  
IDE has been a pioneer and innovator in market-based development since 1981 internationally, and since 1994 in Cambodia
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Focus on income poverty
Making markets serve the poor
Water as an entry point
IDE core competencies
Effective use of donor resources
Focus on Income Poverty
Poverty is a multi-faceted problem arising from a variety of interrelated factors: economic, political, social, cultural, and environmental. IDE focuses primarily on income poverty because of its fundamental connection to other aspects and causes of poverty. Increased income provides a foundation from which the poor can access food, housing, health, education, and other necessities to begin an upward spiral out of chronic deprivation and vulnerability. Addressing income poverty is a practical starting point from which to attack a broad range of issues surrounding poverty.
Making Markets Serve the Poor
Markets can have a powerful positive impact on the lives of the rural poor. IDE has observed that the most successful rural households—those who have lifted themselves out of abject poverty—are those who participate more fully in markets by purchasing more inputs, making effective use of technical knowledge and market information, and developing stable linkages to output markets.
In our programs, IDE helps create market conditions that enable the rural poor to become successful market participants. Concepts and practices usually associated with private business are applied to the problem of poverty as IDE works to:
- Identify market opportunities that can be exploited by poor people
- Develop products and services that help the poor to generate income
- Establish supply chains to deliver pro-poor products and services at affordable prices
- Conduct social marketing campaigns to raise awareness and generate demand for
pro-poor products and services
IDE works to facilitate sustainable market systems in which all participants, especially poor households, receive a fair profit or other tangible benefit.
| Enterprises that provide the goods, services, information, and credit required for smallholder agricultural production
| Household production unit that utilizes inputs to cultivate crops for consumption and for sale to markets
| Enterprises that provide the goods, services, and information required to move small farm production from field to consumers at economically rewarding prices.
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In order to participate effectively in markets, smallholders must overcome certain constraints, including access to water, appropriate technologies, agricultural inputs, credit, and information. By assisting smallholders to overcome these barriers, IDE helps integrate them into agricultural markets—both as consumers of products and services and as producers of saleable crops—with the end result being increased incomes and improved livelihoods.
Water as an Entry Point
Scarce water resources and/or a lack of control over water resources are pervasive constraints facing a majority of rural households in Cambodia. Water is critical to a smallholder’s ability to generate income and escape cycles of sickness and poverty:
- Irrigation water provides a basis for increased agricultural production and market
participation,
- Clean drinking water is directly related to the health and productivity of smallholder
family members.
For these reasons, water is an effective and strategic entry point for addressing rural poverty. Simple, low-cost, micro-irrigation technologies become the starting point for improving agricultural production and increasing market participation. Accessible hand pumps, water filters, and health information improve family well-being and reduce medical costs.
IDE Core Competencies
- Value Chain Analysis. Identifying and analyzing market opportunities that benefit the rural
poor.
- Design and Development. Appropriate pro-poor products and services that
address constraints faced by rural households.
- Enterprise Development. Strengthening the ability of micro- and small enterprises to better
serve rural markets.
- Social Marketing. Raising awareness and stimulating demand for pro-poor products and
services.
Effective Use of Donor Resources
Donor funds are not used to subsidize hardware or services; instead they are used to lay the foundations for demand-driven, self-financing market systems.
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