2018-2027

HELPING MYANMAR’S SMALL FARMERS SUCCEED

2018-2027

Proximity Designs

Proximity Designs has been serving Myanmar’s smallholder farmers for the past 20 years. Now an award-winning social enterprise, it provides upgraded technology, agriculture training and financial support to help small farmers increase their productivity and incomes. Proximity Designs aims to help 500,000 more farming families – almost 2.5 million women, men and children – get out of poverty by 2027.

proximitydesigns.org

CHALLENGE

Myanmar is an agriculture-based, low-income country where the global challenges of food production, poverty, inequality, climate change and conflict all impact millions of small farms. Investing in Myanmar’s five million small farm families could help substantially reduce the threats of food insecurity, widespread migration and entrenched poverty.

ACTION

Proximity Designs tackles the three most pressing problems that farmers face during the growing season: water management, soil health and crop nutrition, and pest and disease prevention. It does this by designing and delivering crucial practical support with all the following low-cost farm innovations to more than 150,000 farm customers each year:

• No-burn rice farming – A regenerative practice that transitions farmers away from crop burning to prepare their fields

• Trichoderma – This bio fungicide is an effective alternative to costly chemicals. Getting it to farmers helps them control plant disease, strengthen root growth, improve soil quality and make nutrients more available for plants

• Biofertilizers

• Pest and disease diagnostics

• An AI-powered chatbot called PO Chat that stimulates farmers to adopt an array of profitable, climate-resilient practices specific to their needs