>> hello and welcome to "global 3000," your weekly check on the issues that move our planet. i'm sabrina el ahl. the future of growth is one of the issues on the agenda at this year's deutsche welle global media forum in bonn. it is one of our topics today, and this is what else is coming up on the show. start-up aid for ramallah -- how a palestinian and an israeli work together to support i.t. companies. development aid put to the test how scientists measure and evaluate its effectiveness.

and solar potential -- how brazil is planning to increase its use of solar energy. and talking about potential -- indonesia has many waterways. so, hydro power would seem to be the perfect way to supply remote areas with electricity. at this point, only three quarters of indonesians have a power connection at all. we met a woman who is on a mission to change that. agricultural engineer tri mumpuni is raising money to build small water power stations around the country. >> the butterfly has given us an example that life has its cycles. the cycle of a butterfly is not very long. so, i can imagine, if people have the life cycle like a

butterfly, they will remember that nothing is really eternity. so, we have to remember that we have to do something good, because it's life-die, life-die, all the time like that. >> raising butterflies is tri mumpuni's hobby. everyone here calls her puni. this freshly-hatched specimen now has time to dry its wings. puni has other things to do. the village of cinta mekar -- puni and her husband iskandar feel at home here. most of the 5000 villagers subsist on a bit of farming. but every home has electricity. that's not to be taken for granted, because power connections are expensive. but this village has its own power plant. puni and iskandar installed it with the aid of foreign development funding. her non-profit organization,

ibeka, specializes in micro- hydropower plants that benefit villages, because there's plenty of water in indonesia. >> we only borrow the water to be diverted, just to use the energy of the water without taking the material of the water. so, it is still good for our ecosystem and our habitat. because after we use the water we put back the water in the same stream of the river. >> puni and iskandar divert only a little of all the water that comes from the mountains. the canal is 400 meters long. that makes the difference in elevation large enough to generate power. transmitted to the turbines, it supplies the entire village with electricity. >> it is not complicated, technically. but for me, it is much more complicated socially. because then it has to be run and operated by the community --

how to empower them to understand about this system and give them the responsibility to operate and maintain it. >> iskandar, an engineer, trains the villagers. now they run a three-shift system to supervise the plant. it generates about 3700 euros in revenue a month. puni had to fight for a long time before the government agreed to buy the power generated here from the villagers. >> we needed 6 years to pursue and push the government to put the policy in place. i am telling them all the time, i am a woman, i can wait, as long as i get what i want. what i want is the policy that makes it possible for the local farmer, local community, to sell their hydropower plant energy to the grid. so they can have an good income and they will have a good

welfare. >> what used to be the poorest village in the region now has the money to fund pupils from poor families. 200 children in this primary school alone get financial support for pencils, notebooks and uniforms. entrepreneurs also get support in the form of loans, provided they fulfill the community committee's criteria. >> we want to know about the business, what they need the money for. we want to see if the business plan is correct and if they will have enough to pay back. that is very important when they are proposing the loan. >> this young father is getting a million indonesian rupiahs, the equivalent of just under 100 euros. the way is now free for him to open a small clothing shop.

the capital, jakarta, is just a few hours' drive away. from here, puni coordinates her organization, ibeka, collecting donations from both domestic and foreign sponsors. this evening, she's on her way to a panel discussion at the invitation of the u.s. embassy. puni is now used to appearing in public. she decries the fact that indonesia is rich in natural resources but the population at large scarcely benefits from it. >> on one hand, i get so much privilege when i can share with the people in the rural and poor areas. on one hand, i don't think that when i have to be in a five star hotel, i met with many big shots, many great people, but this is how i have to adjust my

life. i am taking from the rich and giving to the poor. this is my intention in life. >> back in the village, 5:00 in the morning, when they can, puni and iskandar walk out here to see the sunrise. it's also a time to talk about new projects. they don't plan to rest until everyone in indonesia has access to electricity, and the money is distributed fairly.in >> electricity is just one of the essentials missing in the occupied palestinian territories. what makes matters worse is rising unemployment and too few companies willing to invest in this part of the world. although, we found one that is taking the risk. in the city of ramallah in the west bank, an israeli- palestinian company is currently raising funds to support i.t. start-up firms. for once, politics has taken a back-seat to progress.

>> you don't usually find civilian israelis here in ramallah on the west bank. but yadin kaufmann comes regularly on a special permit. when he does, he and his partner, saed nashef have a busy schedule. the first i.t. entrepreneurs of the day are already waiting for them. they now have an hour to present their start-up idea. and they know it could be a decisive hour -- if all goes well. >> it will be a dramatic change for our business, for our lives, because we count on this startup. this is the whole thing that we are doing in our life, currently. >> their business idea is an internet portal for lawyers -- well-educated, ambitious, and highly motivated. there are many young people like them in ramallah.

what they lack is money, seed capital. yadin kaufmann and saed nashef founded sadara, the first venture capital fund for palestinian i.t. companies. kaufmann played a significant role in israel's rise as a top start-up nation. now he's supporting young palestinians. >> they certainly have the talent to participate in this knowledge-based economy, that has had a tremendous impact on israel -- on the economy, on foreign relations, on the society as well, and i think similar things can happen here. >> the fund has collected about $30 million from the european investment bank, major i.t. players like cisco systems, and israeli companies. the donors believe it will succeed and generate a good return, despite all the political tension. >> we are investing in software, which is unlike agro business or real estate or even telecom for that sense is more resilient actually to any political

realities that might happen in the region. but at the end of the day, we do sometimes run into political sensitivities and we have to figure out how to manage that. >> the border between the west bank and israel -- a high wall and separation barriers that israel considers a guarantee of safety. for the palestinians, it's a constraint on their freedom of movement. and there's no political movement either. economically there is, at least in the i.t. sector. we visit yamsafer. it's one of two companies in which sadara has already invested. a million dollars means the founders of this travel portal now have the leeway to develop their online booking business. and with nashef and kaufmann, they have two experienced businessmen on board. they believe in the company's potential and in the impact a business success story would

have. >> what is going to give it a big push is when we have one or two successful palestinian start-ups and then people will see not only can they start a company and raise money, but they can also really do something. >> and that could change the entire economic structure in the long term. >> part of what we want to do or want to accomplish is to help the economy transition from its dependency on foreign aid to really become a business-based, innovation-based economy. >> and another premiere -- the first meeting of the fast forward business incubator, a hot-house for start-ups. it's crowded. the scene is growing. the start-up founders who qualified to attend have to face a lot of critical questions on their ideas -- from successful entrepreneurs from silicon valley and saudi arabia. shadi issa is glad to answer questions.

his business idea is a website for cooking events. >> it makes us work, keeps us busy. instead of doing it in months, it will make us do it in 5 weeks and find all the answers. >> it's something new, but it will be a good experience. >> a small wave of optimism in ramallah. >> i've been talking politics and hearing politics every day since i was a little kid and nothing is changing over here. but i think it's actually about time that we take things in our hands and do something about our lives. >> ramallah, a start-up hub. conditions are still far from rosy -- not enough seed capital, too much red tape -- and the legal situation is still uncertain. but things are happening. >> fingers crossed that it stays that way in an area that belongs to the poorest in the world. every year, industrialized nations provide development aid for poor countries. but whether the money is actually enough remains controversial.

in fact, there are a number of questions that are still up in the air. like, is it applied where it is most needed? the french scientist esther duflo is testing new methods of distributing aid. >> esther duflo is on the way to her research project in west bengal, with her partner abhijit banerjee and the head of an ngo, who's taking them to an impoverished village. they've brought shoes, toys, and exercise books as start-up capital for businesses these people are supposed to build up. it's all part of a program the french-born economist is evaluating. riza bibi is getting some goats, goats.hopefully they'll breed and become a big herd. she'll have two years to use the goats to improve her living standards -- by selling their milk, cheese and skins. [applause] after the two years, for duflo, the project will be over. hopefully by then, riza will have built up some kind of livelihood for herself.

>> until now, i've only been able to eat once a day. i hope that will change. i'm grateful that, god willing, i'll be able to improve my live. -- life. >> esther duflo is a professor of economics in boston, massachusetts. she wants to put development aid on a scientific basis and not leave success to chance. so, she's doing research into what's had a lasting effect and what hasn't. her methods are radical. she chooses test subjects randomly and divides them into groups. some are accepted into the respective project and some are not. after a while, she compares them. in essence, she's conducting a randomized controlled trial, a method used in clinical research. >> once you have a particular program or an action or a way of finding a program, you want to find out whether it has a positive impact or a negative impact. but knowing whether things work

or don't work is a useful input in designing the next thing. >> duflo says that in the field of development aid results are measured, counted and compared far too rarely. few aid organizations assess their projects and if they do, they tend to overlook failure instead of investigating its causes. duflo doesn't reject traditional aid, but she does give it bad marks. >> often when you look at how aid works in practice, it is the case that there is this big -- there is this tendency of the aid industry to sustain itself. and then it's being pushed on the back of the aid money everywhere they can, and without necessarily much appreciation of the reality in the field and how it's going to be implemented in the field and what it corresponds to. >> with her partner, esther duflo coordinates a worldwide network of sociologists and economists.

since 2003, she's conducted more than 300 randomized controlled trials around the world. one of the most significant involved micro-financing. a lot of hopes were pinned on these small-scale loans, but she found that while they made poverty more bearable, they did little more than that. we go to germany, to the offices of deval, the newly established institute for development evaluation, in bonn's former government district. duflo's methods are on everyone's lips, but there's also criticism. >> you can't reach a reasonable conclusion on causes and effects just by using randomized controlled groups in the villages of x and y and then going to villages z1, z2, and z3. that's pretty certainly the wrong approach in terms of scientific theory. you can also describe causes and their effects in qualitative terms.

so, there are other ways to obtain findings. >> deval is one of the few institutes in europe created to scientifically assess the effectiveness of aid. it receives 5 million euros annually from the german government. >> a basic problem with development aid is certainly that a lot of it is well intended, but it takes too little account of what we call the parameters -- the system of government in the country, which includes corruption, excessive bureaucracy, and so on. >> deval is currently working on 15 evaluation projects. preliminary results are due to be released in a year or two. back in west bengal, esther duflo is at a training session for newcomers to business life. here, women are being taught how to sell goods and encouraged to

try out new business ideas. duflo has long been a celebrity in her field. she's listed among the world's hundred most influential people, but her methods are controversial and some of her colleagues say they're unethical, and that she uses people as guinea pigs. she denies that. >> what is unethical is to continue spending the money in ways that somehow -- one fine day, you wake up with an idea and you just throw a lot of money at it that you could have spent so much more usefully. to me, that's the big ethical problem. >> as the day comes to an end, duflo meets this fruit vendor, who used to be a rubbish scavenger. since she's been in the program, things have been better. >> i hope that in the future i'll be able to give my children two meals a day and not become homeless again and have to rummage through trash. i want to give my children a more decent life than i've ever

had. >> it's time for aid measures to be assessed independently. but science alone won't find a magic bullet to eliminate poverty. >> our next report is taking us to brazil, the country with the highest population in south america. this, together with plenty of sunshine, makes it the perfect spot to profit from solar energy which is a relatively new trend in brazil. but one that is paying off. with german support, the country is expanding one of its older plants to become the biggest yet. >> it all began in the bay of florianopolis. on the island of ratones grande stands one of brazil's oldest solar power plants, built by ricardo rüther. his plant supplies the

historical fortress with electricity. the professor of renewable energy installed it fifteen years ago. what has happened since then? >> well, it developed a lot. originally, most of the installations were like this, with batteries, isolated systems, where the grid doesn't come, and now it's starting to pick up more in the grid connected areas, but these stand-alone systems are still very important for rural areas, where you don't have access to the utility grid. >> florianopolis, on the atlantic ocean, is a city with 500,000 residents, almost all of whom travel by car. it's grown considerably in the past few years, and more than anything, it gets plenty of sunlight. that's why brazil's largest photovoltaic plant is being set up here.

the one megawatt roof-top system will crown the building of the power generation company eletrosul. part of it's already been installed, and tours for schoolchildren are being conducted twice a week. >> here on the roof there are flat silicon panels. silicon is a material you find in stones. the sun shines on them and the light is converted into electrical power. in brazil, it's still a matter of informing people about solar energy. the school children here are experiencing it first hand. nine such demonstration plants are currently being built on the premises. starting in august, they'll be generating 550 kilowatts of solar power -- and the roof-top units will produce another 450 kilowatts on top -- a megawatt in all. >> something completely new is being created here. not just for us at eletrosul, but for all brazil. we're building a solar plant on the grounds of a public

corporation. that's never happened before. it will be the first large-scale solar power plant in brazil, and we're doing this in cooperation with the kfw. >> the kfw, germany's development bank, is funding the project -- not as a loan but as a gift. they're plowing 2.8 million euros into it. without that money, the project wouldn't be profitable for eletrosul. it would be too expensive, compared to other energy sources. >> it's about triggering projects and markets. the 2.8 million is a comparatively small sum when you consider the kind of market that could develop here, and the climate-friendly effect, from which german industry can ultimately also profit if it can sell its products competitively here. >> until just recently, these photovoltaic panels would have

cost twice as much. the drop in prices in the sector makes solar power competitive even against hydro power. at least once a week eletrosul manager franklin fabricio lago flies out to his building sites. the power company is building several small plants. brazil gets about 80% of its electricity from hydro power. that makes the country the frontrunner in renewable energy. but in periods of drought, like the one ten years ago, that source of energy isn't reliable. >> we need to diversify brazil's power portfolio. we have to be able to draw on all the natural energy resources, if only to satisfy the growing demands of the brazilian economy.

>> energy flows are coordinated in the company's headquarters. it's possible many small power generation suppliers may soon be added to the portfolio. german energy consultants are lending a hand. the aim is to give private customers what they need to feed surplus solar power they produce into the grid. a new law was created in december to this end. >> it's already been described as a paradigm shift, because brazil's power supply was very centrally organized. now it's being decentralized for the first time. nowadays customers can feed power directly into the grid which has now been opened to them and so they can reduce their power bills. >> the new legislation is another reason the solar power industry is facing a sea change in brazil. at the university, there's an old solar power unit. professor ricardo rüther

sometimes takes students up onto the roof. the renewable energy degree course doesn't just cover technology but also business and management. >> because of recent legislation now we are starting to have more projects. and so, there is a lot of interest picking up, because there is the prospect of having large solar power plants in brazil. >> brazil's economy is currently growing by just 1%. but 1% growth requires a gigawatt of extra power -- a thousand times what the planned solar plant in florianopolis will generate. >> so, there is still plenty of work ahead. to find out more on our stories, please visit our website. we're back next week. until then, take care and goodbye. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

>> the bill is passed. [applause] >> after two days of parliamentary debate, ireland votes to legalize abortion in limited cases. the other top stories here. police and protesters clash as thousands walked out and what is expected to be brazil's biggest strike in 23 years. the latest revelations from edward snowden, microsoft accused of collaborating with the u.s. i