The APAC Sustainability Seed Fund 1.0 (APAC SSF 1.0), supported by Google.org and ADB, has empowered a number of nonprofits to solve a key challenge–reducing environmental damage in the agricultural industries without shortchanging efficacy or yield. See how nonprofit organisations Villgro and Yayasan Solar Chapter are utilising innovative technology to track water, soil, harmful gases in real-time, to not only prevent damage but transform our ways of working yielding even greater savings over the short- and longer-term.
Case 1: Villgro’s Carbon Credit Initiative in Punjab
- Who is Villgro? Villgro is an India-based incubator that supports innovative startups to solve complex social problems in the agricultural space. Their vision is to nurture businesses that offer impactful, scalable solutions.
- Why did they create this project? Punjab’s rice production covers about 21% of India’s rice market. However, the region’s soil has become damaged as a result of substantial emissions of harmful gases and build up of toxins due to the ongoing cycles of irrigation. Thus, Villgro decided to implement a system that would both farmers when levels of biochemicals spiked but also one that maximised carbon credit initiatives in Punjab so that they could uplift and support fair working wages of agricultural workers.
- How did they execute this? Through support from the APAC SSF 1.0 and partnership with agritech startup Cultyvate, Villgro was able to cover the substantial upfront costs of setting up a system of Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) sensors in Punjab and Kerala. The sensors were connected to a centralised platform that allowed farmers to be notified when indicators such as soil moisture, harmful gases, or energy consumption exceeded optimal range. In short, the farmers were able to quickly and effectively adapt irrigation practices based on real-time data.
- What impact did this have? By being able to track these metrics, 688 farmers across Punjab and Kerala were able to save 13,126,531 litres of water and reduce CO2 emissions by 3,794 tons in the project period alone. In addition to that, farmers’ income increased by 3.44% in the same tenure.
Read more about their work here.
Case 2: Yayasan Solar Chapter’s Impact Work in Rural Indonesia
- Who is Yayasan Solar Chapter? Yayasan Solar Chapter is a company that aims to create sustainable water treatment solutions to ensure access to clean water for rural communities in Indonesia. Their solution aims to address both the environmental and health challenges of water conditions.
- Why did they create this project? Despite Indonesia’s population of over 268 million people, a majority of Indonesians lack access to safe drinking water and are dependent on river water or bottled water. This crisis could be traced to poor maintenance and early tracing of unsafe water processing. However, if faulty components could be detected early, significant volumes of water could be saved and safely consumed by communities. Furthermore, these high-cost maintenance and wasted water causes an extremely wasteful cycle of water processing.
- How did they execute this? Here is where Yayasan Solar Chapter’s Water IQ technology comes in. Through introducing Internet of things (IoT) sensors into the water systems of 4 rural Indonesian villages–Bisesmus, Biau, As Manulea, and Naisau, they were able to remotely detect faulty systems early on in the water pumping process.
- Why was measurability critical? Yayasan Solar Chapter’s IQ technology successfully conserved over 600,000 litres of water, benefiting 2,500 residents across four villages. This initiative restored damaged water systems and provided ongoing monitoring to ensure safe, long-term water access.
Read more about their work here.
