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PRISM stands for Prosperity Realization through Irrigation and Smallholder Markets. This is a unique market-oriented approach to rural economic–prosperity developed and implemented by an international organization called International Development Enterprises (IDE-International). It is a set of tools that are used to develop an understanding of the unique situation of the rural poor and to create sustainable solutions to rural poverty. It creates sustainable opportunities through market-oriented interventions by: (1) creating networks of small enterprises to provide agricultural supplies needed by poor farmers; (2) working with farmers to improve small-farm productivity; and (3) linking small-farm families to markets for effective and sustainable poverty reduction. Its goal is to alleviate poverty by activating rural farm families towards sustainable agro-economic activities and expanding agricultural markets. Its activities are based on the principles of smallholder focus, make market serve the poor, improve water control, listen and learn and sustainable resource management like soil, land and water. PRISM is basically an approach of intervention design that helps in increase of smallholder’s income. The planning of PRISM intervention is usually accomplished in four phases: situation analysis, intervention design, project implementation and monitoring, evaluation and adaptation. This approach has helped the rural poor households in the successful production of high value crops on commercial basis and resulted in generating employment and income of the rural farm households and contributed towards poverty alleviation. A couple of PRISM projects are being implemented by IDE Nepal both in hills and terai of Nepal and have been found effective in income generation of the farming community of Nepal up to US$300 per household by the end of three years of the PRISM project by growing high value crops in a commercial basis. Using the PRISM model, IDE has integrated millions of small farm households into markets and created sustainable businesses to generate average increase in net annual micro/small entrepreneur’s income of US$ 456 and reduce rural poverty in more than 14 under developing countries including Nepal.

Keywords: PRISM, market based approach, market participation, entrepreneurs, high value crop.

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Citation: Gurung B, Regmi P, Gautam D, Thapa R, Gurung G (2016). PRISM approach: A program designing tool used by international development enterprises (IDE) for poverty alleviation. J. Agric. Crop Res. 4(2): 17-25.