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.

Read the latest issue of GROW

Click the link to read the latest issue of our newsletter, GROW. Read about how the seeds of your generosity are growing around the world!

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2023 Fundraiser Gala

Join us for a reception-style fundraiser gala on the evening of Tuesday, October 17th 2023. We will be looking back and celebrating what you’ve made possible throughout iDE’s 40 years, and looking ahead to our focus on powering women entrepreneurs.

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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.

Our Initiatives

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

  • 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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  • 40 Under 40: Making a Difference

    40 Under 40: Making a Difference

    This year, we are celebrating our 40th anniversary by spotlighting 40 entrepreneurs who are changing their communities and helping end poverty, all before the age of 40. Amina Bacar and Aspara Timilsina are two of the 40 Under 40 entrepreneurs featured. Both possess the strength and commitment to take on traditional gender roles and turn…

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  • Creating Opportunities Together: How Your Generosity is Helping Women Grow Their Businesses

    Creating Opportunities Together: How Your Generosity is Helping Women Grow Their Businesses

    Your enthusiasm and support of the Her Time to Grow project has been inspiring! In just over one year, you have donated nearly 70% of the matching funds needed to see this project through its four-year implementation. That’s $527,996!! That is a HUGE accomplishment – THANK YOU! Another thing that’s needed to get big projects…

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  • Cheering for Change: How You are Encouraging Innovators in Ghana

    Cheering for Change: How You are Encouraging Innovators in Ghana

    I run alongside, cheering her on.” This is how iDE Canada board member Lindsay Poggemiller Smith describes her mentorship with Polak Fund winner Abdul Rahman Hamidatu. Hamidatu won a Fail Fast Grant worth $20,000. She is testing her big idea that using recycled plastics in the construction of toilet facilities will make them more affordable…

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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.