In Nepal, Earthworms Foster Entrepreneurship For Bimala

How organic waste is helping communities thrive in the Himalayas.

Bimala from Chisapani, Nepal, has transformed her family's life through an agricultural vermicomposting project. Now a successful entrepreneur, she supports her family, shares her agricultural knowledge with her community, and advocates for women's financial independence through farming.

Single Mother Builds Her Agricultural Supply Business After Earning The Trust of Farmers

“I provide an important service to the farmers. When they encounter problems with their crops, they call me or bring me the infected plants to look at.”

Sieng Sophanna, a mother of three, increased her family's income when she opened a small shop. After enrolling in the iDE agribusiness accelerator, she boosted her skill set, which has helped her grow her business and build trust with her clients.

Despite Social Barriers, a Bangladeshi Mother Finds Success as an Entrepreneur

Momena opened a thriving small business and wants other women to do the same

With more than four decades of experience, iDE believes incubating and enabling women-led businesses will significantly accelerate human progress and deliver economic benefits for underserved communities.

Bridging Borders: The Role of Climate-Resilient Sanitation in Global Peace and Sustainability

24 August 2024

Published by CLIMATE RESILIENT SANITATION COALITION on August 24, 2024

Ensuring that sanitation systems are robust and adaptable to climate challenges is not only essential for safeguarding public health but also for promoting regional stability and sustainable development.

iDE project spices up earnings for Nepali entrepreneurs

To recover from the COVID shock, iDE clients in the agri-food value chain were supported with business training, loans and labor-saving machinery

With funding provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia, targeted 8 million low income people in rural areas across India, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Market-Based Menstrual Solutions Can Unlock Options for Women and Girls

Addressing the needs of menstruators around the world

At iDE, we power entrepreneurs to end poverty, including period poverty. To be successful, it is essential to create an ecosystem of products and services that are designed by women and menstruators for women and menstruators.

Sanitation Marketing Scale-Up (SMSU)

Timeline: 2009 - 2023 | Budget: $30.8 million | Country: Cambodia

Rolled out across seven provinces, the program facilitated the installation of more than 410,000 latrines, delivering access to improved sanitation for one in five rural Cambodian households.

I De Photo Hero Np Childcare Center 21X9

To earn a living Nepali women leave gender norms and housebound stereotypes behind

iDE is engaged in a broad effort across rural Nepal to support women becoming small scale entrepreneurs

As part of a broad effort across rural Nepal, iDE is engaged in a range of gender transformative projects that support women to become small scale entrepreneurs.

Business training provided to women under a new iDE Cambodia program

iDE plans to further roll out SHE’s expertise in training and coaching women entrepreneurs

By focusing on women entrepreneurs, iDE and the SHE program can empower whole communities, boosting prosperity and wellbeing.

Cambodian children encouraged to eat nutritious foods

With funding from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, iDE rolls out global effort to improve nutritional outcomes for rural families

Despite Cambodia's economic growth, substantial progress, socio-economic and gender inequalities persist, hampering people's access to a nutritious diet, according to the World Food Programme.

Women find vocation cleaning up Cambodia's floating villages

iDE is powering locals to monetize the collection of plastic

One third of project project funding is aimed at WASH interventions, which support efforts of small-scale entrepreneurs to build flood-resistant, pour-and-flush pit latrines, distribute water filters, and manage solid waste.

Regenerative Agriculture Helps Nepali Farms Bloom

iDE is powering farmers to protect the environment using natural remedies

By intervening at critical entry points, iDE Nepal is working hard to promote the integration of traditional ecological knowledge with modern agricultural practices among last mile entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers.

iDE Cambodia WASH Publications

The resources below were developed through multiple partnerships. We're making them accessible here in the spirit of knowledge sharing and toward fostering collaborative approaches to various SDGs.

Sharing resources for a better way forward

Building a circular economy to clean up plastic waste

Vietnamese effort sees trash turned into building materials and tote bags

Named a finalist for the P3 Impact Award, the US$1.6 million project, funded by Denmark’s Danida Market Development Partnership, aims to transform Danang’s plastic waste into everything from boards used to construct buildings, to designer carry bags, sold by socially-conscious brands around the world.

Agricultural value chain bears fruit

How adopting a new crop helped boost incomes and climate resilience of Cambodian farmers

The World Bank says improving the performance of agricultural value chains in emerging countries like Cambodia will be crucial to ending poverty and hunger, boosting shared prosperity, and stewarding the world’s natural resources.

Sanitation coverage radically increased across the country

The nation leads the world in reducing the rate of open defecation with household sanitation coverage as high as 88 percent in target provinces

Following a concerted effort by national and subnational governments, iDE and other partner organizations have joined forces to radically increase improved sanitation coverage and end the practice of defecating in the open.

Bangladeshi entrepreneurs create market for latrines

iDE’s most ambitious sanitation program to date aims to provide toilets for more than 1 million households

“At first, I thought iDE might purchase products from me like other NGOs,” says Mubeen, “But after participating in the training, I understood. They were here to show me how to grow my business.”

Entrepreneur Unleashes Latent Power Of Local Markets

Farmer uncomfortable knowing middlemen were profiting handsomely

Working as a cashew farmer in central Cambodia, In Laihout, 40, was uncomfortable with the fact that most of her crop was being exported to Vietnam where it was being processed and then on-sold by traders to bulk buyers at a significant profit.

Because there weren’t many processing centers in her low-income region, farmers like her were selling their cashews for small margins, only to see these foreign traders capitalize on their hard work and lack of local value chains.

But instead of accepting the situation, Laihout decided to start her own cashew collecting and processing business, initially working through a farmers’ association and community processing center in her village in Kampong Thom province, paying local farmers a fair price for their product and processing it herself.

Sylhet’s Resilient Market Ecosystem

Bangladeshi Region Characterized by Sufi Shrines and a Changing Climate

This Sylhet market ecosystem map shows the location of more than 2,360 iDE-powered touchpoints – local business advisors, livestock service providers, agricultural collection points, sales agents, entrepreneurs and latrine producers – all engaging with market actors, communities, and individuals – spread across Sylhet.

Nutrition Boosted By Income Generation in Bangladesh

Most households receiving training on poultry farming

Farhana Yeasmin, 24, remembers what it was like when her husband was the family’s sole earner. Because he was a day laborer and made little money, they struggled to even pay for basics. And if he couldn’t find work, the family sometimes skipped meals.

I De Global Nep Anukulan Nepalese Women Fetched 21 X9

Nepali Women Fetched Water Before Daybreak

But an iDE program now pipes it to their villages

Kamala Magar’s day began before dawn. The Nepali farmer would get up and walk miles in the cold to fetch water for her family. It would take her most of the morning to retrieve just one jar, which she’d use to make breakfast before setting out for more.

I De Global Cambodia Key Project Csmart Hero

Climate-smart farming pays off

Innovative program focuses on increasing profits for small-scale farmers

By improving access to technical assistance, market information, quality inputs, and new technologies, iDE increases value-chain efficiency and competitiveness to benefit small-scale farmers.

Addressing two health crises at once

In order to continue selling latrines to rural villagers, iDE first addresses their concerns about COVID-19, combating misinformation about the vaccine and the spread of the disease.

iDE first addresses rural Cambodians concerns about COVID-19, combating misinformation about the vaccine and the spread of the disease, before we talk about the importance of latrines to their village's sanitation.

Expanding Nepal's Business Access to Improved Technologies for Agriculture (ENBAITA)

Post Project Sustainability, Impacts, and Food Security During the COVID-19 Crisis

Utilizing the ENBAITA networks is a proven and cost effective way to help Nepal agriculture to recover from COVID-19 and to re-invigorate trading and exchange between Nepal and India to support food security in Nepal.

How gender affects sales

Research suggests that matching sales agent gender to different target households can increase sanitation uptake

Building resilience through hubs of commercial activity

A foundation for stability and growth in Nepal

To build Nepalese farmers’ resilience, iDE engages in what we’ve termed the “Commercial Pocket Approach.”

Why cloud-based business applications are the future of international development

iDE brings real-time data and entrepreneurial thinking to successfully tackle global poverty issues

iDE is using state-of-the-art business analytics tools to flexibly adapt to the market to drive increasing sanitation coverage.

New growth yields new hope

Lors Thmey social enterprise helps smallholder farmers improve the quality, quantity, and diversity of their production.

Lors Thmey operates as a business unit within iDE Cambodia with a mission to improve the economic resilience of poor rural households.

Hope & Water On Tap

A Donor Story by Tom and Gayané Ebling

Published by Tom Ebling on December 5, 2017

The Eblings joined iDE and 11 other guests on a trip to Nepal and Bhutan where they saw how their support has enabled iDE to deliver transformative programming in Nepal.

Resource-smart technology

Bridging the design gap between the developed and developing worlds

Understanding that small-scale farming families have severe resource limitations, iDE works to help minimize the pressure on labor, income, water, and energy by identifying and re-designing technologies existing at the intersection of these four resources, which can have a life-changing impact on struggling farmers.

We’re making big waves

Celebrating a milestone: 200,000 toilets sold in just 18 months

Microentrepreneurs have sold 200,000 toilets in just 18 months. This is a major milestone—for iDE’s WASH team and for our partners, who dedicated two years to lay the foundation for this market system, and then a year and a half to catalyze sales.

We can work it out

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE: Rethinking subsidy options in Bangladesh

Intelligent use of subsidies can make a real difference for the lives of the very poor without distorting the market. But it takes an understanding of the context to get it right.

The future now

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE: Trying to keep up with demand in Cambodia

Better outputs require better inputs, which is why iDE's Farm Business Advisors sell high-quality seeds to their clients.

From treadle to solar

STAFF PROFILE: Badrul Alam is leading the next wave of innovation in agricultural technology

“The solar pump is very interesting to me. So far, all of the pumps I have seen and known have been powered by man, animal, wind, diesel, or electricity, and they rely on many fast-moving parts. This pump is different because it has no moving parts, and the source of energy is the sun.”

Tunnel vision

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE: Increasing production despite changing weather patterns in Nepal

Gita Pariyar lives in Lahachok village, within the Kaski district of central Nepal. She is raising 2 daughters and a son while her husband works as a laborer in the Middle East. A member of the disadvantaged Dalit community, she helps supplement her family’s income through agriculture. But she’s noticed a change in the rainfall in Nepal.

From skeptic to change agent

A government employee embraces the market in Vietnam

Building markets for sanitation always has challenges, but the conditions in Vietnam provide particular barriers. From the top levels of Vietnam’s communist leadership to local government employees, iDE needed to overcome negative perceptions of sales and marketing in order to drive latrine adoption and behavior change.

Poor people can, and do, pay for toilets

Building momentum toward open defecation free status in Cambodia

iDE is expanding sanitation coverage to everyone in Cambodia through an innovative program that makes toilets attractive and affordable to all people, including the rural poor.

Pigging out

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE: Ho Thi Hiu earns a profit raising pigs

A mother of five, Ho Thi Hiu used to supplement her household’s meager income by growing rice. She would also make a small profit by buying piglets in a nearby town, raising them, and selling them fully-grown. But raising pigs is no easy task.

iDE Ex Vietnam Planting On Straight and Narrow

Planting on the straight and narrow

Changing agricultural methods to increase yields sustainably in Vietnam

Compared to mainstream fertilizers and air-borne applications, Fertilizer Deep Placement produces 40% less chemical runoff and 30% fewer greenhouse gas emissions. It also increases yields, leading to a win-win for the farmer and for the environment.

A latrine to be proud of

Increasing hygienic practices in Vietnam

Mr. Nhai, whose village lies in Tuyen Quang, is a happy recipient of iDE sanitation information. “I wish I had known that it was this cheap to have a clean latrine long ago,” he said with a smile.

Carrying capacity

Multiple-Use Water Systems deliver benefits

In addition to dramatically decreasing the workload of women and girls, Multiple-Use Water Systems provide benefits in health and sanitation, enabling communities to improve their decisions on the allocation of water resources.

Active listening

Community Business Facilitators achieve sanitation sales in Nepal

Nepal is one of the poorest countries in South Asia and still has large gaps in sanitation coverage. Despite gradual improvements, only about 43 percent of the population has access to toilets, while more than half the population continues to defecate openly.

Farming is a business

Cambodia Agribusiness Development Facility (CADF) focuses on increasing the profit of small-scale commercial farmers

By improving access to technical assistance, market information, quality inputs, and new technologies, iDE increases value-chain efficiency and competitiveness to benefit small-scale farmers.

A system solution for sanitation

Building a winning team of donors in Bangladesh

By using a portfolio approach, iDE demonstrates and delivers effective solutions that meet the goals of multiple partners and stakeholders, such as improved sanitary latrine coverage in populous Bangladesh.

Drip+ Alliance

Affordable drip irrigation plus a comprehensive set of tools

What if one million farmers could grow more food with less water?

iDE Ex Bangladesh Key Agriculture Project

Seeding the market with the right agricultural technologies

Increasing crop yields through dynamic private sector partnerships.

Axial flow pumps, power-tiller operated seeders, and mechanical reapers have the potential to transform farming practices by increasing precision and conserving resources. iDE works with local entrepreneurs who can ensure farmers have access to these machines.

Building a business case for improved toilets

Private sector engagement in Bangladesh

In rural Bangladesh, about 40 million people live without access to adequate toilets. But RFL Plastics Ltd., a regional plastics manufacturer, hadn’t identified these households as a potential customer base until they formed a partnership with iDE.

Power in numbers

Forming groups can improve farmers' access to markets

A farmer acting alone will often have to settle for less money in the small window of opportunity she has for selling. But what if this farmer can join with her neighbors, pooling their crops together to share storage and transportation costs, and provide a more attractive package for large buyers?

Empowering local government

Open defecation is a major problem in Cambodia, leading to waterborne diseases that claim the lives of nearly 10,000 children yearly. In 2008, the Cambodian government set sanitation as a priority in order to improve people’s standard of living.

Clean hands, better lives

Designing handwashing solutions

The biggest barrier to handwashing is not always the availability of water or soap, but rather knowledge. Making the connection between dirty hands and disease is the first step.

Infiltrating the market with clean water

iDE’s social enterprise, Hydrologic, won the 2018 Unilever Global Development Award!

Having safe water improves the situation of women and children, who are often responsible for fetching and boiling water.

Every family deserves a toilet

For the 40 percent of the people on the planet who do not have a toilet, acquiring one would mean keeping your one-year-old child from developing diarrhea and possibly dying from it.

Profit is about more than money

Social enterprises provide community benefits through a sustainable business model

Most people think that the business of businesses is making money. And while profit is at the heart of entrepreneurship, in many cases a business can be about so much more.

Design for humans by humans

Farmers are more likely to invest their money in a solution that comes from their own ideas, and from their true aspirations. iDE uses Human Centered Design to engage with the market to reveal those needs and desires to design solutions that people want to buy and entrepreneurs want to sell. Those solutions are more likely to be sustainable and cost-effective, too.

Going the last mile

Getting to most of the world’s population isn’t easy. The road that takes you there isn’t paved, but a dirt path, overgrown with vegetation, barely big enough to get your bicycle or motor bike down. In some seasons, the path becomes mud, sucking at your tires and shoes, making each yard a chore. But if we are going to solve poverty, this is the most important distance to travel: the Last Mile.

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