Powering entrepreneurs
to end poverty.
iDE Canada creates income and livelihood opportunities in developing countries around the world. We invest in local entrepreneurship, building businesses with a focus on agriculture and sanitation. With access to the right products, services and advice, farmers can transform their small farms into small businesses. With access to research and development, sanitation business owners can produce the life-saving products their customers want.
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Read about how the seeds of your generosity are growing around the world in our latest newsletter!
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Join our community of caring monthly donors, called the Activators Circle, and provide reliable support to entrepreneurs and innovators each month.
JOINInnovate forImpact
iDE’s founder, Paul Polak, practiced and preached the importance of starting with people. With your support, local iDE teams use Human Centered Design to engage deeply with the people and communities we serve.
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Our Initiatives
Innovate for Impact
iDE’s founder, Paul Polak, practiced and preached the importance of starting with people. With your support, local iDE teams use Human Centered Design to engage deeply with the people and communities we serve.
Innovation Fund Projects
Cambodia
| The Paul Polak Innovation Fund
Transform Smallholder Farming
Small-scale farmers grow 80% of the food available in rural areas but often live in poverty. Your support helps farmers increase their incomes by ensuring they have access to markets, high-quality seed and affordable irrigation.
Agricultural Projects
ETHIOPIA
| Agriculture resilience and dignity
NEPAL
| Dealing with new pests
Stop Diarrhea
Diarrhea kills over half a million under-5 children every year – more than malaria, tuberculosis and HIV combined. Diarrhea deprives many millions of children of the nutrients they need to reach their full physical and mental potential.
Sanitation Projects
GHANA
| Selling toilets to poor household
See More Projects
Recent News
Monowara is a tailor and changemaker for her community!
Meet Monowara Begum, a single mother of two and entrepreneur from Bangladesh. Through donors’ generous support, she was able to connect with iDE and got the education and training she needed to build a successful tailoring business. In her own words: “Now, I can take care of my family’s needs and send my children to…
You are helping women balance motherhood and entrepreneurship
Maybe you can relate to this? Many women in Zambia, Ethiopia and Ghana noted the challenge of dividing their time between various roles — mother, wife, homemaker, and income earner. We heard this over and over again in interviews for Her Time to Grow, our project supporting women in agriculture — a project you passionately…
You’re creating a safe space to test ideas through the Polak Fund
Have you ever been nervous about trying something new? Did you have a safety-net in place if something didn’t go as planned? Since 2021, your support has been providing a safety-net for innovators and entrepreneurs through iDE’s Paul Polak Innovation Fund. Thanks to your generous donations, the Polak Fund has distributed 50 awards in 11…
Salima’s Success
“How am I going to pay rent?” Thoughts like this were what kept Salima Nosiku up at night. A Zambian mother of two, she sold farm supplies, but her store was too small, and sales were slow. Without enough income, she was at risk of losing her store and the ability to provide for her…
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Our Partners
iDE Canada creates income and livelihood opportunities in developing countries around the world. We invest in local entrepreneurship, building businesses with a focus on agriculture and sanitation.
We would like to thank the Government of Canada and Manitoba Council for International Cooperation for their generous financial support.
From donkey carts and treadle pumps to solar pumps and smartphone applications, iDE has made it their mission to power a revolution for farmers in some of the world’s most challenging markets. I have seen the incredible impact of new solutions designed with and for small farmers.
Len Penner, iDE Canada Board Chair (2020)
“This change inspired me to share the knowledge and experience I got with other farmers in my community and I will help them to start cultivating improved varieties and vegetables with irrigation during the dry season.”
Beletu Bacha Kimbibit, Ethiopia
Simon Tuuteug’s joy is contagious. His profits this past year have soared and his small farm in Ghana is supporting his family in ways it never has before. He says, “I am very happy to work with iDE – they showed me new ways to farm and now I am seeing the good results.”
Simon Tuuteug, Ghanaian farmer (2015)
“My grandfather started donating to iDE in the early 80s when the organization was just finding its way. We continue to support the organizations that were important to him and we understand why he is so passionate about iDE and the difference it makes.”
Marlon Kuhl, third generation iDE supporter (2018)
Getting involved with iDE in the Sama Sama program in Ghana has been both exciting and satisfying for us. It really feels good to make a difference in the world by helping bring positive changes to families in rural Ghana!
