Sponsored Content from OikosNomos.world

Do they know it’s Christmas?
Water is the source of all life on this planet, and therefore the source of health.

Water is the essence of life. The tree from which we all branch. Yet two billion people lack access to safe and clean drinking water. That is one in every four of us. This affects women and girls in particular, as they are tasked with fetching water, missing out on school and paid work as a result.

To combat this problem, peacefully, OikosNomos.world (ONW) aims to demonstrate that if poor and marginalized populations are given the energy and resources to produce drinking water, they will start lifting themselves out of poverty and hunger. That is our Theory of Change in a nutshell. We call it Solar-Fired Hydro Power.

Water quenches thirst, grows plants, waters animals, and feeds fish. Food ends poverty and hunger, bringing peace of mind. By producing 100,000 liters of drinking water a day, ONW aims to save or better lives. With every single machine that we finance and install. Only two-four liters per person are needed per day to stay healthy.

See UNICEF’s report Thirsting for a Future!, or the World Bank’s Water for Shared Prosperity, to get a better sense of the severity and persistence of the problem.

Water Bond
Sustainability is all about longevity, and determination. If there is no will, there is no way.

The Dutch (apparently), knew this back in 1648, when they issued a water bond to finance dikes, windmills, and other critical infrastructure to keep the water out. Quite sensible, as much of the country was, and still is, below sea level. The bond still exists and pays out interest. The maturity was set at 1,000 years. So, there is still while to go. That is longevity for you. And determination.

ONW aims to revive this tradition with the DeFi Hunger & Poverty Water Bond to finance water taps in the desert(s) of Africa. Times have changed. We need to get the water in, up, or evaporated from thin air -any which way we can. Powered by clean, renewable, and regenerative solar energy.

History
The oldest existing water bond in the world is from 1648. And it still pays out interest. It was issued to finance dikes, windmills, and other critical infrastructure. Anything to keep the water out. Times have changed. We need to get water in, up, or condensed.

As the facsimiles show, it only takes fifty people to save a kingdom. Decentralized Finance (DeFi) avant la lettre. We aim to revive this tradition with the DeFi Hunger & Poverty Water Bond. Saving lives, 100,000 liters of desalinated seawater (per day) at a time. Or 1,000 liters of dew converted to drink, per day.

The Netherlands Water Bank issued a seven-year €1B bond this year. So it can be done.

OikosNomos.world (ONW)
Who we are is what we do with what we have —Vince Lombardi

ONW is a Dutch non-profit that empowers poor and disadvantaged populations by fundraising for their development, while accelerating growth. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. That is why we partner with local change agents.

What
Our aim is to add value by lending a hand in kick starting and developing sustainable, replicable, and horizontally scalable business models. Our local change agents help set up, grow, and finance small-scale businesses. These account for more than 90% of all employment in Africa.

Where
Our first initiative was in Windhoek, Namibia, assisting in setting up an innovation lab, called “Proeftuin” in Dutch/Afrikaans. Namibia is the second-most unequal country in the world, after South Africa. More than 43% of the population live in poverty, which affects women in particular. Income-generating activities, therefore, are of vital importance, with direct impact.

How
Rather than being yet another foundation doing projects, we accelerate business. We work in ever-growing spirals, with one spiral building on earlier ones. We accelerate what works and learn from our mistakes.

All our initiatives are powered by sun, water, and love.

Proeftuin
Proeftuin is Dutch/Afrikaans for nursery, food garden, test bed, all in one. It is located in Windhoek, Namibia. The Proeftuin is facing severe drought and, even worse, water bills.

They have outstanding water bills that they cannot pay, and need to invest in water collection, distribution, and filtering mechanisms before the rainy season starts. Without help, they will be shut off! A beautiful green oasis in this arid city will go to waste. This would mean loss of income, employment, and food for Windhoek's poor.

Please help us: https://gofund.me/a1bd5dbc

DLT Water Bond Challenge

Help us develop a solution to finance a water tap in the desert! Contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals! No poverty (#1), zero hunger (#2), decent work and economic growth (#8), reduced inequalities (#14).

Challenge
The challenge is to write an article of maximum 2,000 words, that describes a solution to address the use case outlined below. The best three articles (technical report, methodology, etc), will be submitted to the Blockchain in Healthcare Today Platform Approaches Journal for review and publication - at no cost.

Use Case
ONW aims to build water taps in the desert, turning seawater into drinking water. Or by using solar energy to pump sweet water from boreholes. Or by converting night-time dew to drink.

The technology is there. The largest version of a desalination machine, for example, is a 20-foot container with filters (membranes) for reverse osmosis, and solar panels to power it. The machine costs $200,000 to purchase and install. It produces 100,000 liters of clean water per day, using nothing but free and plentiful seawater and sunshine. The water will be sold commercially to parties such as brewers and beverage companies at a premium price, to make SeaBeer, SeaDrink, or SeaJuice. Water will be given away for free to poor populations in the direct vicinity of the tap.

They will use their mobile phones to open the tap. It will then release two to five liters of water. This can be repeated as often as required and prevents misuse.

Any water produced but not sold will go into fishponds, to be run by the local community. In return, they will provide physical security, e.g. against theft or vandalism, and do simple maintenance work such as cleaning the pipes and filters. The ponds themselves are simple, mere holes in the ground of approximately one cubic meter, lined with plastic sheets, and home to 10-15 fish (e.g. catfish, or tilapia).

We want to finance this! Not through donations or one-off kindness, but via sustainable financial instruments such as an interest-bearing bond, the DeFi Hunger & Poverty Water Bond.

Final submission date is March 15, 2025. The future is now.
Upload your submission here.

Location
The first tap will be installed in Namibia. This is an arid country in Southern Africa, with plenty of coastline and sunshine. It faces extreme inequality, poverty, and drought. It is the second most unequal country in the world. More than 43% of the population live in poverty, which affects women in particular. They do like fish, but the sea is almost empty, and rivers are far and few between along the coast. Also good to know is that most people do not have smart phones.
 

Our (internal) nickname is Ocean 12, because there are twelve of us. Collectively we have over 150 years of experience working in international development, in Africa in particular. We have diverse backgrounds in business administration, IT, biotechnology & data science, technology, politics, and media production.

We aim to revive the Ancient Greek philosophy of “Oikos Nomos”, i.e. household (estate) management. This term is the root of both economics and ecology. This precursor of People-Planet-Profit balances economic growth with human dignity and prudent use of natural resources.

What better way to celebrate Christmas?

Contact
Cees J. Hesp, Chairman
oikosnomos.world@outlook.com
onw.world

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