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.

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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.

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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

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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

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ETHIOPIA

| Agriculture resilience and dignity

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NEPAL

| Dealing with new pests

Three women's standing side-by-side in a farm field.
A women is making toilet seats in a rural area using clay and mud.

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

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GHANA

| Selling toilets to poor household


Recent News

  • You are helping women balance motherhood and entrepreneurship

    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…

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  • You’re creating a safe space to test ideas through the Polak Fund

    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…

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  • Salima’s Success

    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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  • Do You Dare?

    Do You Dare?

    The Polak Fund is risky. That’s the thing about big ideas. You don’t know if they’ll work or not until you test them. As Nadia Campos, iDE’s Director of Global Design says; the Polak Fund “was meant to support projects [and] experiments that other donors will never dare to do.” That’s why we are so…

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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.


Your support reaches to all corners of the world.