Proximity Designs

Proximity Designs is a nonprofit social enterprise focused on reducing poverty among rural families in Myanmar through products and services that help small-scale farmers increase productivity and income. Rather than relying only on charitable distribution, the organization uses a market-oriented model: it designs practical products for low-income households, sells them at affordable prices, and reaches customers through private agro-dealers and independent village-level agents. The organization began in 2004 as a Myanmar country program of International Development Enterprises, commonly known as IDE. It was co-founded by Jim Taylor and Debbie Aung Din, both of whom studied at Harvard Kennedy School. In 2008, the Myanmar operation became an independent organization and adopted the name Proximity Designs. Its central operations are in Yangon, with a separate United States office in Los Angeles. Proximity is registered in California as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and conducts its field operations in Myanmar. Its design process combines engineering, professional product design, ethnographic research, field testing, and customer feedback. A local design laboratory in Myanmar develops and tests multiple prototypes with the goal of producing goods that are affordable for families living on approximately two dollars per day or less while delivering measurable economic value. Products are supported by repair and after-sales services, and the organization conducts customer surveys to assess satisfaction and changes in household income. The portfolio has included foot-powered irrigation pumps, gravity-fed drip irrigation systems, flexible water-storage tanks, solar lighting, and farm advisory services. These offerings are marketed in Myanmar under the Yetagon brand. The irrigation products are intended to enable farmers to grow higher-value crops, extend cultivation, and reduce the labor and water costs associated with farming. Advisory services complement the hardware by offering guidance on low-cost farming methods, crop protection, pest and disease management, and more responsible pesticide use. Proximity distributes its products through a network of private-sector agricultural dealers and village agents. According to the organization’s published descriptions, this network reaches roughly 80 percent of Myanmar’s rural population. By the information summarized in the reference material, more than 110,000 products had been purchased by farm households since the organization’s founding, and approximately 5.6 million people had benefited from its products, services, or related farm-recovery work by 2022. The organization also expanded beyond commercial products after Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar in 2008. It designed and implemented humanitarian relief, recovery, and village-stimulus programs, including community infrastructure projects that provided wage employment in economically stressed villages. More than 1,000 such projects were reported in the cyclone-affected Irrawaddy Delta and in Myanmar’s drought-prone central Dry Zone. This combination of social enterprise, agricultural development, and community recovery has become central to Proximity Designs’ identity. Proximity has received international recognition for its approach to social entrepreneurship. Taylor and Aung Din were named Rainer Arnold Fellows for 2007–08, and they received a 2012 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. The organization has also collaborated since 2007 with Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design through its Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability course. Proximity’s model is distinguished by its emphasis on locally tested products, commercial distribution, post-sale support, and measurement of household outcomes rather than one-time aid alone.

Proximity Designs traces its origins to 2004, when Jim Taylor and Debbie Aung Din established a Myanmar country program under International Development Enterprises. The initiative was created to address the economic constraints faced by rural families, especially smallholder farmers who lacked access to affordable irrigation, water-management, energy, and agricultural-support products. Its underlying premise was that carefully designed goods and services could help families increase production and income while preserving customer choice through purchase rather than charitable distribution alone. The organization developed a design-centered operating model. Professional designers, engineers, and ethnographers studied rural households, identified unmet needs, and created prototypes for field testing. A local design laboratory in Myanmar enabled the organization to adapt products to local conditions, purchasing power, repair practices, and farming patterns. The resulting products were intended for families earning roughly two dollars per day or less. Proximity combined product sales with after-sales support, repairs, customer surveys, and income monitoring to evaluate whether its interventions created practical economic benefits. Beginning in 2007, Proximity collaborated with Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design through the Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability course. The partnership connected the Myanmar field program with broader methods for designing products and services for low-income communities. Taylor and Aung Din were also named Rainer Arnold Fellows for 2007–08, reflecting the visibility the initiative had gained in the social-innovation field. A major turning point came in 2008. The Myanmar program became a fully independent organization and was renamed Proximity Designs. In the same year, Cyclone Nargis devastated parts of Myanmar, particularly the Irrawaddy Delta. Proximity expanded its work beyond agricultural products into humanitarian relief, recovery, and community-based economic programs. It designed village-stimulus projects that combined infrastructure improvements with wage employment for people in communities under severe economic stress. The organization later reported completing more than 1,000 village projects in the cyclone-affected delta and in the drought-prone central Dry Zone. The organization’s commercial portfolio developed under the Yetagon brand in Myanmar. It included foot-operated pumps capable of drawing water from wells, streams, and ponds; gravity-fed drip systems using elevated storage tanks; flexible tanks made from plastic tarpaulin; solar lighting; and farm advisory services. The drip systems were designed for small plots but could be connected to cover larger areas. Advisory services addressed crop yields, pest and disease risks, pesticide use, and other low-cost farming practices. Distribution through private agricultural dealers and independent village agents allowed Proximity to reach rural communities without building a conventional retail network of its own. By the figures cited in the organization’s reference material, more than 110,000 Proximity products had been purchased by farm households, with an estimated 400,000 people obtaining higher incomes through product use. The organization also stated that its broader products, services, and post-Cyclone Nargis recovery efforts had reached approximately 2.5 million rural people in earlier reporting, and approximately 5.6 million people by 2022. These figures cover different scopes and periods and should not be treated as directly interchangeable. Proximity Designs is registered in California as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and maintains its principal field operations in Myanmar, with a central office in Yangon and a U.S. office in Los Angeles. Its work has continued to combine market-based distribution, local product development, agricultural advice, and humanitarian programming. The organization’s significance lies in its attempt to connect social-impact design with commercially viable rural services, while using measurement and customer feedback to refine products for low-income farmers.

• 2022

  Reported reach reaches approximately 5.6 million people

  [1]Proximity Designsen.wikipedia.org

  Proximity reported that its products, services, and related work had enabled approximately 5.6 million people in rural Myanmar to improve farm enterprises and afford basic needs.

• 2012

  Skoll Award recognition

  [1]Proximity Designsen.wikipedia.org

  Co-founders Jim Taylor and Debbie Aung Din received a Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

• 2008

  Organization becomes independent

  [1]Proximity Designsen.wikipedia.org

  The Myanmar program separated from International Development Enterprises and adopted the Proximity Designs name.

• 2008

  Cyclone Nargis recovery work expands

  [1]Proximity Designsen.wikipedia.org

  After Cyclone Nargis, Proximity undertook relief, recovery, and community infrastructure programs in affected regions of Myanmar.

• 2007

  Stanford design collaboration begins

  [1]Proximity Designsen.wikipedia.org

  Proximity began partnering with Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design through its Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability course.

• 2004

  Myanmar program established

  [1]Proximity Designsen.wikipedia.org

  Jim Taylor and Debbie Aung Din co-founded the Myanmar country program under International Development Enterprises.

A design-led nonprofit social enterprise serving low-income rural households with affordable agricultural, water, energy, and recovery solutions that aim to improve farm income and resilience.

• Irrigation equipment

  Foot-operated irrigation pumps

  Pedal-powered pumps designed to draw water from wells, streams, and ponds without requiring fuel or electricity. The pumps are intended for smallholder farmers and can deliver approximately 1,200 gallons of water per hour according to the referenced description. They support cultivation of higher-value crops and can help households extend growing periods or irrigate plots more reliably.

• Irrigation equipment

  Gravity-fed drip irrigation systems

  Low-cost drip systems that use an elevated water tank, extruded plastic tape, and small micro-tubes to distribute water by gravity. A basic system is designed for approximately one-eighth of an acre, while multiple systems can be linked for larger areas. The design is intended to reduce water waste and make irrigated production accessible to households with limited capital.

• Water infrastructure

  Portable water-storage tanks

  Flexible elevated tanks made from plastic tarpaulin and used especially with Proximity’s gravity-fed drip irrigation systems. The referenced portfolio describes three capacities—100, 150, and 250 gallons. Their portable construction allows rural households to store and elevate water without investing in conventional rigid tanks.

• Off-grid energy

  Solar lighting

  Solar lighting products included in Proximity’s rural product portfolio. They are intended to provide households with an alternative to less efficient or more costly lighting sources, although the available reference material does not identify specific models, capacities, or current distribution status.

• Agricultural services

  Farm advisory services

  Training and advisory services covering selected low-cost agricultural practices. The services aim to improve yields and reduce losses associated with pests, diseases, and excessive pesticide use. They complement the organization’s irrigation products by helping farmers convert improved water access into stronger farm performance.

• Humanitarian and community development services · 2008

  Village-stimulus and recovery programs

  Community programs that combine village infrastructure work with wage employment for households affected by economic stress or disaster. Proximity developed these programs after Cyclone Nargis and later implemented them in the Irrawaddy Delta and the central Dry Zone. The work complements the organization’s product business with direct community recovery and resilience activities.

• 2008Cyclone Nargis relief and recovery

  Myanmar

  Following Cyclone Nargis, Proximity designed and implemented relief, recovery, and village-stimulus programs for affected communities, including infrastructure projects that generated wage employment.

  Outcome. The organization reported completing more than 1,000 village projects in the Irrawaddy Delta and other vulnerable areas.

  Source

• 2008

  Separate from International Development EnterprisesStrategy

  Background

  The Myanmar country program had operated under International Development Enterprises since 2004 and faced a changing operating environment as its product, design, and recovery work expanded.

  Action taken

  The program became an independent organization and was renamed Proximity Designs.

  Aftermath

  The independent organization continued operating from Myanmar, combining rural product sales with agricultural services and humanitarian recovery work.

  Source

• 2008

  Expand from rural products into disaster recoveryStrategy

  Background

  Cyclone Nargis caused extensive damage in Myanmar, particularly in the Irrawaddy Delta.

  Action taken

  Proximity added humanitarian relief, community infrastructure, and village-stimulus programs to its rural enterprise activities.

  Aftermath

  The organization reported more than 1,000 completed village projects and continued to treat recovery and resilience as part of its operating model.

  Source

• 2012

  Proximity Designs receives a Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship[1]Proximity Designsen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Co-founders Jim Taylor and Debbie Aung Din received recognition through the Skoll Award for the organization’s approach to social entrepreneurship.

• 2008

  Proximity Designs becomes an independent organization[1]Proximity Designsen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The Myanmar country program originally established under International Development Enterprises became an independent organization and adopted the Proximity Designs name.

• 2008

  Proximity responds to Cyclone Nargis with community recovery programs[1]Proximity Designsen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Following Cyclone Nargis, Proximity expanded into humanitarian relief, recovery, and village-stimulus programs in affected and economically vulnerable areas of Myanmar.

1. 1Proximity Designsen.wikipedia.org