Phnom Penh (FN), Dec. 19 – Today, iDE, a global nonprofit organization, marks 30 years of operations in Cambodia. Since 1994, iDE Cambodia has made a significant impact on the wellbeing and prosperity of approximately six million people through innovation, support for entrepreneurs, and market-based interventions.
As it marks three decades of impact in Cambodia, iDE looks forward to lifting millions of people out of poverty in the next decade. Key focus will be on advancing safe, nutritious, and resilient food systems, tackling critical barriers to achieving universal access to clean water and safely managed sanitation, and developing an inclusive market for rural solid waste management. iDE Cambodia is committed to achieving these goals by empowering more women to take the lead in addressing these pressing challenges in line with its newly launched 10-year strategy, which aims to power one million women entrepreneurs to impact 100 million lives across all of iDE’s 12 country programs.
To date, iDE Cambodia has supported over 450 rural entrepreneurs, including women, men, and family-run businesses across its agriculture and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs. Under iDE’s SHE program, integrated last year, we have supported more than 1,500 women entrepreneurs across Cambodia by offering gender-smart and culturally-tailored
business support.
“With 30 years of learning behind us, we’ve seen that powering local entrepreneurs—especially women and family-run businesses—is the fastest way to move households from poverty to prosperity. Because when women succeed, they create a multiplier effect: children receive better education, families access quality healthcare, and more jobs are created,” said Kevin Robbins, Country Director of iDE Cambodia.
Innovation and Impact Worth Celebrating
By innovating and introducing novel farming technologies, improving market access, and promoting adoption of climate-smart techniques, iDE Cambodia has supported more than 20,000 farming households. From treadle pumps and water-saving drip irrigation technologies to crop insurance and regenerative agriculture pilots, iDE has driven innovations that help transform farming in Cambodia. Our current climate and resilience focused agricultural program has helped over 6,000 smallholder farmers increase their annual profit by an average of roughly USD 2,800.
Starting in 2002, iDE introduced a ceramic water filter technology that could be manufactured locally and could remove 99.99 per cent of water-bourne bacteria. The filter project was eventually spun off in 2010 as Hydrologic Social Enterprise Ltd. producing the Super Tunsai water filter. With over 500,000 Super Tunsai water filters distributed, millions of Cambodians—especially women and children—now have access to safe drinking water through the iDE-established social enterprise, which continues to operate profitably without relying on donor funding.
In 2009, iDE Cambodia launched its market-based sanitation program to address the urgent need for improved sanitation. At that time, only about 20 per cent of rural households had access to a sanitary latrine at their home. Through innovative products like the Easy Latrine and Sky Latrine and effective promotion approaches that encouraged households to invest their own resources to purchase a latrine, iDE facilitated one in five of all rural Cambodian households to access affordable and climate-resilient sanitation. Today, rural sanitation coverage has increased to roughly 90 per cent. iDE has supported over 2,000 villages to achieve open defecation-free (ODF) status. By combining innovative product design, demand generation, powering local sanitation businesses, and strong partnerships with national and local governments, as well as other sanitation implementers, iDE’s work in Cambodia has become a global model for good practice in building sanitation markets.
For three decades, iDE Cambodia has led the way in developing innovative, affordable, and scalable solutions that have transformed the lives of rural Cambodians. These achievements have been made possible through strong partnerships with the private sector, government agencies, and development partners, with generous support from our donors.
Kevin Robbins underscored, “While we celebrate a history of inspiring progress, we are mindful that our mission to move people out of poverty and safeguard our environment is far from complete. Challenges abound, yet the future is bright and full of possibility! Our team is inspired by our past and excited to continue joining hands with like-minded partners so that together we can power entrepreneurs to end poverty. Looking forward, we are committed to the people of Cambodia and their dreams to prosper and thrive.”
=FRESH NEWS
In 2005, iDE introduced drip irrigation technology to Cambodian farmers—an innovation that saves water by at least 50% compared to traditional watering methods.
iDE-affiliated farmers pioneered the cultivation of high-value crops like sweet melons and yellow-flesh watermelon using climate-smart techniques.
Through our social enterprise, Hydrologic, we developed the Super Tunsai water filter and sold over 500,000 of them, ensuring safe drinking water for rural families.
iDE innovated new sanitation products and services, and facilitated access to over 400,000 affordable, climate-resilient toilets - reaching one in five of all rural Cambodian households.
