Out of Poverty. What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail.: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail (AGENCY/DISTRIBUTED) - Hardcover

Polak, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1576754499 ISBN 13: 9781576754498

Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2008

Synopsis

In this impassioned and iconoclastic book Paul Polak, entrepreneur, inventor, and "pioneer of pro-poor technologies" (CNN.com) tells why mainstream poverty eradication programs have fallen so sadly short and how he and the organization he founded, International Development Enterprises, developed an approach that has already succeeded in lifting 17 million people out of poverty.

Drawing on his more than twenty-five years of experience, Polak explodes what he calls the "Three Great Poverty Eradication Myths" and lays out an alternative: providing the dollar-a-day poor with innovative, low-cost tools that allow them to use the market to improve their lives. Polak tells fascinating and moving stories about the people he and IDE have helped, especially Krishna Bahadur Thapa, a Nepali farmer who went from barely surviving to becoming solidly upper middle class. Out of Poverty offers a new and promising way to end world poverty, one that honors the entrepreneurial spirit of the poor themselves.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Polak founded International Development Enterprises (IDE), the non-profit organization he currently heads as president.

From the Back Cover

"Out of Poverty teaches us to think simple. Paul Polak brings forward ideas and solutions that bypass government agencies and other leaden institutions. Ideas that work!"
-- Paul Newman

"Paul Polak's life of global engagement testifies to his dedication to helping the rural poor develop concrete ways to fight poverty. His book is the pragmatic idealist's view of how things can be done."
- Suresh Kumar, Special Advisor, Clinton Foundation

"Paul Polak has written a compelling, insightful, and surprisingly practical book on dealing with poverty around the world. Drawing on his own first-hand experiences and in-person observations, 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. If half the people on Earth live on less than four dollars a day, then 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's approach is beautifully revolutionary because it recognizes that the poor MUST be part of the solution to end poverty, and are not the causes of it."
- Majora Carter, CEO, Sustainable South Bronx

"After 25 years working in developing countries, Paul Polak provides a unique, practical and entrepreneurial blueprint to enable and empower the rural poor to lift themselves out of poverty. His innovative and curious mind and his courage in challenging conventional thinking offer proven solutions which unleash the capacity of the poor to create income - giving them a hand up, not a handout."
- Philip R Berber, Chairman, A Glimmer of Hope Foundation

"Paul Polak offers a personal, radical and profoundly sensible prescription for alleviating global poverty. His engaging style of story-telling is not only persuasive, but entertaining. Read "Out of Poverty" -- it will change the way you look at the world."
- Sandra Postel, Director of the Global Water Policy Project and author of Pillar of Sand: Can the Irrigation Miracle Last?

"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

"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 understand 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's approach to solving our world's greatest ailment is one of simplicity in design and humanity in spirit. His powerful recipe for change is clear, precise, and DO-able. And we need to desperately DO it right now."
- John Maeda, Associate Director of Research, MIT Media Lab and author of The Laws of Simplicity

"With personal anecdotes and field experiences, Paul Polak shares the philosophies that have made IDE one of the most successful organizations in providing life-changing technologies to people in the developing 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

"Beyond showing how the world's poor can lift themselves out of poverty, Paul Polak helps us get to know them as human beings. He gives voice to the people he worked with, helps us learn from their experiences. It is an extraordinary gift. This book should be required reading for every citizen of the world!"
- Andrew Youn, founder, One Acre Fund

"Out of Poverty is 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 of Economics, University of Sussex

Edition details

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1576754499
• ISBN 13: 9781576754498
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240