Nestlé’s Creating Shared Value Advisory Board awarded its first Nestlé Prize in Creating Shared Value to the Cambodian branch of International Development Enterprises (IDE) Cambodia, an international not-for-profit organisation.
IDE uses market-based approaches to increase the income of the rural poor by improving market access, increasing agricultural production and creating sustainable local businesses. Starting in 2005, IDE Cambodia developed a network of 60 independent small rural entrepreneurs in Cambodia called Farm Business Advisors, which has since provided technical advice to more than 4,500 farmers to boost their productivity.
IDE Cambodia will use the Prize’s CHF 500,000 to recruit and train an additional 36 advisors, aiming to generate approximately USD$1.9 million in new income and benefiting around 20,000 people in more than 4,000 rural households across Cambodia.
“We had a vast range of inspirational entries from across the globe. IDE Cambodia is a leading project and the Nestlé prize money will help them to ensure that this project continues to thrive and expand,” Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke said.
The Prize was created by Nestlé in 2009 to provide financial support of up to CHF 500,000 to individuals, NGOs, or small enterprises offering innovative solutions to improve access to, and management of, water, improve the lives of farmers and rural communities, or provide better nutrition to communities suffering from nutritional deficiencies.