"I agree with Jenny Rhode- iDE has lifted over 17 million people out of poverty with their low-cost appropriate technology products such as the Treadle Pump, the Ceramic Water Filter, Affordable Drip Irrigation and Water Storage systems. iDE was…"
Paul Polak and team's Discussions
What advice would you give for achieving success at the BoP?
14 Replies
Over the past…Continue
Tags: Paul Polak, Technology, Design, BoP
Started this discussion. Last reply by Business Fights Poverty Feb 8.
Paul Polak and team's Page
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Paul Polak and team replied to Zahid Torres-Rahman's discussion Can anyone share good examples of businesses partnering to promote sustainable water management?
Isaac Twumasi Quantus left a comment for Paul Polak and team"Hi Paul,
I am really happy to see you here with with this great profile. As a Ghanaian, I think we can collaborate and get your expertise in Ghana..
Do you say?
Isaac."
Paul Polak and team replied to Zahid Torres-Rahman's discussion Can anyone share good examples of businesses partnering to promote sustainable water management?"SNAPSHOT
Spring Health is bringing safe drinking water to hard-to-reach communities in northeast India through its innovative kiosk model. Spring Health employees travel by motorcycle to rural villages to purify water tanks with liquid chlorine. The…"
Paul Polak and team replied to Paul Polak and team's discussion Achieving success at the BoP?"Hi Fernando,
Interesting stuff! In particular, does the BOP Global Network have a twitter account? We would love to check it out and use it as a way to keep updated!
Best,
Christina
Paul Polak Team"
Paul Polak and team replied to Paul Polak and team's discussion Achieving success at the BoP?"Steve,
Very interesting information, thank you for sharing! Paul would agree that Profit is important, especially in reaching scale.
Best,
Christina
Paul Polak Team"
Paul Polak and team replied to Paul Polak and team's discussion Achieving success at the BoP?"Hello Loren,
I don't know if you've heard of them, but International Development Enterprises (IDE), a nonprofit founded by Paul Polak, works a lot with rural farmers and irrigation.
Agricultural development is definitely an important way…"
Paul Polak and team replied to Paul Polak and team's discussion Achieving success at the BoP?"Hello Olivier,
It is great to hear about 3xBL! What you have written nicely mirrors a lot of what Paul writes and speaks about, particularly on profit, understanding the specific contexts, branding, and the idea that "If somebody has already…"
Paul Polak and team replied to Paul Polak and team's discussion Achieving success at the BoP?"Hello Mike,
Paul would definitely agree with your statement! The final selling price must be affordable to the customers/consumers, and must pay for itself at least three times in the first year. Here is a great article in which Paul talks about…"
BFP TeamZahid Torres-Rahman replied to Paul Polak and team's discussion Achieving success at the BoP?
"Just came across this great video interview of Paul:
"
Fernando Casado replied to Paul Polak and team's discussion Achieving success at the BoP?"Dear Paul & Co,
Thanks for the post and for raising such important questions. I enclose some highlights and reflections of initiatives that might be useful:
At the BOP Global Network (www.bopglobalnetwork.org) we are creating an online…"
Stephen B. Katsaros replied to Paul Polak and team's discussion Achieving success at the BoP?"Hello Paul et al.
As you know, Nokero is focused on bringing solar lighting and mobile phone charging solutions to the BoP.
We, Nokero, haven't had depth or breadth of in-country experiences like you have. While I have been to a…"
Loren Cardeli replied to Paul Polak and team's discussion Achieving success at the BoP?"thank you for sharing Paul! i am a big fan of your work. i must apologize early, i am writing this from a small phone as i am working in a remote village in the great rift valley of Kenya. Therefore please pardon any typos or grammatical errors. we…"
Olivier Jarry replied to Paul Polak and team's discussion Achieving success at the BoP?"Hello, Paul,
Thanks for sharing and for raising the question.
Our focus (www.3xBL.com) has been on healthcare and access to medicines. In most cases, the medicines that we have been using have not been "radically innovative",…"
Business Fights Poverty replied to Paul Polak and team's discussion Achieving success at the BoP?"Hi Hazel - thanks for sharing this great job ad! We're very pleased to say that we're launching a jobs board soon where Business Fights Poverty members can post and view job ads for free. Watch this space!"
"I know this is a bit cheeky, so you might want to delete, but we are trying currently to fill the post of MD for Twin & Twin Trading based in London. Fair Trade is one of the best ways of helping people out of poverty - paying fair prices and…"
Profile Information
- Job Title
- Author, Out of Poverty What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail. Founder International Development Enterprises IDE, Design Revolution D-REV CEO Windhorse International
- Sector
- I am an entrepreneur, I am a social entrepreneur, I am an investor, I work for a company, I work for a business organisation, I work for a philanthropic foundation, I work for an international donor agency, I work for a development finance organisation, I am an academic, I am just interested
- Website:
- http://www.paulpolak.com/
- About my work:
- Paul Polak–founder of Colorado-based non-profit
International Development enterprises (IDE) the Design Revolution (D-REV) and Windhorse International.
Author of Out of Poverty, What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail.
Paul is dedicated to developing practical solutions that attack poverty at its roots.
For the past 25 years, Paul has worked with thousands
of farmers in countries around the world—including
Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Nepal,
Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe–to help design and
produce low–cost, income–generating products that
have already moved 17 million people out of poverty.
Before establishing IDE, Paul practiced psychiatry for 23 years in Colorado. To better understand the environments influencing his patients, Paul would visit their homes and workplaces. After a trip he made to Bangladesh, he was inspired to use the skills he had honed while working with homeless veterans and mentally ill patients in Denver to serve the 800 million people living on a dollar a day around the world. Employing the same tactics he pioneered as a psychiatrist, Paul spent time “walking with farmers through their one-acre farms and enjoying a cup of tea with their families, sitting on a stool in front of their thatched-roof mud–and–wattle homes.”
Paul’s ability to respond with innovative solutions–such as the $25 treadle pump and small farm drip–irrigation systems starting at $3—helped IDE increase poor farmers’ net income by $288 million annually.
- Topics on my radar:
- Agriculture, Base of the Pyramid, Education, Enterprise Development, Environment, Finance and Investment, Health, Inclusive Business Models, Measuring Impact, Nutrition, Technology, Water
Comment Wall (4 comments)
- At 12:08 on June 11, 2012,
Anie Anokuru said… Paul Polak:
I know so much about your achievements in the area of BoP. It would be greatly appreciated if we could become friends on BFP.
- At 11:20 on June 19, 2012, Anie Anokuru said…
Hello Paul Polak:
Thanks for accepting me as a friend on BFP.
You shifted from the enviable opportunities that abound in your environment (in a developed country) and ingeniously took to evolving an innovative product that lifted millions out of poverty in typical developing countries – The treadle pump, as introduced in Bangladesh and later Nepal. This, no doubt has made you a hero.
What was the driving force at the beginning? Was it an opportunity to cash-in on an untapped market, or sympathy for the poor, or a combination of both?
More so, IDE’s latest invention (the water filter from clay pot, in Cambodia) is a master-stroke. These inventions make skeptics (which abound in my country) have cause for a re-think.
Anie Anokuru.
- At 11:21 on June 19, 2012, Anie Anokuru said…
Hello Paul Polak:
Thanks for accepting me as a friend on BFP.
You shifted from the enviable opportunities that abound in your environment (in a developed country) and ingeniously took to evolving an innovative product that lifted millions out of poverty in typical developing countries – The treadle pump, as introduced in Bangladesh and later Nepal. This, no doubt has made you a hero.
What was the driving force at the beginning? Was it an opportunity to cash-in on an untapped market, or sympathy for the poor, or a combination of both?
More so, IDE’s latest invention (the water filter from clay pot, in Cambodia) is a master-stroke. These inventions make skeptics (which abound in my country) have cause for a re-think.
Anie Anokuru.
- At 8:48 on March 26, 2013, Isaac Twumasi Quantus said…
Hi Paul,
I am really happy to see you here with with this great profile. As a Ghanaian, I think we can collaborate and get your expertise in Ghana..
Do you say?
Isaac.
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