Farm Business Advisors learn about various innovative production techniques

IDE's INNOVATIVE PROGRAM IN CAMBODIA WINS FIRST EVER NESTLE PRIZE

Press Release

Winnipeg-based organization celebrates international recognition for ground-breaking work with village farmers in South-East Asia

June 1, 2010

[Winnipeg]- IDE has been awarded the first Nestlé Prize in Creating Shared Value for an innovative program in Cambodia. In the past two years, IDE's Farm Business Advisor program has enabled 60 rural Cambodian entrepreneurs to start small agricultural distribution and consulting businesses, which in turn have helped 4,500 small-scale farm households increase their net income by 27 percent or US $150.

With support from Canadian donors and a grant from the Canadian International Development Agency, the program has developed a creative business-based approach to rural poverty that is now attracting international attention. IDE identifies village entrepreneurs and trains them in agriculture and business. These "farm business advisors" offer affordable products and advice to poor farmers in rural areas that typically have little access to quality products or information.

The prize of 500,000 Swiss Francs (over CAD $450,000) will allow IDE to recruit and train an additional 36 advisors, generating approximately CAD $2 million in new income for more than 4,000 rural households across Cambodia.

Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, who presented the award to the IDE at a ceremony in London, said: "We congratulate IDE Cambodia on being the first to be awarded the Prize. The work they do is inspirational. The support and training from IDE ensures that all involved work together to create sustainable farming enterprises."

Accepting the award, IDE Cambodia Country Director Michael Roberts said, "It is an honour to receive this recognition from Nestlé. The prize will help us further IDE's mission to create income opportunities for poor rural households. We hope to leverage the Prize to reach more than 75,000 rural Cambodian households in the next few years. On a global scale this is still very small but we think there are big implications in what we are learning."

The CSV Prize - which received more than 500 applications from 79 countries - was awarded during Nestlé's Creating Shared Value Forum, an international gathering of leading experts in water, nutrition, rural development, and the role of business in society which took place in London on 27 May. The Prize was created to provide financial support of up to 500,000 Swiss Francs to individuals, NGOs, or small enterprises who offer innovative solutions to nutritional deficiencies, access to clean water, or progress in rural development. The prize money will be disbursed over a three-year period to help scale up the project.

Watch Nestlé’s video on the award below.