Americans can disrupt extreme poverty in the only place it’s growing  —  rural Africa. Thanks to technology, and the untapped capacity of villages to solve their own problems, we can complete this mission quickly and inexpensively, while learning a lot about people living in extreme poverty and proving quantitative impact through data collection and analysis. The keys to victory are deploying resources directly to the ground and honoring our most sacred institution: democracy. Indeed, lack of democratic feedback is why international aid underperforms, and extreme poverty festers, in rural Africa.

Startup nonprofit Village X is one of a growing number of international development organizations committed to placing democratic feedback at the center of programming. Village X crowdfunds cash transfers for development projects chosen, partially financed, and implemented by extreme poverty villages (e.g., water wells, teacher houses, nursery schools, goat herds). It makes long-term commitments, partnering with villages for 10 years, one project per year, in hopes of witnessing tangible development gains.

Currently operating in Malawi, Village X collects and publishes data on three questions no one is asking: (1) what do villages want?; (2) why do they want it?; and (3) what are the quantitative impacts of village-led projects, per dollar spent? The answers not only provide a best-in-class donor experience, they can improve the work of powerful development actors, whose command and control bureaucracies struggle to foster democracy or development.

Read the full article about disrupting extreme poverty in rural Africa at medium.com.