It’s time to scale up regenerative agriculture: a win-win for farmers, food companies, and our environment
Conventional farming is one of the world’s greatest drivers of climate change and biodiversity loss, and we’re running out of time to reverse its adverse effects. But there is good news too: the largest study ever done on sustainable farming supports the idea that regenerative agriculture could be the answer to turning it all around. […]
How Can Businesses Support Economic Inclusion for People in Extreme Poverty?
Before COVID-19, over 700 million people worldwide were living in extreme poverty. The pandemic could push an additional 150 million people into extreme poverty by the end of 2021. People experiencing extreme poverty already have limited access to health care, food, clean water, and public services. They face obstacles in accessing markets, employment opportunities, and […]
Women entrepreneurs make changing norms the new norm
As we’ve noted before, success in the social sector is usually seen as “scaling out” — as described by Iman Bibars, regional director of Ashoka Arab World. This male-dominated “franchise model” often results in big budgets and large numbers of beneficiaries. But many women take a different, incredibly successful approach: “scaling deep.” “When women adopt a […]
Unleash the Accountant Warriors
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” Upton Sinclair When Upton Sinclair went undercover in Chicago’s meat packing district to depict the abhorrent conditions under which workers had spent their days at the beginning of the last century, an uproar followed leading to […]
Business Partnerships as a Force for Good
Business Partnerships for Global Goals (BP4GG) is a UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office programme which invests in partnerships with businesses to test and scale shared value initiatives that support achieving the SDGs. Managed by Mott MacDonald, the programme hosts the Vulnerable Supply Chains Facility, a rapid COVID-19 response facility partnering with 20 international agricultural […]
Fighting COVID in Kenya: A New Blueprint for Rapid Collaboration?
Over the past year, we have seen people and organisations come together in new, innovative and inspiring ways against a seismic, global challenge not seen in a generation, the COVID-19 pandemic. Our news feeds are filled with heartfelt examples of human beings helping one another, increased community engagement and volunteerism, and new types of partnership. They […]
Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Round-up
Last week, our Rebuild Better Virtual Summit on Gender brought together experts and practitioners from across sectors and continents to ask what business can do to support women, particularly in view of the disastrous impacts of COVID-19 on gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. Between 9-11 March, we explored three subject areas that […]
A day in CottonConnect’s Women in Cotton programme: Practical training, tangible changes
International Women’s Day is always a day for celebration at CottonConnect, as we recognize the capable women leaders within our own and partner organizations, and renew our focus on improving the lives of women in cotton farming communities. This International Women’s Day, we want to give an insight into a day in our Women in […]
Companies Can’t Ignore the ‘She-cession’ Created by the COVID-19 Pandemic
“Stronger engagement on gender equality is key to a sustainable global recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and building fairer, more inclusive, more prosperous societies. Women and girls are in the frontline of the pandemic and must be put in the driving seat of the recovery.” In this statement, Jutta Urpilainen, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, stresses […]
A fair trade: putting farmers first in the fight for climate justice
The 22 February marked the start of Fairtrade Fortnight, the annual celebration of all things Fairtrade. It’s a time when individuals, companies and groups across the UK come together to share the stories of the people behind our food and products, and explore how trade justice can be part of the solution to the many […]
Seminar Video: What can companies do to include and support women farmers?
PROFILE Esther Ngumbi is an author, researcher, educator, mentor, speaker, and a champion for change around the issues of hunger, gender, education, youth activism, agriculture, sustainability, and public service. She works as an Assistant Professor, Entomology and African American Studies, at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. She is the founder of organizations that […]
Seminar video: What can business do to help tackle Gender-based violence?
PROFILE Claudia Eger is Assistant Professor at the Department of Management, Politics and Philosophy at Copenhagen Business School. Her research explores the challenges and complexities of business in society with a focus on how social norms and values shape labour market inequality. In her recent work, Claudia studies the intersection of gender and violence in […]
Seminar Video: What can companies do to help unleash the power of women’s enterprises?
PROFILE Shiela Yabo is a Business Strategist, Venture Builder, and Project Manager with a passion for building inclusive ecosystems. With experience of entrepreneurship from both Africa and recently from Silicon Valley, she has a wealth of experience in new venture launch and support, and systems thinking and leadership through mentorship. She is currently Programme Manager […]
A new dawn for women smallholders in India
The work of a female farmer begins well before dawn, and continues well after dusk, and yet in terms of empowerment, agency, and ownership, many women farmers are still in the dark. In India, 85% of rural women are engaged in agriculture, yet only about 13% own land. Overcoming the gender gap with support and empowerment […]
Supporting Women-owned Businesses in the Time of COVID-19
When we think of lifting people out of poverty we generally think of traditional acts of charity: donating to organizations that provide food, water, clothing, shelter and medical supplies to the millions who are in critical need, often as a result of natural disasters or economic calamities. Unfortunately, COVID-19, a global pandemic with an economic […]
The Fourth Industrial Revolution Needs Equality Tech
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. It is impacting all disciplines, economies and industries, altering how companies, governments and individuals operate, from the way we live, work, and relate to one another, ultimately leading to societal transformation.[1] The impact […]
Gender is a significant factor in private sector and disaster management
One of the key considerations of gender in private sector disaster management is that women are overrepresented in the economic sectors that are hit hardest in disasters, as well as in the informal sector which is specifically vulnerable to disasters. Some might say the selection of career is a personal choice. But is it? The World […]
Putting Women in the Driver’s Seat
In many traditional farming communities, women handle most of the manual work in addition to having responsibilities for home and family management, as many of them have never driven a car. They are consigned to work in planting, weeding, and drying beds while also managing the feeding, education, and healthcare of their immediate and often […]
Embroidered with empowerment, from mother to mother
My ‘day job’ as an impact measurement consultant in the international development and humanitarian sectors is all about evaluating human consequences of other people’s decisions. But when it comes to starting my own initiative, I’m realising how difficult some of those decisions can be. Khushi Kantha (‘Happy Blanket’ in Bengali) aims to create opportunities for […]
Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Round-Up
It is nearly a year since Business Fights Poverty launched the Business & COVID-19 response centre. From the initial urgent response, to matters of longer-term recovery and resilience, organisations from across our community are holding fast to their commitment to help the most vulnerable. This week, we’ve highlighted three areas in which the global community […]