Nippon Koei is... helping people help themselves
In the developing world, countless numbers of people and communities are directly dependent on the land for survival; so too are their hopes and aspirations for economic growth and advancement. Nippon Koei has been working with such people and communities in agricultural and rural development for over 40 years, raising living standards through well over 100 projects in more than 30 countries around the globe.
Providing ownership
Nippon Koei works hand in hand with communities in such a way that the beneficiaries don't just feel that they have been consulted, but that they themselves have decided concrete solutions and actions and in fact they have! Using participatory planning and appraisal techniques allows our experts to analyze problems through the beneficiaries' eyes and devise technically sound solutions that are appropriate to local conditions and cultures.
Building capacity
Engineering solutions make an important contribution to rural development, and Nippon Koei is highly skilled in all areas of agricultural engineering. But we have also long realized that engineering alone is not sufficient. People in developing countries must be able to use the infrastructure efficiently and effectively, maintain the structures, adopt plans to replace structures, and ultimately acquire the capacity to plan and implement infrastructure themselves and spread know-how beyond project boundaries. Nippon Koei projects therefore place particular emphasis on capacity development through agricultural training and development and institutional strengthening of government, farmers', and private organizations alike.
Alleviating poverty
If agricultural and rural development programs are not properly balanced, there can be an inequitable distribution of program benefits. Nippon Koei prides itself in its experience and skills at developing pro-poor projects to ensure that the accrual of benefits is weighted more heavily in favor of the least advantaged in the community.
Sustaining futures
Agricultural development and rural poverty alleviation are of little value if they result in environmental degradation along the way. A heavy emphasis is placed in all Nippon Koei led development projects to ensure that environmental values are preserved; rural people in the developing world deserve not only higher living standards, but preservation of their living environments and a guarantee that both can be maintained in perpetuity.
