Entrepreneurs are everywhere.

Let’s hear it for supply chains. And micro loans. And sales agents on motorbikes. Let’s give people a chance to earn an income and buy aspirational products designed specifically for them. Let’s put our entrepreneurial spirit to work to inspire theirs.

Join us in solving global poverty

Since 1982

iDE has been putting business to work for the poor for more than three decades, using market based solutions to change the living conditions and livelihoods of millions of people around the globe.

20 Million More

We invite foundations, philanthropists, donors and social innovators to join us on a journey to transform 20 million more lives.

Become a 20 Million More Supporter

Solving Poverty with Profit.

Our founder, Paul Polak, was working in Somalia in the early eighties when he began to develop his philosophies and methodologies related to market-based solutions and human-centered design for solving poverty.

Today, we continue to build on those founding principles, living where we work, and always putting the needs of the poor and vulnerable at the center of everything we do.

We're on a mission to develop innovative and compassionate solutions for the most pressing needs in the developing world.

iDE enhances farmers’ ability to produce and sell fruits, vegetables, and grains sustainably. In doing so, we grow their incomes and the availability of food in their communities, region, and country.

Food Security

By promoting high-value, nutritious crops, iDE empowers farmers to earn more income and provide their families and communities with a more varied diet.

Nutrition

By focusing on women as customers and entrepreneurs, iDE strengthens their participation in rural value chains and increases their access to technology, know-how, finance, and markets.

Gender Equity

iDE helps people in rural areas build their resilience to climate extremes through the use of water saving and climate-smart agricultural technologies and practice.

Climate Resilience

Support from donors and foundations funds our efforts to directly address the parts of peoples’ lives that matter—we’re looking for what works, and you can help.

Diarrheal disease causes more deaths in children under five than malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV combined. iDE is taking on this disease by building markets for sanitation, clean water, and handwashing.

LEARN MORE ABOUT WASH

Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene

Small-scale farmers grow 80 percent of the food available in rural areas, so improving their productivity is key. iDE creates business opportunities that enable increased productivity and result in greater income.

LEARN MORE ABOUT AG

Agriculture for Entrepreneurs

iDE helps connect lenders and borrowers at the most rural level, leveraging the power of lots of little loans to improve living conditions.

LEARN MORE ABOUT FINANCE

Access to Finance

We have boots on the ground in eleven countries on three continents, and our teams live in the provinces, districts, and villages where we work.

Bangladesh

Since 1984, iDE has helped expand incomes and improve lives in Bangladesh.

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Burkina Faso

iDE is pioneering market-based solutions in west Africa.

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Cambodia

iDE builds market demand and supply for simple, low-cost products and services in Cambodia.

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Ethiopia

iDE’s solutions address the frequent droughts and humanitarian crises that lead to food insecurity in Ethiopia.

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Ghana

18 million people earn less than $2/day subsistence farming in Ghana.

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Honduras

Climate-smart technology and advice is increasing farmer incomes in Honduras.

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Mozambique

Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in Africa, with agriculture only a third of GDP.

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Nepal

iDE innovations with origins in Nepal include collection centers, multiple-use water systems, and more.

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Nicaragua

iDEal Technologias provides farmers cost-effective technology.

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Vietnam

iDE is partnering with the Vietnam government to address agriculture and WASH challenges.

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Zambia

Geographical isolation and limited infrastructure are barriers for rural farmers in Zambia.

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WHAT’S HAPPENING AT iDE

Advice to Innovators
"At iDE, we’ve learned that designing a service or experience can be a powerful tool to change behavior because it engages the audience directly in both the design and implementation," says Nadia Campos, Leader in Design, Research, & Strategy for Human-Centered Design projects within the iDE Innovation Lab. With a decade of experience in applying design-thinking to situations of extreme constraints, Nadia shares her advice to innovators.
June 26, 2017
Women have the power to turn fallow lands into productive farms
In rural Nepal, where electric grids are unreliable and diesel fuel is not always available, solar pumps are the solution. Land that was once considered too dry is now flourishing with the help of resource-smart irrigation technology. In partnership with Futurepump Ltd, we're bringing the SF1 Solar Pump to rural communities in Nepal and across the world.
July 14, 2017
Building resilience to famine in Ethiopia
In 2016, Ethiopia experienced the worst drought in 50 years. Famine seemed inevitable. However, nearly three decades of peace, a forward-looking government, a new food distribution system, and new agricultural practices prevented disaster. Learn how iDE works to help farmers build resilience to famine in Ethiopia.
August 3, 2017