Now the journey takes Alphonsine 30 minutes. She and other rural women now have access to clean water to irrigate their crops and to use at home. With the cooperation of the UN's joint project 'Rural Women Economic Empowerment '(Rwee), implememted by four UN agencies, FAO built a spring catchment tap for the Nkabikorera Cooperative in the Ngoma district which significantly decreased the amount of time to collect water for nine surrounding villages.

The CDAIS project has been an accelerator of processes, with results that have spread from community to governmental levels. Those who have been involved consider that CDAIS was a key reason for these changes, having arrived as a springboard in 2015. Of the four partnerships in Honduras, these conversations explore the experiences of potato producers in La Esperanza, Intibucá, home to almost 70% of national potato production. Since 2015, much has changed for them: from a small group of growers, eight associations have become consolidated organisations.

Livestock have strong empowerment potential, particularly for women. They offer millions of women in the Global South the opportunity to provide protein-rich foods for home consumption and sale. Livestock provide women with income and opportunities to expand their livelihood portfolios and can strengthen women’s decision-making power. Fully realizing livestock’s empowerment potential for women is necessary for sustainable livestock development. It requires, though, that gender-equitable dynamics and norms are supported in rural communities.

The startups are an exemplar that great things are done by a series of small things brought together. Taking one small step at a time, moving from one problem to another and solving the issues by disruptive innovation is what these startups are trying to achieve. The startups are not only creating new jobs which means more employment but are also leaving a ripple effect on the socio-economic fabric of the demography in which they are operating. The world has become a playfield for these young entrepreneurs as the global startup revolution continues to grow.