Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail (BK Currents (Hardcover))

249 Pages·2008·4.35 MB·English

by  Paul Polak

Out of Poverty
More Praise for
“Drawing on his own firsthand experiences and in-person observations,
Paul Polak’s book goes straight to the heart of the matter and offers
how-to advice on wiping out global poverty, one family and one person
at a time. Half the people on Earth live on less than four dollars a
day—the rest of us should read this book.”
—David M. Kelley, Founder and Chairman, IDEO, and Donald W. Whittier
Professor in Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University
“Paul Polak listens to people few of us ever hear from—the world’s
poor ‘one-acre farmers’—and comes up with simple, practical solutions
for helping them better their lives. His work is profoundly inspiring.
Even if you don’t normally read books about development and poverty,
read this one!”
—Lori Pottinger, Director of Africa Programs, International Rivers
“With personal anecdotes and field experiences, Paul Polak shares the
philosophies that have made IDE one of the most successful organiza-
tions in providing life-changing technologies to people in the develop-
ing world. Paul’s joie de vivre,his commitment to eliminating poverty,
and his pragmatic irreverence are all captured in his book.”
—Amy Smith, Senior Lecturer, Department of Mechanical
Engineering, MIT
“Viewing the poor as passive recipients of assistance has wasted billions
of dollars. Top-down, bailout subsidy programs don’t work. As Paul ex-
plains, we need to partner with the developing world and provide tools
and technologies to give them an opportunity to help themselves.”
—Shrikrishna Upadhyay, Founder, SAPPROS, Nepal
“Paul Polak delivers a refreshing dose of common sense to the question
of how best to help the world’s poorest citizens, the common sense
borne of a lifetime of hands-on experience. It serves as a how-to manual
for Stanford’s course on Design for Extreme Affordability.”
—James M. Patell, Herbert Hoover Professor of Public and Private
Management, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
“Paul Polak is passionate about the alleviation of poverty. This book
presents numerous case studies demonstrating that effective programs
to raise the incomes of poor people must start with an effort to under-
stand and involve poor people in the environments in which they find
themselves.”
—Vernon W. Ruttan, Regents Professor Emeritus, Departments of
Economics and Applied Economics, University of Minnesota
“Paul Polak’s provocative and compelling story of how smart techno-
logical tools can empower poor entrepreneurs to create their own
wealth will disgruntle some devotees of old development. Let them
get ‘regruntled’ and notice what works.”
—Amory B. Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain
Institute
“Out of Povertyis an ‘unputdownable’ record of Polak’s success with
tiny-scale farmers, embedded with workable rules for designing, scaling
up, and distributing affordable innovations to the poor. It makes a
clear declaration: Poverty can be ended if business, government, and
development agencies learn these lessons.”
—Michael Lipton, Research Professor, Poverty Research Unit, University
of Sussex
“Paul’s ideas have helped bring millions of people out of poverty, and,
along the way, he has ignited a design revolution that offers us all a
bright new way to look at the world.”
—Michael Cronan, Cronan Design
“Paul Polak’s insights open new vistas in design discovery. Out of Poverty
is one of the clearest descriptions of how design has a profound impact
on the cycle of poverty and really changes the world.”
—Yves Behar, President and Creative Director, fuseproject, and Chair of
Industrial Design, California College of the Arts
“Paul Polak’s method works because it harnesses the power of design
thinking, low-cost technology, and human enterprise to create sustain-
able communities of trade. Paul’s remarkable work has eliminated
poverty and restored dignity to millions of families.”
—Ann Willoughby, President and Creative Director, Willoughby Design
Group
%out of poverty
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Out of Poverty
WHAT WORKS WHEN TRADITIONAL APPROACHES FAIL
Paul Polak
BK
Berrett–Koehler Publishers, Inc
San Francisco
a BK Currents book
Copyright © 2008by Paul Polak
All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced,distributed,or transmit-
ted in any form or by any means,including photocopying,recording,or other electronic or
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library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Polak,Paul.
Out of poverty :what works when traditional approaches fail / Paul Polak.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
isbn 978-1-57675-449-8(hardcover:alk.paper)
1.Poverty. I.Title.
hc79.p6p66 2008
362.5'6—dc22 2007041387
First Edition
12 11 10 09 08 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
PDF E-book isbn 978-1-57675-548-8
Photo on cover and page 170:© Keren Su/Corbis.All other photos © Paul Polak,IDE
Book design and production management by Valerie Brewster,Scribe Typography.
Copyediting by Don Roberts.Proofreading by Don Roberts and Sarah Muirhead.
Indexing by Rachel Rice:Directions Unlimited.Cover design by PemaStudio.
% For my wife, Aggie, my daughters —Amy, Kathryn, and Laura —
and for small-acreage farmers like Krishna Bahadur Thapa who put
music into the words
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contents
Preface ix
Introduction: Learning to Do the Simple and Obvious 1
1 Twelve Steps to Practical Problem Solving 13
2 The Three Great Poverty Eradication Myths 27
3 It All Starts with Making More Money 51
4 Design for the Other 90 Percent 63
5 From Subsistence to New Income 83
6 Affordable Small-Plot Irrigation 95
7 A New Agriculture for One-Acre Farms 115
8 Creating Vibrant New Markets That Serve
Poor Customers 137
9 Slums —The Incubator for New Income Opportunities 159
10 Poverty and the Planet 171
11 Taking Action to End Poverty 183
12 Bahadur and His Family Move Out of Poverty 201
Notes 213
Resources 217
Acknowledgments 218
Index 221
About the Author 230
About IDE 231
vii