International Development Enterprises India (IDEI), works to provide irrigation solutions to small farmers- smallholder farmers constitute 75% of India’s farmers and often remain trapped in an ongoing cycle of hunger and poverty due to small allotments of land. IDEI has played an important role in researching and developing low cost, scaled to small plot size, environmentally friendly irrigation technologies. Among these technologies are the treadle pump, which is a foot operated water lifting device, and a drip irrigation system used for micro-irrigation, which reduces the amount of water and fertilizer needed.
IDEI’s unique approach is not limited to the technologies produced – IDEI treats small farmers as entrepreneurs and not just marginal recipients of charity. Every Indian who owns one of these technologies has purchased it as an investment towards their future. IDEI has also successfully facilitated a non-exclusive supply chain that manufactures, sells and installs the technologies- today there are over 5,000 members in the supply chain. IDEI has reached over 1.2 million households in rural India, and these households have generated over 1 billion in net additional income. The extra income they earn can then be used for investments in other farming inputs that further increase productivity, for investments in livestock, or for investment in their children’s education and healthcare.
International Development Enterprises India
