Proximity Designs
Encyclopedia
Proximity Designs is a not-for-profit
social enterprise
helping rural families out of poverty
in Myanmar
(Burma). They design and market a range of affordable products and services that poor farmer
s purchase and use to increase their incomes. The organization sells foot-powered irrigation pumps, water storage tanks
, drip irrigation
systems, solar lighting and farm advisory services. Proximity distributes its products and services through a nationwide network of private sector
agro-dealers and independent village-level agents. The products enable farmers to grow higher value crop
s and increase their annual incomes by $200 to $400. Since starting in 2004, more than 77,000 Proximity products have been purchased by farm households in Myanmar. Following the disaster of Cyclone Nargis
in 2008, the organization became active in designing and implementing humanitarian relief and recovery efforts for entire communities. It is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization registered in California
with operations in Myanmar.
s and well-being of rural families in Myanmar. They employ professional designer
s, engineer
s and ethnographers
to discover unmet needs and opportunities for new products and services. The organization operates a local design lab in Myanmar where its product designers create and test multiple prototype
s with the goal of developing products that a) provide value to rural customers by increasing household productivity and incomes; and, b) are affordable for families earning $2 per day or less. Products reach villages nationwide through a distribution network of private agro-dealers and independent village agents. After-sales support and repair services are also offered to user households. Proximity conducts annual surveys to measure customer satisfaction
and to document improvements in farm family incomes.
(IDE) in 2004. The new entity was established as a wholly independent organization in 2008 and re-named Proximity Designs. Mr. Taylor and Ms. Aung Din are both graduates of Harvard’s
Kennedy School of Government and were named Rainer Arnold Fellows in 2007-08. Proximity has partnered with Stanford University
’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design
’s, Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability course since 2007. The organization has over 275 full-time staff in Myanmar with offices located in Yangon
and Mandalay
. The US office is located in Los Angeles
. To date, Proximity Designs has helped 2.5 million rural people through its products, services and farm recovery efforts in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis (2008).
Proximity Designs also designs and implements humanitarian village stimulus programs that build community infrastructure while offering wage employment to economically stressed villages. Since 2008, a total of 400 village projects have been completed in the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy Delta
and the drought-prone central Dry Zone region of Myanmar.
Proximity Designs engages in field analysis of rural economic conditions and produces reports of findings.
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
social enterprise
Social enterprise
A social enterprise is an organization that applies business strategies to achieving philanthropic goals. Social enterprises can be structured as a for-profit or non-profit....
helping rural families out of poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
in Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
(Burma). They design and market a range of affordable products and services that poor farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
s purchase and use to increase their incomes. The organization sells foot-powered irrigation pumps, water storage tanks
Water tank
A Water tank is a container for storing water. The need for a water tank is as old as civilized man, providing storage of water for drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression, agricultural farming, both for plants and livestock, chemical manufacturing, food preparation as well as many...
, drip irrigation
Drip irrigation
Drip irrigation, also known as trickle irrigation or microirrigation or localized irrigation , is an irrigation method which saves water and fertilizer by allowing water to drip slowly to the roots of plants, either onto the soil surface or directly onto the root zone, through a network of valves,...
systems, solar lighting and farm advisory services. Proximity distributes its products and services through a nationwide network of private sector
Private sector
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
agro-dealers and independent village-level agents. The products enable farmers to grow higher value crop
Crop
Crop may refer to:* Crop, a plant grown and harvested for agricultural use* Crop , part of the alimentary tract of some animals* Crop , a modified whip used in horseback riding or disciplining humans...
s and increase their annual incomes by $200 to $400. Since starting in 2004, more than 77,000 Proximity products have been purchased by farm households in Myanmar. Following the disaster of Cyclone Nargis
Cyclone Nargis
Cyclone Nargis , was a strong tropical cyclone that caused the worst natural disaster in the recorded history of Burma. The cyclone made landfall in Burma on Friday, May 2, 2008, causing catastrophic destruction and at least 138,000 fatalities...
in 2008, the organization became active in designing and implementing humanitarian relief and recovery efforts for entire communities. It is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization registered in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
with operations in Myanmar.
Approach
Proximity Designs uses a design approach to improve the incomeIncome
Income is the consumption and savings opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings...
s and well-being of rural families in Myanmar. They employ professional designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
s, engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
s and ethnographers
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
to discover unmet needs and opportunities for new products and services. The organization operates a local design lab in Myanmar where its product designers create and test multiple prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
s with the goal of developing products that a) provide value to rural customers by increasing household productivity and incomes; and, b) are affordable for families earning $2 per day or less. Products reach villages nationwide through a distribution network of private agro-dealers and independent village agents. After-sales support and repair services are also offered to user households. Proximity conducts annual surveys to measure customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction
Customer satisfaction, a term frequently used in marketing, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation...
and to document improvements in farm family incomes.
History
Proximity Designs was co-founded Jim Taylor and Debbie Aung Din, initially as a country program under International Development EnterprisesInternational Development Enterprises
IDE - International Development Enterprises, founded in 1981 by Paul Polak, is an international not-for-profit corporation devoted to the manufacture, marketing, and distribution of affordable, scalable micro-irrigation and other low-cost water recovery systems throughout the developing world...
(IDE) in 2004. The new entity was established as a wholly independent organization in 2008 and re-named Proximity Designs. Mr. Taylor and Ms. Aung Din are both graduates of Harvard’s
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
Kennedy School of Government and were named Rainer Arnold Fellows in 2007-08. Proximity has partnered with Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design
Hasso Plattner Institute of Design
The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design is a design school based in Stanford University....
’s, Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability course since 2007. The organization has over 275 full-time staff in Myanmar with offices located in Yangon
Yangon
Yangon is a former capital of Burma and the capital of Yangon Region . Although the military government has officially relocated the capital to Naypyidaw since March 2006, Yangon, with a population of over four million, continues to be the country's largest city and the most important commercial...
and Mandalay
Mandalay
Mandalay is the second-largest city and the last royal capital of Burma. Located north of Yangon on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, the city has a population of one million, and is the capital of Mandalay Region ....
. The US office is located in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. To date, Proximity Designs has helped 2.5 million rural people through its products, services and farm recovery efforts in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis (2008).
Products & Services
Proximity Design’s portfolio of products and services are marketed under the Yetagon brand in Myanmar and include:- Foot-operated irrigation pumps that draw water from wells, streams or ponds. Typical capacity is 1,200 gallons per hour.
- Gravity-fed drip irrigation systems consisting of low-cost extruded plastic tape and small micro-tubes connected to an elevated water storage tank. A single drip system is typically used to irrigate a 1/8 acre plot but can be extended to over an acre.
- Portable water storage tanks made from plastic tarpaulinTarpaulinA tarpaulin, colloquially tarp, is a large sheet of strong, flexible, water-resistant or waterproof material, often cloth such as canvas or polyester coated with urethane, or made of plastics such as polyethylene. In some places such as Australia, and in military slang, a tarp may be known as a...
material, commonly used as elevated tanks as part of Proximity’s gravity-fed drip irrigation systems. These tanks come in three different sizes – 100, 150 and 250 gallons. - Farm advisory services featuring training in selected low-cost, simple agricultural practices that increase yields and protect farmers against losses caused by pestPestPest may refer to:*Pest , an animal or plant detrimental to humans or human concerns*Pest, an archaic term for pestilence, originally the Black Death*Pest , an ice hockey player specialising in aggravating opponents...
s, diseaseDiseaseA disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
s and overuse of pesticidePesticidePesticides are substances or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest.A pesticide may be a chemical unicycle, biological agent , antimicrobial, disinfectant or device used against any pest...
s.
Proximity Designs also designs and implements humanitarian village stimulus programs that build community infrastructure while offering wage employment to economically stressed villages. Since 2008, a total of 400 village projects have been completed in the cyclone-hit Irrawaddy Delta
Irrawaddy Delta
The Irrawaddy Delta or Ayeyarwady Delta lies in the Ayeyarwady Region , the lowest expanse of land in Burma that fans out from the limit of tidal influence at Myan Aung to the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, 290 km to the south at the mouth of the Ayeyarwady River...
and the drought-prone central Dry Zone region of Myanmar.
Proximity Designs engages in field analysis of rural economic conditions and produces reports of findings.