PopTech

Thoughts from Lab participant Ned Breslin:

Great day, fabulous people, learned a ton. Some key takeaways for me:  

• Woman in Bangladesh reassess her situation after yet another flood wipes out her chickens.  Decides that ducks are a better option and is of course proven right.  Refers to ducks as “flood-proof chickens” – classic
• We should marvel at the resilience and adaptation of many people around the world in the face of environmental challenges, economic shifts, and restrictive social and political environments that often undermine ingenuity and innovation.  People who rise in these situations are amazing to be sure.  But WOW are we asking a lot of them – and the real question is how much adaptation and resilience can a person, a family, a community, a country … be reasonably asked to make – over and over again, and where is that point where even the most resilient and adaptable can’t cope with the magnitude of the changes around them?
• Women and girls of course are, in general, most susceptible to this vulnerability.  I loved the examples of women and girls who again emerged from environmental, economic, political and social challenges and thrived – and we had some good examples of this.
• Organization I am most intrigued by thus far – Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture – http://www.syngentafoundation.org - whose work with micro-insurance makes me want to understand more
• Most excited to see the great work of Prolinnova in the field tomorrow – focused on water resource management and innovative ways to get the most from your water supply.  Very excited to see this!