such as bus stations, hospitals and slum areas, have secured equitable access to the Internet, benefiting low-income households that may not be able to afford mobile data. This enhances digital connectivity and literacy in low-income neighborhoods, narrowing social disparities.

9. Registering Grievances

ICCCs organize service complaints on a digital dashboard, facilitating swift responses. Bengaluru has synthesized its Stakeholder Grievance management system with its ICCC, setting up 24-hour call centers and an online platform and app with chat bot function. These services register and process grievances in real time, alleviating stress.

10. Disaster Management

The installation of flood sensors in Smart Cities like Pune measures water levels, warning authorities of possible flooding and giving them more time to enact preparatory measures. This lessens the impact of flooding events, protecting lives and infrastructure. The 50 flood sensors in Pune facilitated the evacuation of more than 1,000 residents as heavy rain in July 2026 caused the Mutha River to overflow.

Utilizing technology in various ways, Smart Cities in India have adapted to expanding urban populations, striving to provide sufficient housing, clean water and electricity and cultivating safe and hygienic environments.

– Katy Wong

Katy is based in Hong Kong and focuses on Good News and Global Health for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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How Brazil’s PIX Is Expanding Financial Inclusion

Financial Inclusion
Launched in November 2020, PIX is Brazil’s instant payment system created and managed by the Central Bank of Brazil. It allows people and businesses to transfer money between accounts within seconds. The system was designed to increase competition, reduce payment costs and make digital transactions more accessible.

PIX has become widely used across Brazil. According to the Central Bank of Brazil, more than 170 million individuals have used PIX as of 2026, representing about 80% of the country’s population. The system processed more than 7 billion transactions in May 2026 alone.

The scale of PIX expands financial inclusion because the cost of making and receiving payments can affect whether people and businesses participate fully in the formal economy. Traditional payment methods can involve fees, intermediaries or physical infrastructure that may be more difficult for small businesses and low-income consumers to access.

PIX serves as an alternative. Individuals generally do not pay fees to send or receive transactions, while businesses may pay transaction fees. Wire transfers, for example, can cost $1.50 to $3 per transaction. Debit or credit card transfers cost 1.1%-2.2% for a business per transaction. PIX transactions cost an average of 0.22% to 0.33% per transaction for businesses.

For Brazil’s small businesses, these lower payment costs are particularly important. Micro and small businesses account for about 95% of businesses in Brazil and face significant barriers to accessing financing. PIX can help address this challenge by making it easier and less expensive for businesses to accept digital payments.

How PIX is Expanding Financial Inclusion

PIX is expanding financial inclusion by making digital payments faster, less expensive and more widely available. These differences matter for people and businesses operating with limited financial resources. When transaction costs are lower, a greater share of a payment remains with the person or business receiving it. For a small business with narrow margins, reducing payment expenses can make digital payments more practical. Lower costs mean businesses retain more while getting access to the formal financial system. By connecting more people to digital financial services, PIX provides an additional tool to manage money and respond to financial challenges.

Supporting Small Businesses

Small businesses are an important part of Brazil’s economy and are particularly relevant to the connection between payment costs and financial inclusion. Research from Innovations for Poverty Action found that 96% of surveyed micro and small business owners used PIX for either business or personal transactions, while nearly half used it daily. Many business owners also reported using PIX for a substantial share of their non-cash business revenue.

PIX can benefit small businesses in several ways. Entrepreneurs can accept digital payments without relying on some of the infrastructure traditionally associated with electronic payments, while funds are transferred rapidly into an account. Combined with lower transaction costs, money that would otherwise go toward payment-related expenses can remain available for inventory, operating costs or other business needs.

PIX can also help businesses establish a digital record of transactions. That record does not automatically provide access to credit, but it can become useful financial information. Businesses using PIX more frequently were significantly more likely to adopt Open Finance. Open Finance allows businesses to securely share financial information across institutions, potentially helping financial providers evaluate their financial activity. The correlation between PIX and Open Finance suggests that greater use of formal digital finance may create additional opportunities for small businesses to access financial services.

PIX and Access to Financial Services

PIX is a payment system, not a complete financial-services platform. Its primary function is to move money quickly between accounts. However, some additional services are official PIX features. PIX Saque allows users to withdraw cash at participating businesses, while PIX Troco allows customers to receive cash as part of a PIX transaction at participating establishments. The Central Bank introduced these services to expand access to cash and reduce some of the costs associated with cash management.

Therefore, PIX can interact with Brazil’s broader digital financial infrastructure. Through Open Finance, individuals and businesses can choose to share financial information with other institutions. This creates a potential pathway from low-cost payments to broader financial inclusion. PIX makes digital transactions easier, while other financial systems can use its information to develop or evaluate additional financial services.

Financial Infrastructure and Poverty Reduction

PIX reduces some of the costs and barriers associated with making and receiving payments. Those changes can be particularly relevant for low-income households and small businesses, which may have fewer financial resources to absorb transaction fees and other costs.

For households, easier and lower-cost digital payments can make everyday financial transactions more accessible. For businesses, immediate payments and lower acceptance costs can improve the efficiency of receiving revenue and managing cash flow. Thus, PIX is expanding financial inclusion. Its potential contribution to poverty reduction comes from underlying improvements in economic participation.

PIX demonstrates how payment infrastructure can become part of a broader strategy for financial inclusion. The system does not eliminate poverty on its own, but by making financial transactions cheaper, faster and more accessible, it can remove some of the barriers that prevent people and businesses from fully participating in the economy.

– Julia M Kozin

Julia is based in Seattle, WA, USA and focuses on Technology and Solutions, and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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Addressing Common Bean Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa

Common Beans in Sub-Saharan Africa
The common bean is an integral part of Sub-Saharan Africa’s financial and nutritional security. With the continent accounting for 25% of global output, the cash crop provides employment, income and a healthy diet to both urban and rural populations. Devastating viral diseases threatening the crop, however, are increasing in frequency, putting the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in peril. Here is how the TumainiBeans app is address common bean disease in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Common Beans in Sub-Saharan Africa

The common bean crop in Sub-Saharan Africa is a vital cash crop for the region. With Africa being the second-largest producer of the crop in the world, it brings in an average $3.84 billion to Sub-Saharan Africa per year. Through cultivation, processing and domestic trade, common beans provide income and employment to rural populations, especially to women involved in the trade. The very production of the crop benefits smallholder farmers, naturally enhancing soil fertility and aligning with crop rotations.

Common beans bring not only economic benefits to Sub-Saharan Africa but also nutritional advantages. The beans provide nutritional security for 420 million people in the region. They are high in protein and nutrients like iron and zinc, and are universally consumed in both rural and urban areas.

Crop Loss

Common beans in Sub-Saharan Africa are highly susceptible to a number of crop diseases that devastate yields and pose serious threats to the income and nutritional security of rural populations reliant on the crop.

A 2025 study published by the scientific review, Viruses, demonstrates a continent-wide upsurge in viral threats to the common bean crop. The two major viruses posing a threat are Bean Common Mosaic Virus and Bean Common Mosaic Necrosis Virus. These two viruses are transmitted by aphids or infected seeds and can reduce crop yields by a devastating 80%. Smallholder farmers find it difficult to prevent viral outbreaks, especially in remote areas, where access to disease identification and outbreak prevention resources is often out of reach due to distance and financial constraints.

The TumainiBeans App

The new TumainiBeans App offers an encouraging solution to common bean disease in Sub-Saharan Africa. In a region where traditional expert methods of disease identification are often geographically and economically inaccessible, the Tumaini app allows farmers to upload an image of any part of an infected bean plant and receive a real-time diagnosis. Independent validation saw the app achieve 90% disease classification accuracy. Downloaded onto a smartphone, the AI app is easy to use and can detect diseases even using poor-quality images. Its AI technology renders disease diagnosis accessible and timely, a crucial element in preventing the spread of viruses.

The TumainiBeans app also provides immediate, context-relevant solutions to a diagnosis, such as assistance on treatment options, advice on healthy farming practices like crop rotations and field sanitation, as well as counsel on the selection of disease-resistant crop varieties.

The technology is still new. While adoption rates, connectivity barriers and the question of whether diagnoses lead to improved yields and increased income at scale remain unknown, the Tumaini App shows potential as a useful decision-support tool for smallholder farmers whose disease-management options may be limited. With the capability to identify the problem and the solution, smallholder farmers could use this tool to protect their crops, income and livelihoods.

– Amelia Krone

Amelia is based in London, UK and focuses on Business and New Markets, Technology and Solutions for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Rural Senses: AI-Driven Humanitarian Aid

AI-driven humanitarian aidRich countries spent $174.3 billion in overseas development assistance in 2025, but according to Rural Senses, only 20% of aid practitioners had sufficient data to successfully deliver project goals. Here is information about how Rural Senses is promoting AI-driven humanitarian aid.

Impact Measurement

Rural Senses is working to address the aid data sufficiency gap. Its advanced language processing algorithms improve traditional methods of gathering and analyzing qualitative feedback from vulnerable communities. According to the company, its modern impact analysis platform for AI-driven humanitarian aid, Visual Senses, can cut the time it takes to gather and process community data from months to just days, allowing for faster, more insightful and more impactful development responses.

Impact measurement refers to the process of evaluating long-term changes caused by a specific activity. In the context of humanitarian development, it means assessing how an aid program has affected a targeted group of people.

Traditionally, this involves gathering quantifiable statistics and interviewing local populations. The process can be time-consuming and expensive, often requiring skilled experts. Rural Senses claims that its approach to AI-driven humanitarian aid offers a fast-track option that even non-experts can use while reducing costs and speeding up planning and analysis.

A Human-led AI Solution

The company was founded in 2019, emerging from a research project at the University of Cambridge. The aim was to devise a platform that would improve the flow of information between development practitioners and the vulnerable communities with which they work. Over the past few years, the team developed not only a new methodology but also an end-to-end automated process for social and environmental impact measurement and management.

The company describes it as a “human-led” AI platform and emphasizes that the human always remains in control. The AI assists with identifying stakeholders, analyzing and presenting data, gathering related research, translating and transcribing conversations, etc.

Overcoming Bias

The platform is designed specifically for organizations carrying out work in remote, developing communities. Historically, many of these organizations would bring over American researchers and place them in a village with an interpreter to ask questions of local residents. “But there is a lot of bias there,” cautions Chief Executive and Co-Founder Yau Levy, speaking in a company-sponsored webinar.

To overcome this bias, Rural Senses’ AI-driven humanitarian aid platform adopts the User Perceived Value (UPV) methodology. Similar to a traditional needs assessment, which looks at what a community needs, the UPV approach targets what a community values. This gives the local community a more direct voice in expressing their underlying values and should translate into more effective development projects.

A Typical Project

All projects start with human input, usually when a researcher enters into the software platform the basic mission of the project, the targeted stakeholders and activities. After this, AI can begin helping with foundational background research. The system can suggest a list of similar studies and highlight the ways in which they resemble or differ from the current project proposal.

It can also transform obscure local languages into actionable data. One real-world project in 2022 saw the Rural Senses’ AI-driven humanitarian aid platform deployed in a project in Siaya County, Kenya, where most residents speak Dholuo. The AI translated and transcribed questions and responses in Dholuo and English.

The aim of this particular project was to better understand the resilience of local communities to changing weather patterns and gather views on off-grid appliances. According to study details published by The National Center for Biotechnology Information, Rural Senses was commissioned to gather feedback from 300 people across 11 villages. The project used open-ended questions designed to reduce researcher assumptions.

For example, one such question was “In your own words how would you describe climate change?” Wording it in this manner put the power of choice into the hands of the respondents. AI then analyzed recorded interviews and extracted from the comments exactly what it was that people saw as climate change. It also analyzed whether the respondent spoke about this issue negatively or positively. Results were shown in real time as responses were processed. The expectation was that project findings would help Kenyan policymakers to make more informed energy and development programs.

Pivotally, the platform is flexible. As it receives more data, it will suggest changes to strategy or outcomes based on its learnings so far.

Building Trust

Whether it is water security or health care, accurately understanding the values and needs of local communities is pivotal to delivering effective humanitarian aid. Bringing in the power of AI could accelerate efforts on this front, provided it is done in a way that builds trust. While AI has been around for decades, applications remain in their infancy and many organizations remain resistant to adoption.

Levy is confident that keeping the human at the center of AI-driven humanitarian aid is the key. “A system that works with the practitioner and brings out the best of their knowledge will help build trust,” he asserts.

A Growing Reach

Rural Senses’ reach has been growing steadily. It joined the Pears Challenge 2019, a start-up incubator looking at technology solutions for water, sanitation, hygiene and education challenges that refugees and vulnerable populations face. It also participated in the 2020 Microsoft for Startups – Tech for Good “AI for Good” Accelerator program. The client list includes a wide range of players, including the U.K. Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, IKEA Foundation, Amref Health Africa, The Halo Trust, and the Centre for Global Equality. As of September 2026, it has worked in 18 countries, spoken to more than 93,000 people and collected 1.48 million data points.

AI-driven humanitarian aid plays at the intersection of smart technology and vulnerable communities. It promises to dramatically reshape the way aid projects are formulated, conducted and assessed. In theory, optimized development programs increase the impact of any given amount of funding. In practice, more independent assessments of platforms like that from Rural Senses could indeed make that happen.

– Megan Sansom

Megan is based in Edinburgh, Scotland and focuses on Technology and Solutions for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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Pakistan’s Digital Youth Hub: Connecting Young People to Jobs

Digital Youth HubFor many young Pakistanis, moving from education to employment can be difficult. Nearly 67% of Pakistan’s population is under age 30, creating both an opportunity for economic growth and a need for more education, skills and employment pathways.

An estimated 32 million young people in Pakistan are not in education, employment or training, according to UNICEF Pakistan. The organization has emphasized the need to expand pathways from learning to earning, particularly for girls and young people from underserved communities.

The World Bank has also highlighted the need for Pakistan to expand jobs and economic opportunities, particularly for women and young people, as the country works to reduce poverty and improve livelihoods.

A Digital Solution for Young Job Seekers

The Digital Youth Hub (DYH) is Pakistan’s national digital youth platform developed under the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme. The platform brings together opportunities related to education, employment, engagement and the environment.

Young people can use the platform to explore jobs, scholarships, internships, training programs, career guidance and entrepreneurship opportunities. The government describes it as a centralized digital platform designed to connect young people with opportunities based on their skills and interests.

The Digital Youth Hub also supports initiatives under PMYP, including the Prime Minister’s Youth Business and Agriculture Loans, Youth Skill Development Programme and Youth Laptop Scheme.

A Growing Network of Opportunities

The Digital Youth Hub has expanded its reach since its launch. As of June 23, 2026, the platform reported 800,240 registered users, partnerships with 3,163 organizations and 114,783 listed opportunities.

Of those opportunities, 114,374 were employment opportunities, 292 were related to education, 38 to engagement and 79 to the environment.

These figures demonstrate the scale of the platform and the number of opportunities available through it. However, registrations and listings do not mean that users have secured jobs or that the listed positions have been filled.

The platform also uses AI-powered tools to provide personalized recommendations for jobs, scholarships, internships, skills development programs, volunteer initiatives and climate-related projects, according to Pakistan’s Press Information Department. The government presents these tools as a way to help users find opportunities that correspond with their profiles.

Connecting Young People With Employers

The Digital Youth Hub aims to connect young people with organizations offering employment, internships, training and other opportunities. Users can create profiles containing information about their qualifications, skills and interests.

Officials have also described the platform as a way to connect Pakistani workers with international opportunities. When the platform was introduced, officials said it was intended to provide access to opportunities in countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, South Korea, Canada and the United States.

These international opportunities are an intended function of the platform, rather than evidence of overseas employment placements. No current figures in the cited sources establish how many users have obtained jobs through the platform internationally.

Partnerships Can Expand Access

A digital employment platform depends on organizations providing genuine opportunities. The government has encouraged educational institutions, private-sector organizations, development partners and other stakeholders to participate in the Digital Youth Hub.

The wider youth-employment effort also includes Pur Azm Pakistan, a separate initiative launched in June 2026 by the Government of Pakistan through the Prime Minister’s Youth Programme in partnership with UNICEF and Generation Unlimited.

Pur Azm Pakistan focuses on expanding access to skills, employment, entrepreneurship and economic opportunities. Its Friends of GenU Pakistan initiative brings businesses together to support skills development, entrepreneurship, innovation and work-based learning.

Keeping these initiatives connected but distinct can help strengthen pathways from education and training to employment.

Access is Only the First Step

The Digital Youth Hub may make it easier for young people to find information about jobs, education and training, particularly for those who have limited professional networks.

However, digital access itself can be a barrier. An online platform can only help people who have the internet access, digital skills and ability to use the available services. In addition, having access to a job listing does not guarantee employment.

Pakistan’s National Youth Employment Policy, which the government discussed in August 2026, identifies 32.4 million young people who are not in employment, education or training and seeks to align young people’s skills with labor-market needs.

Making Employment Opportunities Easier to Find

The Digital Youth Hub addresses one part of Pakistan’s youth-employment challenge: access to information about opportunities.

With more than 800,000 registered users, more than 3,000 partner organizations and more than 114,000 listed opportunities reported in June 2026, the platform has established a significant digital network. However, these figures measure platform use and available opportunities, not employment outcomes.

Its longer-term contribution will depend on the availability of genuine jobs and training opportunities, participation from employers, digital accessibility and whether young people can successfully move from finding opportunities to securing employment.

The Digital Youth Hub could therefore improve access to employment pathways for young Pakistanis, but its contribution to employment and poverty reduction will need to be measured through outcomes beyond registrations and job listings.

– Afia Atif

Afia is based in Chenab Nagar, Pakistan and focuses on Technology and Solutions for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr

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AI in Agriculture: Reducing Undernourishment in India

Undernourishment in IndiaIndia faces one of the world’s most persistent food security challenges. About 9.8% of people in India experienced undernourishment in 2023-2025, while rising food costs continue to push a healthy diet further out of reach for millions of families.

India has fought this crisis since the early 2000s, and the effort shows results: undernourishment fell from 21.1% in 2004-2006 to 9.8% in 2023-2025. Affordability tells a harder story: 520.1 million people, 35.5% of the country, could not afford a healthy diet in 2025, and that diet now costs nearly 48% more than it did in 2017. Better crops, fewer losses and stronger food programs will all be needed to keep that progress going.

Farming and Undernourishment in India

More than half of India’s farmland still depends entirely on rainfall, so a single erratic monsoon, heatwave or drought can devastate a season’s harvest. Decades of policy have rewarded rice and wheat above all else, and that focus has pushed pulses, oilseeds and nutrient-rich millets to the margins while draining groundwater in the northwest. Farmers also lose substantial amounts of food after harvest: a 2022 government-commissioned study estimated losses of 3.89% to 5.92% for cereals, 6.02% to 15.05% for fruits and 4.87% to 11.61% for vegetables. Programs like NFSA, PM-POSHAN, ICDS and Rice Fortification secure calories and micronutrients well, but they still struggle to put protein, dairy and fresh greens on every table.

AI in agriculture is emerging as one answer to these gaps. The World Bank Group’s AgriConnect initiative, which aims to transform farming for 300 million smallholders worldwide, equips farmers with digital tools that work even on basic smartphones and in areas with weak connectivity, and those tools deliver fast, practical advice for managing crops day to day. Farmers who use them can head off pest outbreaks before they spread, time their harvests more precisely and reach government aid programs more easily.

Kerala’s KATHIR Platform

Kerala’s state government built KATHIR together with the World Bank Group, and the platform already holds data on more than 3 million farmers while mapping over 1.1 million hectares of cropland.

The platform packs in a wide range of tools: a 10-day weather forecast, sowing and irrigation advice, fertilizer recommendations, and early alerts for pests, crop stress and extreme weather.

KATHIR operates on two levels at once. Farmers get quick, usable guidance for their own fields, while the state government gains satellite crop tracking, harvest mapping, farmer identification and land enumeration, tools that let officials see exactly where support is needed and act on it.

Maharashtra’s MahaVISTAAR-AI

Maharashtra took a different route with MahaVISTAAR-AI, a generative-AI chatbot that answers farmers through voice or simple text, no typing skills or app literacy required. Farmers have downloaded the tool more than 3 million times, and the Korea World Bank Partnership Facility helped fund its development.

Looking Ahead

The World Bank Group plans to push these platforms well past crop advice. Future versions will help farmers complete official paperwork and connect them directly with banks and other institutions willing to design financial products built around their needs, cutting through bureaucracy that keeps many smallholders locked out of credit.

India’s experiment sits inside a much larger regional push. Google DeepMind built its Agricultural Landscape Understanding (ALU) and Agricultural Monitoring and Event Detection (AMED) models to map field boundaries and track farm activity, and those models played an early role in shaping India’s approach. DeepMind now extends that same support to countries across Asia-Pacific and Africa, work that matters given estimates that global food production must grow by as much as 50% by 2050 to feed 9.7 billion people.

AI in agriculture gives farmers who have long gone without expert support a direct, low-cost line to exactly that. If platforms like KATHIR and MahaVISTAAR-AI keep growing, and if banks and governments build the financial tools the World Bank Group has planned, AI could become an important tool for supporting rural livelihoods and reducing poverty India.

– Juan Guillermo Rueda Castrillón

Juan is based in Barcelona, Spain and focuses on Technology and Solutions for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr