Book Review: Paul Polak's Out of Poverty

Submitted by Abigail Keene-B... on February 6, 2008 - 17:33.
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So far, 2008 has been a great year in terms of attention to BoP and market-based solutions to poverty. Out of Poverty, a new book by Paul Polak, founder of International Development Enterprises (IDE), just hit the shelves this month and will certainly add to this momentum. IDE's recent receipt of a $27 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation only makes Polak's book timelier, as widespread recognition grows for his leadership role in the BoP space and his innovative design solutions (including the treadle pump and micro-drip irrigation) that have increased the incomes of over 2.5 million dollar-a-day families living in rural areas and subsisting from small farms.

I've now had the opportunity to read through Out of Poverty, and am impressed that the book truly reflects the down to earth style and substance of Polak and his work. In fact, what's most striking about Polak's approach to attacking poverty is its straightforward, flexible, and results-based orientation.

The book covers a lot of ground quickly, challenging leading development theorists (Jeff Sachs, Bill Easterly, and even C.K. Prahalad), explaining why markets are not serving the poor, and demonstrating, piece by piece, why for-profit mechanisms have and will continue to trump charity in terms of lifting people out of poverty.

On NextBillion.net, we have chronicled these arguments many times before, but I was pleasantly surprised at Polak's ability to connect them, on the level of tomatoes and cucumbers, with the nuts and bolts of his years spent, literally, in the field. Out of Poverty strikes a good balance between economic calculations and human anecdotes, staying true to the author's principal beliefs that one must "go to where the action is" and "talk to the people who have the problem and listen to what they say," while also pursuing only approaches that "can reach at least a million people and make their lives measurably better."

The book is certainly worth a read, and I hope to see it appear on the development academics' reading lists soon. Out of Poverty gets beyond the fractious discussions of "what's gone wrong?" or "which approach is right?" and offers a welcome dose of common sense for getting people out of poverty, quickly and permanently.


Abigail Keene-Babcock's blog | | printer friendly version | 2253 reads
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No out of poverty
Submitted by Anonymous on March 28, 2008 - 15:50.
I read your review of "Out of Poverty" and am afraid that we are mistaken in believing that the good things we can do to help smallholders improve their lot really does amount to an escape from poverty. Unfortunately, it usually does not. The improvement of the conditions of the very poorest people by means of intensifying agriculture on very small holdings (in this case, usually a couple of acres) by means, for example, of better crops, treadle pumps, and drips sytems, does not, and cannot ever, bring the expanding population of people depending on these tiny holdings "out of poverty". Do the calculations: at the end of the day, the 9 remaining members of the family Polak cites as his key example are earning exactly $1.06 dollars a day. Although their lives have improved, they are still living in extreme poverty, dollar-a-day poor, and, after having more kids on that land, will be even poorer. The only one who actually got out of poverty was the man who left the land to work in the Middle East and was sending money back to his folks in Nepal. Intensification of production on smallholdings can only get people out of poverty if it quickly leads them (if possible, all of them) to actually leave the land and get work that will provide a decent living. This is the real dilemma that so many of us working with very small farmers must face. We can help in the near term to improve their condition some (albeit they will still be horribly poor), but with the next generation of children, and more subdivision of the land, their poverty will only increase. The fear I have is that this is really "forever poor" not "out of poverty, quickly, and permanently." Again, do the numbers. I am afraid the book needs another title.
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Out of poverty
Submitted by Kapur Ghimire` on April 23, 2008 - 15:27.
Dear Paul, I was listing to NPR and came to know about the things that you have done for farmers of Nepal. Like Krishna Bahadur Thapa. I, myself is from Nepal. My inner desire is to go back to Nepal or any third world country and teach them the basics of sanitation/ healthy living. I have inherited some land from my father and I would like to go back and turn that into a model village for the world to know that the change is not for bad. Since, you have done and you know so much about urban developments. I would be enlighten to learn a bit from you so I could share you wisdom with others to elevate their lives. Thank you and hope you could understand my feelings. Kapur Ghimire
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thanks!
Submitted by Paul Polak on May 21, 2008 - 16:22.
thanks for posting such a great review of my book! if anyone wants to get on the mailing list, please email whatworks@paulpolak.com
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Out of Poverty
Submitted by Anonymous on June 10, 2008 - 19:00.
A young boy walked down a beach on a summers evening. The receding tide had left thousands of starfish stranded to wither and die on the hot sand. The boy paused to pick up a starfish and throw it back into the water. First one and then another then another. A man watching the boy with curiosity approached him and said "there are so many star fish on the beach - how can you hope to make a difference?" The boy picked up another and threw it also back into the water and replied "It made a difference to that one didn't it?" Go for it Paul
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