The 2011 Impact Awards are part of a broader initiative of the Markets and Livelihoods Programme. This initiative was designed to build effective and sustainable learning systems to improve the quality, impact and influence of our work. The winners were selected by a panel of Practical Action senior experts. These cases show how the organisation's approach is evolving to make use of market systems to benefit large numbers of marginalised people in challenging contexts.

The cases highlight the importance of building capacities,  skills and relationships between key market actors. They demonstrate the understanding that, to create  lasting impacts, facilitating connections is far more important than providing financial aid. However learning never stops and the Impact Awards are showing their potential to highlight the areas in which wider and deeper impacts could be made in the future. 

The slideshow above shows the winning projects from the 2011 Impact Awards.