Water partners: Teaming up to solve shortages

Across the world, one in nine people don’t have reliable access to clean, safe water. “Everything flows from having clean water,” said Mort Anoushiravani, Mercy Corps’ water engineer and infrastructure director. “It’s a source of improved health, livelihoods and conflict mitigation.” In South Sudan (below) and elsewhere, many families rely on natural springs and other water bodies. Without water storage, taps can suddenly run dry. And without purification systems, life-giving water harbors disease and parasites.Mercy Corps works with Xylem, a corporate partner, to address urgent water needs in some of the world’s toughest places.Why work with a partner? Combining Mercy Corps’ experience mobilizing communities in remote regions and working in complex, challenging situations, along with Xylem’s specialized knowledge in water technology, means …

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Across the world, one in nine people don’t have reliable access to clean, safe water.

“Everything flows from having clean water,” said Mort Anoushiravani, Mercy Corps’ water engineer and infrastructure director. “It’s a source of improved health, livelihoods and conflict mitigation.”

In South Sudan (below) and elsewhere, many families rely on natural springs and other water bodies. Without water storage, taps can suddenly run dry. And without purification systems, life-giving water harbors disease and parasites.

Mercy Corps works with Xylem, a corporate partner, to address urgent water needs in some of the world's toughest places.

Why work with a partner? Combining Mercy Corps' experience mobilizing communities in remote regions and working in complex, challenging situations, along with Xylem's specialized knowledge in water technology, means the pair can reach more people in need. And, they can offer more intensive, holistic solutions through Xylem's technical expertise.

Xylem is one of world’s largest providers of equipment to treat and transport water. Focused on sustainable resource use, Xylem designs pumps, treatment plants and water quality tests for agricultural, commercial and residential use.

In 2008, Mercy Corps first partnered with Watermark, Xylem’s corporate citizenship and social investment program, to provide safe water after natural disasters in Indonesia, Kenya, Haiti and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

When floods devastated Pakistan in 2010, Watermark and Mercy Corps quickly brought clean water to relief camps.

Munawar Abbas, above, a water quality manager in Sukkur, Pakistan, tests chlorine levels during a water filtration clinic in 2010 made possible through Mercy Corps' partnership with Watermark.

Although Xylem’s technology is sold in more than 150 countries, it has the greatest presence in the United States and Europe. By partnering with Mercy Corps, Xylem can fulfill its mission to improve water access globally.

But the partnership is about more than immediate, humanitarian aid.

To prevent future water emergencies, Mercy Corps and Xylem work together to improve community water systems, install better filtration and purification infrastructure, and train local communities on water safety.

“The greatest number of lives can be saved by addressing water-related risks before a disaster occurs,” said Michael Fields, Director of Corporate Citizenship at Xylem.

“We desperately need new solutions, and the challenge to private companies and nonprofits globally is to find new ways of working together to help vulnerable communities prepare before disaster strikes.”

Watermark and Mercy Corps worked together in 2009, for instance, to help a Sri Lankan community get outfitted with a new water system (above).

By working with a leader in the water industry, Mercy Corps is able to match big problems with big solutions.

For example, when the largest earthquake in Japan’s recorded history struck the country in 2011, the accompanying tsunami destroyed a salmon hatchery in Minamisanriku. The hatchery played a critical role in the region’s salmon fishing industry.

Watermark’s Emergency Response Fund supported Mercy Corps’ work to rebuild the hatchery. Together, the organizations provided holding tanks, vehicles, fishing nets and other necessary supplies. The hatchery released 5 million baby salmon just one year after the quake.

In the photo above, three-month-old salmon swim in a bucket at the rebuilt Minamisanriku hatchery.

Today, one of the world’s greatest water challenges is in Jordan. Already one of the most water scarce countries in the world, Jordan is buckling under the strain of absorbing an influx of more than half a million Syrian refugees.

Mercy Corps is working with Xylem to provide water at the Zaatari refugee camp. Together, the organizations built deep-water wells and a system to supply clean drinking water. Now refugees are supplementing these water sources with rainwater catchment systems.

Before the conflict in Syria, the Zaatari camp (above) was an open desert. Now up to 120,000 refugees live on the land, making it the fourth largest city in Jordan.

Wells and holding tanks at the Zaatari refugee camp help families get the clean water they need to drink, cook and clean.

Partnerships are powerful. Working together, Mercy Corps and Watermark have helped give more than 1.6 million people access to clean water so far, as well as improved water systems in communities across the globe.

Stay tuned for an interview with Keith Teichmann, ‎Director of Innovative Networks and Marketing and Vice President at Xylem Inc.

Photo credits:

South Sudan – Rodrigo Ordonez/Mercy Corps

Pakistan – Julie Denesha for Mercy Corps

Sri Lanka – ITT Watermark for Mercy Corps

Japan – Sylvia Ross/Mercy Corps

Jordan – Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps

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More about Xylem Watermark and Mercy Corps

Tapped Out, a report on water scarcity in Jordan

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"Teen’s Sentence Won’t Go Before En Banc Circuit"

“Teen’s Sentence Won’t Go Before En Banc Circuit”: Courthouse News Service has a report that begins, “With seven judges complaining about the creation of a circuit split, the 9th Circuit refused Wednesday to disturb the reversal of a teenager’s 254-year prison sentence.” You can access today’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denying rehearing en banc, and the dissent therefrom, at this link. A total of seven judges joined in the dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc.The original three-judge panel’s unanimous ruling can be accessed here.Posted at 11:00 PM by Howard Bashman”Contraception mandate burdens religious exercise, Hobby Lobby argues; With U.S. Supreme Court arguments looming, the Oklahoma City-based chain says law protects corporations as …

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“Teen’s Sentence Won’t Go Before En Banc Circuit”: Courthouse News Service has a report that begins, “With seven judges complaining about the creation of a circuit split, the 9th Circuit refused Wednesday to disturb the reversal of a teenager’s 254-year prison sentence.”

You can access today’s order of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denying rehearing en banc, and the dissent therefrom, at this link. A total of seven judges joined in the dissent from the denial of rehearing en banc.

The original three-judge panel’s unanimous ruling can be accessed here.

For more info: "Teen’s Sentence Won’t Go Before En Banc Circuit"

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Global Ideas News Brief: Big names weigh in on global inequality

Global developmentLooking at a two-track futureWall Street JournalGlobalization has made the world a more equal place, lifting the economic fortunes of billions of poor people over the last quarter century. Here’s the rub: At the same time, it has made richer countries more unequal—squeezing the incomes of the poor and the middle class.Developing Countries: More Than Economic Rivals and Terror ThreatsThe Atlantic, Charles KennyDeveloping a new framework for assessing the post-Cold War, post-9/11 worldPicking the world champion of trade: Trading upThe EconomistWhich country gets the most out of international commerce?Where to bet nowForeign AffairsMexico, South Korea, Poland, Turkey, Indonesia and the Philippines, and the Mekong region are well positioned to thrive as China slows and the commodity boom cools. All have crucial strengths …

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Global development

Looking at a two-track future

Wall Street Journal

Globalization has made the world a more equal place, lifting the economic fortunes of billions of poor people over the last quarter century. Here's the rub: At the same time, it has made richer countries more unequal—squeezing the incomes of the poor and the middle class.

Developing Countries: More Than Economic Rivals and Terror Threats

The Atlantic, Charles Kenny

Developing a new framework for assessing the post-Cold War, post-9/11 world

Picking the world champion of trade: Trading up

The Economist

Which country gets the most out of international commerce?

Where to bet now

Foreign Affairs

Mexico, South Korea, Poland, Turkey, Indonesia and the Philippines, and the Mekong region are well positioned to thrive as China slows and the commodity boom cools. All have crucial strengths to draw on and will play increasingly important roles in the future of the global economy.

Bill and Melinda Gates' annual letter

Bill Gates Just Revealed His Goal For The Rest Of His Life

Forbes

For the past five years, Bill and Melinda Gates have published an annual letter, which helps set the global philanthropic agenda. This year, they’ve taken a different tack: rather than list their foundation’s wins, losses and priorities, the letter, released today, takes the form of a manifesto. Actually, an anti-manifesto.

The Case for Aid

Foreign Policy, Jeffrey Sachs

It's become fashionable to argue that foreign aid doesn't make a difference. Here’s why the critics couldn't be more wrong.

Youth skills

U.N. Says Over 200 Million Unemployed Worldwide

TIME

The number of jobless people increased by 4.9 million in 2013 over the previous year, bringing the total global unemployment rate to 6%, the International Labor Organization said in a report. Young people aged 15 to 24 are the most hard-hit by joblessness, with unemployment rates for that age group reaching 13.1 percent.

The future of jobs: The onrushing wave

The Economist

Previous technological innovation has always delivered more long-run employment, not less. But things can change.

Skills and youth: All hands on deck

The Economist

How to cut youth unemployment in a fast-changing jobs market.

Mobile

The Call of Violence

Stanford Social Innovation Review

In parts of the world, expanding cell-phone coverage brings with it an increase in violent activity.

Kenya’s Banking Revolution Lights a Fire

NYT, opinion

It would be superficial to argue that the mobile phone industry’s success in sub-Saharan Africa proves the merits of privatization in every instance. But can this success be replicated in other sectors, like Kenya’s inefficient power, transportation and health services?

Land rights

How the Poor Get Washed Away

NYT, opinion

WHEN Typhoon Haiyan struck the Philippines in November, killing more than 6,000 people and leaving more than four million homeless, one group was particularly hard hit: the landless poor. More than a thousand of the dead lived in a single squatter camp. While natural disasters may seem like equal-opportunity destroyers, they are not.

Social enterprise

Creating a business: Testing, testing

The Economist

Launching a startup has become fairly easy, but what follows is back-breaking work.

Accelerators: Getting up to speed

The Economist

The biggest professional-training system you have never heard of.

Value chains

Starting Now, All Intel Microprocessors Are Conflict-Free: Here's How The Company Did It

Fast.Co.Exist

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich tells Co.Exist how the world's largest chip maker has taken a giant leap forward in responsible sourcing for the electronics industry.

Interest

The World's 85 Richest People Are as Wealthy as the Poorest 3 Billion

The Atlantic

The report that everybody's talking about this morning is Oxfam's opus on global inequality, which leads with an eye-popping statistic: The richest 85 people in the world own more wealth than the bottom half of the entire global population. What exactly does that mean?

The Guardian’s full Davos coverage

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Woodblock Chocolate: From bean to bar, putting farmers first

Charley Wheelock founded Woodblock Chocolate with a commitment to trading fairly with cacao growers in the Caribbean Islands and South America. That direct trade relationship–a deeply personal approach to business in which Woodblock builds relationships with the first rung on the value chain–is imbedded in the company’s DNA.“The good you can do with cacao is awesome,” Wheelock says.Woodblock Chocolate’s “factory” in Southeast Portland is small, but an upgrade from Wheelock’s kitchen, where he and his wife, Jessica, made their first chocolate bars in 2010. When Global Envision visited Woodblock, Wheelock was putting some finishing touches on a batch of chocolate. Several workers folded wrappers around chocolate bars and talked over the hum of machines mixing the latest batch. The sweet smell of chocolate …

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Charley Wheelock founded Woodblock Chocolate with a commitment to trading fairly with cacao growers in the Caribbean Islands and South America. That direct trade relationship–a deeply personal approach to business in which Woodblock builds relationships with the first rung on the value chain–is imbedded in the company’s DNA.

“The good you can do with cacao is awesome,” Wheelock says.

Woodblock Chocolate’s “factory” in Southeast Portland is small, but an upgrade from Wheelock’s kitchen, where he and his wife, Jessica, made their first chocolate bars in 2010. When Global Envision visited Woodblock, Wheelock was putting some finishing touches on a batch of chocolate. Several workers folded wrappers around chocolate bars and talked over the hum of machines mixing the latest batch. The sweet smell of chocolate filled the cool room.

For Wheelock, it’s all about the beans. There are very few companies that make chocolate directly from beans, rather than buying pre-made chocolate and remelting it, he explains. Wheelock and his employees are involved in every step of the process: sorting the beans, roasting to perfect doneness, separating nibs from hulls, pouring the chocolate into molds and, finally, enclosing each rectangular bar in Woodblock’s blue and white wrappers.

Wheelock points out the century-old roaster that he uses to bring out just the right complexity of flavors. “I’m always checking shell temperature,” he says. “There’s a flavor profile I’m going for.”

“We try to show off the cacao beans–they make the difference.”

Wheelock makes bars from each country that sends beans, creating "single origin" chocolate. He points out two batches of liquid chocolate–one from Venezuela and one from Ecuador–being stirred and ground by stone wheels. One is dark and thick and tastes rich with a slightly bitter bite; the other is lighter, smoother and has a sweet, nutty finish.

From those first days of roasting beans, mixing cocoa with sugar and forming bars in their kitchen, the Wheelocks have kept the entire production process handmade. Their only ingredients are cacao and sugar–unless they add a final touch of large-grain salt to the top of the bars. The growing business sells most of its bars in local Oregon coffee and specialty shops, but it also sends bars to shops in 11 states and sells from its website.

From bean to bar

Building relationships with cacao farmers allow the Wheelocks to have a touchpoint along every step of the process.

The operation got a big boost in 2011 when Wheelock took his first trip to meet with cacao farms in Trinidad. He contacted several local experts at the Cacao Research Unit at the University of the West Indies-Trinidad and Tobago, and flew down with hopes of meeting some farmers interested in building a relationship.

Wheelock’s friend, Gino Gasperina, joined him on the trip. The pair handed out chocolate bars as they visited the university and walked among cacao trees. They met with cacao experts and, most importantly, with farmers. When they found several farmers who were passionate about growing high quality cacao, Wheelock arranged for the first shipments to be sent to Oregon.

The personal connections they cultivated formed a blueprint for Woodblock’s direct trade relationships, and the small farms have been the perfect fit for the company.

Small-scale farmers can ship a large portion, if not all, of their harvest to Oregon. The farmers then have a major economic interest in making sure they handle the beans well throughout the entire process, from harvest and fermentation to packing and shipping. “We’re paying two to three times the commodity price,” Wheelock notes.

With more money coming in, the farmers can afford to invest in their farms and keep quality high.

Working with small-scale farmers who grow cacao on just a few acres makes business sense for Woodblock. Both sides benefit from having a meaningful relationship that keeps quality high and orders filled. The farmer gets stable demand at a premium price and Woodblock can count on consistently high quality beans making it to Oregon.

But building relationships takes time. As Woodblock Chocolate grew, Wheelock realized he couldn’t keep up the frequent trips south that allowed him to make and maintain direct connections to farmers. He needed a middleman. So he convinced Gasperina to set up a cacao importing business, Meridian Cacao, to help manage the relationships while Woodblock grew its chocolate production and sales.

When Wheelock and Gasperina find the right beans and the right people, successful relationships take root.

"We've had some really good experiences where we've created tremendous value for the farm and for the chocolate makers,” Gasperina says.

Gasperina continues to search for potential partners to his company’s selection of cacao flavors. He traveled to Costa Rica, Ecuador and Honduras this past November to visit current partners and to lay the groundwork for new partnerships.

Wheelock and Gasperina see the relationships as a way to tie the whole process together, to move beyond a traditional buyer-seller format to something more involved and mutually beneficial.

As with any relationship, it doesn’t come without challenges.

The roadblocks between bean and bar

Wheelock reaches into a large sack of beans and tosses them in his hand. “These sound a little wet,” he says.

Cacao is a complex crop. The beans are temperamental and must be handled carefully from start to finish. The farmers who work with Woodblock ferment and dry the beans right after the harvest to ensure the highest quality, but it can be challenging to get it just right.

Other problems can arise, too. Cacao absorbs the flavors of anything that’s aromatic, so it must be stored and shipped carefully. “You can’t guarantee that it won’t be put next to limberge [stinky cheese] or something,” Wheelock says with a laugh.

It’s also difficult to fill a whole shipping container, which can hold about 20 tons of cacao, so Gasperina has formed partnerships with other small bean businesses, like green coffee importers, to fill containers.

Wheelock and Gasperina don’t have formal accountability processes that specify workers’ pay and conditions, but they get to know the farmers and their operations in a more personal way. “We go down and visit each farm and get to know what type of people the farmers are,” Wheelock says. Those relationships build the accountability that assures Wheelock and Gasperina that workers are treated well.

Wheelock smiles when he recalls a visit by one of the farmers from Ecuador. The farmer watched the chocolate being made, and tasted the final products. When they visit the farms in Trinidad or Honduras or Costa Rica, chocolate makers often pose for pictures with an arm around the shoulders of a cacao farmer. “I want to bring him back and take a picture on Mount Hood,” Wheelock says.

Watch a video from WeMake.com about Woodblock Chocolate:

WeMake Workshop I Woodblock Chocolate from Robert Woodward on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for Global Envision's upcoming profile of Nossa Familia Coffee, and how the Portland- and Brazil-based company includes farmers in its "familia."

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New species of shark: Carolina hammerhead

How Will the New Health Care Affect Cancer Treatment and Veterans? The…On MyBiologica.comHealth is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person’s mind and body, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain.Alternative medicine is any of a wide range of health care practices, products and therapies, using methods of medical diagnosis and treatments which, at least up to the end of the twentieth century, were typically not included in the degree courses of established medical schools teaching medicine. Examples include homeopathy, Ayurveda, chiropractic and acupuncture.On MyBiologica.com all you are looking for about alternative medicine and health.Coming soon section with best cheapset health insurance offers for …

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New species of shark: Carolina hammerhead

A research team has recently described a new species of hammerhead shark. This discovery is the result of years of study of the rivers and coastal waters of South Carolina.

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Nov. 7, 2013 — Discovering a new species is, among biologists, akin to hitting a grand slam, and University of South Carolina ichthyologist Joe Quattro led a team that recently cleared the bases. In the journal Zootaxa, they describe a rare shark, the Carolina hammerhead, that had long eluded discovery because it is outwardly indistinguishable from the common scalloped hammerhead. Through its rarity, the new species, Sphyrna gilberti, underscores the fragility of shark diversity in the face of relentless human predation.Quattro, a biology professor in USC’s College of Arts and Sciences, didn’t set out to discover a new cryptic species, let alone one found exclusively in saltwater. When he started as an assistant professor at USC in 1995, he was largely focused on fish in the freshwater rivers that flow through the state before emptying into the western Atlantic Ocean.He has wide interests that include conservation, genetic diversity and taxonomy. A driving force in his scientific curiosity is a desire to better understand evolution. As it turns out, South Carolina’s four major river basins — the Pee Dee, the Santee, the Edisto and the Savannah — are a source of particularly rich ore for mining insight into evolutionary history.Glacial influence had limitsQuattro grew up in Maryland, earned a doctorate at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and completed a post-doc at Stanford University. “New Jersey and Maryland, in particular, had huge glacial influences,” said Quattro. “The areas where rivers now flow were covered with glaciers until 10,000 to 15,000 years ago, and as the glaciers receded the taxa followed them upstream.”In contrast, rivers south of Virginia were not covered with glaciers. “In other words, these rivers have been around for quite some time,” Quattro said. …

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New species of shark: Carolina hammerhead

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