Diminishing poverty one village at a time

from the Campus Press

Paul Polak discusses new book at Old Main
Heather Koski

Paul Polak, founder of the International Development Enterprises, engaged a full house at Old Main auditorium Wednesday night in discourse about poverty.

In his book, "Out of Poverty: What Works when Traditional Approaches Fail," Polak addresses the root causes of poverty and provides a practical guide for affordable solutions to farmers in developing countries.

Polak, a former psychiatrist, said there is interaction between poverty, economics and health. By working with thousands of farmers in Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Polak and his IDE organization has created a solution amoung the three links.

"I am a recycled psychiatrist and hope to recycle around a few more times yet in my life," Polak said. "Global economy is a reality; we need to get used to it and help poorer, less fortunate people succeed in the global economy system."

According to Polak, 85 percent of the world's 525 million farms are less than five acres. Roughly 800 million people around the world live on a dollar a day and make a livelihood from farming. Polak believes these figures indicate that understanding small farmer prosperity is the key towards creating a realistic effort to end poverty.

"There needs to be a revolution in water, agriculture, design and markets for small farmer prosperity to succeed," Polak said. "Learn to keep your eyes open and really see everything; you can then walk through a village once and write a book."

By developing innovative solutions to simple problems, Polak has helped farmers worldwide increase their income. Treadle pumps, for example, are devices used to access and distribute groundwater. The pumps, which cost $25, can water a half-acre of vegetables per succession. According to Polak, one farmer can earn an extra $500 a year with the treadle pump method.

In addition to treadle pumps, Polak has designed small farm drip-irrigation systems starting at $3 and low cost water storage liners that can provide an average family with water for a year.

Polak said the lack of media services in rural villages has contributed to the grossly inefficient markets in developing countries. To advertise the treadle pumps and other low cost farming solutions, Polak and IDE have recruited village leaders to create songs and short movies to help sell and create awareness of the products.

"All commercial principles are applied but to a different audience," Polak said. "The business school at CU could make a huge contribution by working with students in village markets around the world to learn and understand how to help people in poverty."

Polak concluded his discussion with a poem entitled "A Deeper River" before opening the floor to questions from the audience.

"You don't need me or IDE to create poverty solutions," Polak said. "Go to a village and make connections with people; figure something out, be creative."

Environmental Center Director Dave Newport said Polak's talk, which was hosted by the E-Center and Engineers without Borders, was fantastic in terms of audience numbers and discussion content.

"Polak gets an A+ for engaging the audience with his humor and knowledge and the audience gets an A+ too for caring about poverty and attending the talk," Newport said. "The diverse mix of people here tonight was the best part."