There is a new tool for alleviating global poverty - capitalism.  Individuals such as Kickstart’s founder Martin Fisher focus on affordable technologies that address the economic conditions of the recipients.  Mosquito nets, oral re-hydration therapy and vaccines are excellent interventions for stemming specific ailments but they are less affective at addressing the underlying causes of poverty.

The idea is to move away from large charitable efforts and towards small scale products designed to meet local needs and provide people with the resources they need to make money.

Kickstart’s website says it clearly enough, “Poverty is caused by a lack of money.”

Laureen Wilcox, of WorldArk, lays out three rules for this emerging movement of design for development. A product should:

1. Increase income - most poor people are entrepreneurs by necessity and a tool that increase their income is a path to local investment in everything from education to sanitation.
2. Be affordable - the tools must be within the reach of the end user, yet should not be free.  The programme avoids having to decide who receives one and the pride of ownership provides the user with added incentive to achieve.
3. Be scalable - Individuals should be able to acquire the technology cheaply yet its capabilities should grow with their success. The goal is to not just improve people’s condition but to provide a path for a new and sustainable life.

Helping people build their own success on their own terms may prove to one of the most life changing methodologies.  Efforts like Kickstart and MIT’s DLab should be supported but they need to work in tandem with traditional advocacy efforts. 

Not all problems can be solved at the individual level and systemic challenges require different approaches. The most obvious marco-level problem is security. Capital investments fail to take root in war torn nations and poverty continues to thrive in war’s wake.

Economic and legal reform are also essential for sustainable economic growth. The multifaceted corruption of the Congo is a prime example of how international, national and local interests can compete to shred the fabric of local life.

Finally, corporations need to be convinced to work with small scale, low-profit initiatives as a long term investment in new markets. This long term thinking does not come easily to most companies, yet they are essential to the extended supply chains needed for a market-based solution to poverty.

The innovation in thinking that has lead to market-influenced approaches are as inspiring as they are hopeful. But we must avoid thinking that the market will solve poverty on its own.  The largest international investments only cover a small percentage of the cost of any initiative. Local governments bear the brunt of all costs and remain the lynch pin in long term change.

International development must continue to work along side national governments to build the security, legal and economic environment in which these approaches can thrive.