Fruits of Our Labor: A Nepal Case Study in Smallholder Wealth Creation
IDE is working with existing farmers groups who serve a key role as service providers to neighboring farmers in fulfilling the following two functions: 1) the channeling of technical and marketing information to small commercial horticulturists from government and other sources, and 2) the provision of linkages to private sector merchants for inputs purchases and produce sales. Three sets of key actors provide a range of integrated services to the rural smallholder (Table 2): 1) Agri-input dealers (agro-vets), 2) Vegetable traders, and 3) Lead farmers, who have been selected from the farmer groups and intensively trained to act as repositories of indigenous knowledge on local farm practice. In addition to this level of service provision, hardware provision of treadle pumps and drip irrigation technology is delivered through a supply chain network of manufacturers, distributors, assemblers, retailers, and on-site installers.
Approaching three years, the project has reached 7,097 smallhold farmers. The value chain providers trained and supported by the project thus far include 333 leader farmers, 91 agro-vets, 163 vegetable traders, 224 installers/masons, one treadle pump manufacturer, one drip irrigation assembler, and 25 drip/pump traders.
In Nepal, women are integral, active producers in rural farming systems. They comprise approximately 45 percent of the project beneficiaries and have observed positive changes in their quality of life since project participation. Household vegetable consumption and market sales have risen, thus improving the nutrition of family members while also boosting disposable income. Some women have noted additional family income now available for improved schooling of their children and investment in household assets including livestock. Most importantly, some women have noted an increased sense of self-confidence and social status due to their increasing economic independence from marketing high value crops.
Polak Wins Monito del Giardino Prize
(June 1, 2008) IDE Founder Paul Polak recently traveled to Florence, Italy, to accept the prestigious Il Monito del Giardino prize. The award, which included a €30,000 grant, is presented annually...
Polak's Out of Poverty Now Available
(February 15, 2008) In this hard-hitting new book,IDE Founder Paul Polak tells why traditional poverty eradication programs have fallen so short, and how he and his organization developed an alternative approach that has succeeded in lifting 17 million people out of poverty...
IDE Receives Second Grant From Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
(January 25, 2008) IDE today announced a grant of $27 million over four years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in support of its micro-irrigation programs for Indian smallholder farmers...
