Development Marketplace 2003, held in Washington in December 2003, is a global bazaar of ideas, with all the animation, buzz and color of a souk. The Harvard Business Review has described it as "an innovative approach to finding innovative ideas in development." A New York Times editorial has hailed it for combining Silicon Valley venture capitalism and social entrepreneurship.

Rwanda Agroforestry Network (RAFNET)
More than 95 percent of Rwanda's population are small-scale farmers, tilling infertile soils and depending on animal husbandry for a living. At $260 per annum, per capita incomes are among the lowest in the world. World Agroforestry Centre researchers, in partnership with RAFNET, have been promoting zero-grazing dairies and progressive terracing techniques as a means of raising rural incomes and conserving the environment. The idea is simple but effective and involves equipping a farm with a jersey cow, fodder banks, progressive terracing systems and milk collection tools. Farmers benefit from on-farm fodder production, tree planting, and using biogas produced from animal manure instead
of firewood. This innovative approach won a cash prize of $246,648 for
scaling-up activities.

Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Research (CIRNMA)
CIRNMA, derived from the Spanish name, Centro de Investigación de Recursos Naturales y Medio Ambiente, is an NGO working in southeastern Peru. It's innovative project promotes the production of marmalade from oca (Oxalis tuberosa) a little-known Andean tuber crop, as a way of raising rural incomes in Puno village, near the shores of Lake Titicaca, once the seat of the famed Inca empire.

Historic accounts indicate that oca was a major Andean staple in pre-Colombian times. Usually grown on marginal soils, it easily yields 50 tons per hectare, rivaling potato in terms of productive potential. A single plant can yield up to 4 kilograms of tubers.

The project aims to generate multiple benefits. It targets Puno's indigenous Aymara-speaking people, training them to produce a variety of oca marmalades for the commercial market, encouraging rural micro-enterprises and promoting biodiversity conservation. It also helps curb pollution in Lake Titicaca through the use of organic fertilizer from manure and crop residues. This proposal won a cash prize of $115,000.

"Traditionally, wealth and biodiversity went hand-in-hand in the high Andes," said Robert Valdivia, Executive Director, CIRNMA. "But little is known today about how to use biodiversity to advantage in a global market-our project helps raise incomes of rural families while promoting biodiversity conservation."

Development Marketplace 2003 attracted innovators from 27 countries, showcasing 47 innovative projects, selected from 183 finalists, and over
$6 million in prize money was awarded.

For more information, visit www.developmentmarketplace.org