#62: (re)wind: Fariel Salahuddin on Innovating the Bartering Economy for the 21st Century

Welcome to THE IDEALISTS. rewind, where we revisit some of our favorite past episodes. This week’s rewind is Fariel Salahuddin, the founder and CEO of UpTrade, a bartering service which enables rural communities in Pakistan to exchange livestock for solar-powered water pumps and solar home systems. More than 40% of the people in Pakistan live off the grid and without lights in their homes, or  electricity to pump water. Women can spend up to four hours a day fetching water from distant wells. This episode was chosen by THE IDEALISTS. Head of Marketing, Alisa Jones, because Fariel shares her vision for an inclusive economy that values more than just fiat currency. The BBC calls her : "A business a solution for the desert" and Fariel is both a 2021 TED fellow and a 2019 finalist with Cartier's Women's Initiative.

In the episode:

– Fariel begins the conversation describing how UpTrade works and the ways she gets off-grid, rural communities to opt into bartering their goats for solar water pumps and solar home systems.

– She then shares what inspired her to start UpTrade and how her model is based on community and self agency versus traditional charity-focused interventions.

– Fariel then describes her vision for tech-enabled marketplaces that are not bound by fiat currency.

– Fariel ends the episode sharing her vision for rural, unbanked communities to be able to participate in the mainstream economy using the resources they have.

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