Inside the Development Marketplace - World Bank

Social entrepreneurs from 42 countries bring their ideas for low-cost agricultural development to the annual Global Development Marketplace competition at the World Bank this week.

The three-day event, held almost every year since 1998, showcases promising solutions to development problems. This year, 100 finalists were selected from 1,800 proposals for grassroots initiatives to help communities struggling with the current food crisis.

The 25 winners of the 2008 Global Development Marketplace on Sustainable Agriculture will receive up to US$200,000 each for innovative projects linking farmers to markets, improving access to land and tenure, and addressing climate change and biodiversity.