Previous winners
2010 Winner
The Only Way is Up
Philippines
It's baffling how some inventions fail to achieve a tipping point. The hydraulic ram pump - which has been around for a couple of centuries - falls into this category.
2010 Runner-up
A Class Apart
Guatemala
Mateo Paneitz went to Comalapa, Guatemala, in 2004 as a Peace Corps volunteer. Peneitz's desire to help this impoverished, predominantly Mayan community didn't end with his tour though.
2010 Runner-up
Pass it on
Peru
"Yachachiq" is the Inca name for people who pass on knowledge. That's how Sierra Productiva - a federation of peasant's groups - is setting about improving the lot of small farmers in Peru, having started in the ancient Inca capital, Cusco.
2010 Finalists
2009 Winner
A Bright Idea
Sri Lanka
One man's mission to stop the horrific, and totally avoidable, injuries caused by unsafe kerosene lamps in Sri Lanka.
2009 Runner-up
Nothing Wasted
Indonesia
The traditional markets of Indonesia are getting a face-lift, and the organic fertiliser they now produce is giving farming in the area huge boost.
2009 Runner-up
Fungi Town
United States
This innovative business turns the waste from coffee grounds into the ideal medium for growing gourmet mushrooms.
2009 Finalists
2008 Winner
Plan Bee
Pakistan
The Hashoo Foundation is sweetening the deal for the women beekeepers of northern Pakistan by selling their top-quality honey in luxury hotels
2008 Runner-up
A Chance to Grow
Nepal
Shanti Sewa Griha is a self-sufficient society for leprosy victims and other social outcasts.
2008 Runner-up
Homegrown Heroes
Paraguay
Escuela Agricola is a self-sufficient school that turns smallholders into success stories.
2008 Finalists
2007 Winner
Potato Goldmine
Peru
T'ikapapa, based in Peru, beat nearly 1000 other projects from around the world to win World Challenge 2007.
2007 Runner-up
Cooking Without Gas
Nepal
In 1995, Sanu Kaji Shrestha ran out of cooking gas. So too did nearly everyone else in Kathmandu, as a countrywide shortage set in. Demand was so great Sanu had to take three days off work to queue up for more fuel.
2007 Runner-up
Ecole Paradis des Indiens
Haiti
The Paradis des Indiens project began as a one-room school in the small fishing village of Les Abricots. Canadian expatriate Michaelle de Verteuil set up the school especially for children whose families couldn't afford uniforms and shoes - without which they were unable to attend Haiti's ordinary schools.
2007 Finalists
2006 Winner
Elephant Paper
Sri-Lanka
Maximus, winner of World Challenge in 2006, is a papermaking firm that makes high-quality products from a variety of wastes, including paper from offices and bark from banana trees. The firm set up shop in Kegalle, Sri Lanka, in 1997, not far from an elephant orphanage. In Sri Lanka there is competition between elephants and a growing human population for land.
2006 Runner-up
Card Aid
Rwanda
The scars of the Rwandan genocide that claimed some 800,000 victims will take a long time to heal. Communities throughout the country are struggling to deal with the legacy of unthinkable brutality.
2006 Runner-up
Well Water
Bangladesh
The contamination of the water supply in parts of Bangladesh and northern India with large quantities of arsenic has been described as the worst case of mass poisoning in recorded history. Long-term exposure to even small quantities of the poison can result in skin lesions, localised gangrene and eventually cancers of the skin, lungs, bladder and kidneys.
2006 Finalists
2005 Winner
Coconets
Phillipines
In little more than two generations, the Phillipines has seen nearly all its jungle vanish. With little regard to the future, loggers and squatters have destroyed watersheds. The inevitable result has been landslides sweeping away topsoil.
2005 Runner-up
Fat Chance
Malta
Mediterranean cooking uses a lot of oil. And the millions of package tourists who double the population of the Western Mediterranean each summer expect to find fast-food outlets like those at home. But what happens to all that cooking fat?
2005 Runner-up
Reef Rehab
Vanuatu
The tiny Pacific island of Vanuatu has no main supply of electricity - inhabitants rely on batteries for their electrical energy. But batteries are expensive and account for a large proportion of most families' monthly incomes. They are also difficult to dispose of as they release acids and other toxic chemicals as they decompose.
2005 Finalists
