Field Notes

Last Updated on September 9, 2026 by Rakesh Kumar

Last Updated on September 9, 2026 by Rakesh Kumar

Video Series: Financing Climate-Smart Livelihoods Clean energy can transform livelihoods — but making the right technology work for a household also depends on whether the financing works. Chapter 2 — Decentralised Renewable Energy: What It Means for Financing — is now LIVE!! A khoya producer in Belagavi had studied his market, found his buyers, worked out his margins. Then he stopped. “We wanted

“Sabai dee!” The greeting rings out across Xieng Man, a remote village in the mountains of Houaphan province, northern Laos. In front of the village’s brick and wooden houses, people sit in small groups, their hands busy weaving strips after strips of bamboo into boxes, baskets, and bags. Among them is Ten Bounsouvanh, a 47-year-old... L’article Bamboo Handicrafts Powers Ethnic Livelihoods in Houa

"The market just flipped the script. After weeks of falling prices, every single fresh produce item tracked this week — from tomatoes to livestock — either rose or held firm. Spring onions, which crashed by half just seven days ago, staged a stunning comeback with prices climbing as much as 36% in the south. So what's driving the surge, and who stands to win or lose? This week's Market Weekly brea

The paper considers Article 6 as an important element of Ukraine's post-war recovery, climate governance, and European integration.

Instead of asking a battery to hold all the energy as electricity, what if you could store the cold itself? That question changed everything. It led ColdHubs from its first scrap-metal prototype to a second-generation system that stores cooling energy directly — the same way ice holds cold long after the freezer is switched off. A decade of building, deploying and redesigning in real Nigerian mark

A cold room cannot undo every post-harvest mistake. From field heat and handling to packaging and transportation, protecting fresh produce requires a cold chain that starts at harvest.

Background Access to clean cooking remains a major challenge for Africa. Biomass accounts for about 50% of the total primary energy supply in the continent, with over 900 million Africans still relying on traditional use of biomass and other polluting fuels for cooking and heating. Globally, the target is to achieve universal access to modern […]

Background to the Assignment The demand for convenient, nutritious, and affordable pre-cooked food options is rapidly increasing in urban and peri-urban areas in Africa. The pre-cook sector represents a potentially vast market for modern cooking transitions and productive use of energy (PUE) applications. MECS research in 2025/2026 demonstrated significant potential for electric cooking through pi

This presentation is divided into three parts. In Part 1, we will address the metabolic rift caused by the reproduction of capital, particularly the role of capital accumulation, planned obsolescence, exploited labor, and the expropriation of natural resources.In the second part, we intend to discuss some alternatives created by Latin American social movements, particularly those based on the self

When discussing self-sufficiency we usually avoid the elephant in the room, that is the role digital technologies have in our economies. At the same time, many types of economic activity that are organised on grassroots or community level use those digital technologies in ways that are effective and meaningful and very much appropriate for each activity. The lesson is dedicated to this use of mach

Two weeks ago, MECS and key stakeholders gathered at the Residence of the British High Commissioner in Dar es Salaam to celebrate the achievements of Phase 1 of the UK-funded eCooking Scale and Support Programme in Tanzania. The event also marked the launch of Phase 2, which will build on the successes of the first […]

Both the global environmental and political spheres are on the brink of irreversible disaster. A growing body of research demonstrates how countries in the Global North could significantly reduce their consumption of energy and materials, while ensuring their populations' social well-being. However, reality is moving in the opposite direction, driven by market forces and geopolitical competition.

This publication presents the findings of a study on the current state of pastures and hayfields in Ukraine, based on interviews with stakeholders and a cartographic analysis.

The post Buy the Electricity, not the panels: Protect your Capex and Energy Future first appeared on Red Rocket Energy.

The post Buy the Electricity, not the panels: Protect your Capex and Energy Future first appeared on Red Rocket Energy.

We examine the most common concerns about the establishing of protected areas.