1. I am launching a microgrant program focused on frugal innovation for young Nigerians. Apply to receive some funding to support your innovative ideas. a [🧵]
2. During my Ph.D. training here in the US, I used an instrument that cost a few million dollars, called the NMR.
Back home (in Nigeria), putting the price tag aside, i.e., even if a lab can afford it, good luck getting the electricity to power the instrument.
3. During my undergrad (in microbiology), we hardly had access to microscopes – there were many more students than there were available working microscopes.
As a result, many of us couldn’t even operate one successfully.
4. Growing up, I have seen a kid die of malaria due to very poor healthcare system - wild story. All of these are the consequences of poverty (downstream of poor leadership).
And talking about poverty, 133 million people are living in poverty in Nigeria alone.
5. 133 million people, friends, is at least the entire population of the United Kingdom, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Hungary, and Switzerland put together.
Folks living without basic amenities like stable electricity, healthcare, etc
6. Any well-meaning person would want the rapid development of developing countries. But in the meantime, what is to be done? One of the auspicious options is frugal innovation.
Where resources are scarce, use must be prudent. More here: [bifarinthefifth.substack.com/p/frugal-innovation]
7. Frugal innovation is the art of doing more with less and for many more people.
Take the example of the 'paperfuge', a human-powered centrifuge made of just paper, costs 20 cents, and it can separate plasma from blood and isolate malaria parasites. [nature.com/articles/s41551-016-0009]
8. Something as simple as a plastic bag can also do magic – randomized control trials showed that placing preterm infants in a plastic bag at birth compared with standard thermoregulation care reduced hypothermia.
Paper:[jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2780243]
Video: [youtube.com/watch?v=_YzhaDmHS1M]
9. Solar Grandmothers program: an initiative that provides solar power to rural households using grandmothers as solar engineers. Empower grandmothers, while also providing clean energy to rural communities. How to beat that for being frugal?
[youtube.com/watch?v=mpYLYpVvRw0]
10. At the risk of repeating myself, frugal innovation is the art of doing more with less and for many more people. And with the various examples I mentioned, if anything, one is left captivated and inspired.
See more examples here on my substack [bifarinthefifth.substack.com/p/examples-of-frugal-innovation]
11. This is why I decided that next MBB microgrant program will be open for applications on frugal innovation for young Nigerians. The application is open now, and for a short period.
[bifarinthefifth.substack.com/p/apply-for-mbb-grant-batch-2]
12. For more information on this micro grant program in general, previous winners, see this thread:
twitter.com/BifarinTheFifth/status/1600255811959169025?s=20&t=htl_-xQwA4uwNH3BhYFpvA