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.”

Seeing is believing for entrepreneurial Ghanaians

Farmers powered by successful agricultural project

Shei is one of 146 farmers powered by the successful project known as Accelerating Impact of Food Security (AIFS) – which is part of iDE’s broader Korsung agricultural initiative, which translates as “good farming practices” in local language, Dagbani – which ran between April 2021 and March 2022.

Growing markets

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE: Expanding farm-to-business marketing in Mozambique

Mariana now has a business connecting farms directly to restaurants, ensuring that everyone benefits from increased service that ensures profit and better food.

Scientist. Humanitarian. Mother.

STAFF PROFILE: We’d like you to get to know Chiara, iDE’s Senior Advisor on Climate and Resilience.

STAFF PROFILE: Chiara Ambrosino is dedicated to finding sustainable ways for people to grow food in difficult climates. As iDE’s Senior Advisor on Climate and Resilience, she leads our country teams in strategies to build farmers’ resilience to climate change.

Learning and leading

STAFF PROFILE: Searching for the entrepreneurial spirit in FBA recruits

Llionel Simbarashe Zisengwe is in pursuit of the entrepreneurial spirit. He’s the project manager for a Farm Business Advisor program in Mozambique. He recruits Farm Business Advisors that are motivated, knowledgeable, personable, mobile, and successful farmers themselves.

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.

A fortunate son

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE: Improved toilets provide safety, dignity, and privacy in Ghana

The migration of young people from small villages and farms to the city opens up additional options for improving the lives of those who remain behind. Making improved toilets affordable can spur increasing sanitation coverage by marketing to this newly affluent group.

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.”

Less risky business

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE: Expanding micro-finance in Zambia

Farm Business Advisors are called on to perform many tasks. One of David Mbwita’s is to recommend his clients for small loans based on his understanding of their ability to repay.

Juddy rising

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE: Empowering female farmers in Zambia

Juddy has been working with John Muta, a Farm Business Advisor (FBA), for the past few years, and through talking with her we came to understand how the FBA program is affecting women’s empowerment in the household. Using the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI), which measures empowerment across domains ranging from decision-making power to control over income, we asked Juddy about her roles.

Beating blindness

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE: Marketing crops rich in vitamin-A in Ghana

Two farmers participate in a quantitative assessment by our iQ team, which will be paired with results from a qualitative deep dive administered by our Human-Centered Design team. We interviewed them to understand the successes and barriers to growing and selling a very specific kind of sweet potato: an orange-fleshed sweet potato, high in Vitamin A.

Plentiful plantains

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE: A farmer makes the switch from flood to drip irrigation

Nicaragua is known for its lakes and rivers—water scarcity has not been a problem until now. The rains are coming less frequently, and weather patterns are less predictable. Farmers like Candelario are having to pivot their practices—making such changes as switching from traditional flood irrigation to water-saving drip irrigation.

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.

Life beyond coffee

ENTREPRENEUR PROFILE: Doña Julia Rivera learns to diversify in Honduras

Doña Julia lives in a region of Honduras called Marcala, known for its high-quality coffee production. Undernourishment is a widespread problem among coffee farmers in this region. Normally, farmers only earn an income during the four months of coffee harvesting—leaving farmers eight months each year, known as the “thin months,” to survive on their coffee earnings.

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.

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