Launching the 2015 Intrapreneur Labs
So 2014 was a whirlwind of a year for The Intrapreneur Lab – the accelerator programme for social innovations inside large companies conceived by Leadership Laboratories, Accenture and Business Fight Poverty and now held in business schools across the world. At the bottom of this post are a few stats around the 4 Labs we’ve […]
10 Steps to Perfect Partnerships
I was recently set an interesting challenge, as part of a conversation on good collaboration: in under four hundred words to come up with 10 clear steps that organisations could follow to create the ‘perfect partnership’. Let’s get one thing clear. The Partnering Initiative has worked with hundreds of organisations and partnerships for over a […]
Inclusive Business: Forget Business School Strategy
In the coming decades, the majority of the world’s economic output and market growth will come from the emerging markets. Already, the seven largest emerging markets collectively contribute more to global output than do the G7 countries combined. That said, once one gets beneath the aggregate statistics, these emerging – and dynamic – markets are […]
Is Agribusiness or Agroecology the Future of Africa?
In a recent blog on Business Fights Poverty, Gem Kodhek claimed that ‘the future of Africa is agribusiness,’ highlighting how it is a growing area of investment and represents an exciting future for the continent. Indeed, large amounts of global capital are being invested, including the AECF challenge fund competition which will award grants and […]
India’s Companies Act – The 2% Solution
Money should begin flowing to Indian sustainability projects following new legislation. Are the givers and the receivers ready? NGO work is often hard and thankless, an unending attempt to do a lot with a little. However, a groundbreaking Indian law that requires large corporations to invest 2% of their profits in sustainability initiatives may make […]
How to Make Fair Trade Practices the Norm?
The last couple of years have been a low water-mark in the UK’s broken food system. The horsemeat outrage; the scandal of slavery in the shrimp industry; revelations about poor accounting and abuse of buyer power by some retailers. And increasingly aggressive price wars devaluing food and creating a race to the bottom. Through all […]
A Sustainable Garment Industry in Cambodia?
Cambodia is proving to be the next tough test case for multinationals’ supply chain weaknesses Without a doubt, the garment industry is the peg on which Cambodia’s economy hangs: 350,000 young workers are employed in making the shirts and shoes, hoodies and underwear, skirts and jeans found in stores such as Marks & Spencer, Primark, […]
Solar Seaweed Drying Transforming Lives in Zanzibar
Dar es Salaam, Dec 10th, 2015: Seaweed farming in Zanzibar is undergoing a dramatic transformation thanks to an innovative new way to dry the product during the rainy season. Despite Zanzibar producing some of the best seaweed in the world, the industry is extremely inefficient. Production is among the lowest and cost per kilo is […]
How Nestlé is Creating Shared Value in Mexico
A few months ago, I was invited by the Nestlé Creating Shared Value team in Mexico to participate in a visit to their dairy producers in Aguascalientes, Mexico. We left bright and early for this day trip, which turned out to be an eye-opening experience. We saw first-hand the difficulties that small and growing dairy […]
Innovations Shaping the Future of Fertilizer Use
When a farmer has access to the right kind of fertilizer, the rewards can be great. She will see a dramatic improvement in the yield she can get from her land. In the world’s poorest countries, this will mean the difference between her and her family going to bed hungry or with a full stomach. […]
Counterintuitive Ideas and Sustainable Enterprise
Most business models are formulated by the top of the pyramid. Many business leaders and academics write on the musts haves of a successful base of the pyramid (BOP) business model. Still quite a few of those business endeavors fail. While reasons for failure vary, experience shows that the ability to observe, listen and understand […]
2015 SEED Awards for Social & Environmental Enterprise
In South Africa, a 2014 SEED Award Winner, GreenABLE, recycles empty printer cartridges generating a steady flow of income and employment opportunities for previously unemployed persons with disabilities. In addition, its activities reduce the amount of waste going into landfills. The enterprise is just one example how small scale social and environmental enterprises can contribute […]
2015 SEED Awards for Social & Environmental Enterprise
In South Africa, a 2014 SEED Award Winner, GreenABLE, recycles empty printer cartridges generating a steady flow of income and employment opportunities for previously unemployed persons with disabilities. In addition, its activities reduce the amount of waste going into landfills. The enterprise is just one example how small scale social and environmental enterprises can contribute […]
Responsible Business Summit Asia
The Wealth of the Poor
I don’t know about you but I struggle to think of a device I could purchase that would improve my work productivity or help me save money. Actually, looking at the gadgets that clutter my desk I have probably been over-equipped for a long time. By contrast, poor families at the “base of the pyramid” […]
Local Innovation to Help Save Lives Globally
Innovative technologies or interventions that transform healthcare and save children’s lives in poorer countries often remain local. Without funding or a platform to expand, they can make a substantial difference in their immediate vicinity, but rarely have the chance to spread their wings. This matters because preventable diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea are claiming […]
Pathways to Smarter Digital Financial Inclusion
The limitations of what may be termed the push era of digital financial inclusion are becoming increasingly apparent. We have seen strong outreach by a relatively small number of very powerful players —mostly telcos and some large banks— to recruit customers onto their digital transactional platforms. In some cases, where the client proposition has been […]
Unlocking Business Potential of Small-Scale Agriculture
Today’s farmers face an uphill battle. The uncertainties of climate change further complicate more familiar problems such as land degradation, land scarcity, and younger generations leaving agriculture. Many farmers in the developing world already face erratic climate conditions that frequently devastate their crops and herds and prevent them from investing in more productive agricultural technologies. […]
Evolving to Inclusive Finance
Transformative impact requires a range of financial services and products. It comes from a holistic approach, and that’s our strategy at Citi. Over the past decade, Citi, in partnership with governments, institutional clients and non-profit organizations, has attempted to build an inclusive financial infrastructure that enables long-lasting positive impact. We’ve worked on savings, payments, credit […]
Women in Rajasthan Improving Nutrition for Thousands
Helen Davison, Senior Associate External Affairs, GAIN In a remote village in rural Rajasthan 10 local women own and operate a factory delivering 30 metric tons of a flour enriched with vitamins and minerals daily to 6,000 children under the age three and nearly 3,000 pregnant or lactating women. Rajasthan is India’s largest state and […]