World Solve

Logging and agriculture expand into forests. Enforcement and sustainable agriculture are needed.

These diseases receive little research funding despite affecting hundreds of millions, because they mainly impact low-income populations. Cheap diagnostics and mass drug administration logistics need innovation.

Up to 40% of fresh produce in nations like Vietnam, Myanmar, and Indonesia spoils before reaching urban markets due to lack of refrigerated transport, decentralized storage, and unreliable off-grid power, exacerbating regional food insecurity.

Critical peatlands and ancient rainforests in Sumatra and Kalimantan are continuously drained and burned for monoculture crops, releasing vast carbon reservoirs and driving endangered species like orangutans toward extinction.

Warming temperatures enable dengue- and malaria-carrying mosquitoes to breed at higher elevations in Nepal and Bhutan, infecting unprepared mountain populations.

Standard lithium-ion battery arrays suffer accelerated degradation in tropical ambient temperatures, making grid-scale battery storage prohibitively expensive.

Inconsistent meteorology data sharing between neighboring nations delays mass evacuation orders during rapidly intensifying Category 5 tropical cyclones.

Extensive glass and concrete urban architecture in Gulf cities amplifies localized heat, driving unsustainable peak air conditioning power demand.

This disfiguring and disabling condition continues to affect millions in tropical regions, and while some treatments exist, access remains inconsistent and the underlying infection prevention needs further improvement. Closing this gap remains an ongoing global health priority.

This parasitic disease affects millions in tropical and subtropical regions, but effective treatment remains expensive, difficult to access, or logistically challenging for many affected communities. Closing this access gap remains unresolved.

Tropical forests host a huge share of the world's biodiversity, and converting this land for farming, even when done for legitimate food needs, often results in permanent species loss. Balancing food production with biodiversity protection remains unresolved.

Achieving low-cost diagnostics and treatments for the major neglected tropical diseases at meaningful scale demands simultaneous progress in fundamental research, engineering integration and socio-technical systems that work for low- and middle-income settings. Existing efforts remain fragmented relative to the magnitude of the challenge.

Develop portable and affordable tests for diseases that disproportionately affect poor and remote communities and currently require skilled microscopy or invasive sampling.

Develop monitoring approaches that work despite persistent cloud cover, fragmented enforcement, local economic dependence, and rapidly changing extraction routes.

Develop wheelchairs, prosthetics, hearing aids, and mobility devices that withstand heat, humidity, dust, rough roads, and limited repair networks.

Design affordable storage, logistics, grading, and processing systems that prevent fruit spoilage between small farms and markets without imposing high capital costs.

Despite recognition of its importance, reliable methods for behavioral and structural interventions reducing food loss in tropical value chains are still lacking. Progress is hindered by incomplete mechanistic knowledge, high capital and operational barriers, and the absence of deployment models suited to the contexts of greatest need.

Current approaches to nitrogen-fixing cereals productive on low-phosphorus tropical soils either underperform under variable field conditions or generate externalities that undermine long-term sustainability and equity. Closing the gap requires coordinated advances in science, systems design and enabling institutions.

The absence of robust, context-adapted solutions for nature-based solutions for landslide risk reduction on steep slopes in tropical regions creates cascading risks across interconnected human and natural systems. Key missing elements include durable performance, low lifetime cost, and governance arrangements capable of sustaining impact beyond pilot stages.

The absence of robust, context-adapted solutions for architectural innovations that make passive cooling effective and affordable in tropical climates creates cascading risks across interconnected human and natural systems. Key missing elements include durable performance, low lifetime cost, and governance arrangements capable of sustaining impact beyond pilot stages.