Design that Matters is a non-profit that promotes new economies through well-designed and affordable products. Their Kinkajou Microfilm Projector is a low-cost teaching tool designed to improve and expand access to education by transforming night-time learning environments in rural, non-electrified settings. What’s more, the projector is a combination of efficient LED lights, reclaimed lenses from Fisher-Price ViewMaster toys, and durable, inexpensive microfilm.

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With 10% of the world population living with a disabling hearing impairment, and 80% of them live in developing countries, a big challenge is the battery, which is often expensive to keep charged and replace. The SolarAid solar-powered hearing-aid battery recharger, developed in Botswana by Godisa Technologies, helps those with hearing disabilities afford to continue in school and participate in economy activity without worrying about their hearing aid battery. There are already more than 7,000 units in use in South America, Central America, Africa, and Asia.

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Kickstart, an organization promoting tools and technologies to end poverty, has found a great product that solves immediate problems and stimulates potential local economies. It’s called the MoneyMaker Micro-Irrigation Pump, available as the Original design or the new Super pump, and it allows rural small-scale farmers to pull water from underground to more efficiently irrigate their farms. Many thousands of entrepreneurial farmers are now irrigating with Kickstart’s manual MoneyMaker irrigation pumps and changing their small subsistence farms into vibrant new commercial enterprises. With irrigation they can grow and sell as many as three to four high value vegetable crops every year, and ensure that the crop is ready for market when the price is high. The pump is currently being distributed throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. See exactly how it works here.

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