Global Oneness Project

Today, more than 1.2 billion people live in “extreme consumption poverty”. Seventy five percent of those people live in rural areas, have small plots of land and depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Solutions to rural poverty must therefore focus on these rural poor farmers.

Poverty is a multifaceted problem. IDE focuses on income generation in the belief that increased income provides a foundation for rural farm families to address other important needs, including education and medical care.

 

From experience, IDE has developed a unique market oriented approach to rural economic – Poverty Reduction through Irrigation and Smallholder Markets (PRISM) - see toolkit here and guidelines here. PRISM is a set of tools that are used to develop an understanding of the unique situation of the rural poor and to create sustainable solutions to rural poverty. PRISM creates sustainable opportunities through marketoriented interventions by: (1) creating networks of small enterprises to provide agricultural supplies needed by poor farmers; (2) working with farmers to improve smallfarm productivity; and (3) linking smallfarm families to markets for effective and sustainable poverty reduction.

Zambia: IDE analyzed opportunities for poor farmers to produce and market highvalue paprika and lemon grass crops, increasing net farmer income by more than $300.

Nepal In 2004, IDE trained 4,016 female and 5,277 male farmers in production of vegetables offseason for increased profits.

 

India: IDE created a robust market for lowcost drip irrigation kits. Suitable for small farm plots, these kits generate $800 annual for 28,203 very poor farmers.

IDE has identified 'Characteristics of Potential SubSectors for a PRISM Intervention'

 

• Large numbers of smallholders served
• Low risk to smallholders (see PRISM Toolkit for more information about smallholders’ risks)
• Short payback period
• Potential high income for smallholders
• Expanding market
• Full spectrum markets available, from lowend to highend, local to export (see PRISM Toolkit for more information)
• Key “logjams” in the value chain are easily identified and resolved at low cost.
• Low requirement for new knowledge by smallholders.
• More intensive crop management adds extra value.
• Positive or neutral environmental impact.
• Synergy with other interventions.