Farmers Hold the Key to Climate Action: It’s Time to Listen
For Benjamín Alas, climate change is not a distant threat – it’s a daily reality. While leaders from government, the private sector, and civil society gathered at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, to discuss strategies for promoting regenerative agriculture, Benjamín was busy putting these vital practices into action. As we participated in panels […]
She Knows What Her Business Needs—So Why are Systems Holding her Back?
There’s a credit gap, not a confidence gap, limiting women entrepreneurs. Women represent only one in four high-growth entrepreneurs globally. Yet, they are not holding themselves back. Instead, they are systematically disadvantaged by social and institutional barriers, leaving one in three unable to access the critical financial resources needed for business growth. New research conducted through the […]
Working with Farmers to Respond to the Climate Crisis
Working with farmers to respond to the climate crisis: 5 key learnings for climate mitigation and adaptation programmes in supply chains “There has been of late long dry spells which have affected my coffee farm, hence I have been using a lot of money to buy inputs,” Naftery Kinyua, a coffee farmer from Kenya told […]
Extreme Heat, Workers’ Rights and the Power of Collaborative Action
Whilst the great and the good of climate policy meet in Baku, Azerbaijan for COP29, and as LinkedIn and Twitter feeds begin to overflow with a frenetic hubbub of updates, insights and arguments, breathe deeply and take a few minutes to immerse yourself in a different reality. A reality that at first glance may seem […]
Investing in Better Housing can Build the Resilience of 40% of the World’s Population
Global investment is falling well short of the needs of those living in vulnerable housing. Current estimates predict an annual need of $3 to 4 trillion globally to achieve adequate housing for all, which will be particularly important for the 1 billion people living in informal housing. Those living in informal housing – that is, […]
Strengthening Gender Equity in the Voluntary Carbon Market
Integrating gender equity into the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) is essential for achieving environmental and social sustainability. At the heart of this discussion is the question: How can carbon credit quality be improved, whilst also driving benefit for the planet and the people most affected by climate change? Integrating gender equity into carbon credit initiatives […]
Empowering the Next Generation: The Future of Youth Entrepreneurship
At Youth Business International (YBI), the only organisation dedicated to youth entrepreneurship on a global scale, we believe that young entrepreneurs are not just the leaders of tomorrow, they’re the changemakers of today. In our rapidly evolving world, young people are stepping up as innovators, driving social change, and forging paths in entrepreneurship like never […]
Boosting Smallholder Farmer Incomes Requires an Innovative Data-Driven Approach
The Challenges Facing Farmers Today Smallholder farmers are essential to the global food supply, producing up to 80% of the food consumed in much of the developing world. Yet many of these farmers live below the poverty line due to a combination of factors, including rising production costs, inefficient farming techniques, and pricing models that do not […]
From Waste to Wonder: Empowering Global Education and Transforming Lives
Redefining Waste: Turning Corporate Surplus into Lifelines for Communities in Need In today’s world, where the effects of climate change and social inequality are increasingly evident, the need for innovative and sustainable solutions is more critical than ever. Environmental degradation and the widening gap between social inequalities pose significant challenges to our collective future. Waste […]
Harnessing the Power of Women Entrepreneurs can be a Game- Changer for Prosperity and Economic Growth
Based on the evidence and experience, iDE is dramatically scaling up its work with women entrepreneurs Flora Mostiço is a change agent in her community. At her market store, in Mozambique’s Beira Corridor, the mother of six sells affordable agricultural supplies including high quality seeds, fertilizer, and water pumps. Despite repeated cyclones that devastated the […]
How Businesses Can Meet EU Deforestation Regulation: Innovative Solutions for Supply Chain Transparency
Trade in commodities linked with deforestation poses significant environmental and social challenges. According to The Accountability Framework initiative (AFi) and CDP 2024 report Time for Transparency, land clearance for agriculture accounts for over 10 percent of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions and is linked to at least a third of global biodiversity loss. When forests are cleared, […]
How Digital Wages Can Contribute to the Living Wage Agenda
Today, it’s estimated that over a billion workers worldwide – about 1/3 of the global workforce –earn less than they need to afford a decent standard of living. A living wage is defined by the International Labor Organization (ILO) as a level of pay that gives workers and their families a decent standard of living. […]
Afro-futurist Innovators Know What We Should Build Next
How might philanthropy shift if we framed Black economic mobility as an inherent right and a collective responsibility? Might we, as funders, abandon “risk” terminology to automatically recognize Black, African, and diaspora founders’ expertise and authority? Might we trust Black and diaspora leaders’ advocacy of their communities’ real needs, widely supporting proximate leaders to author […]
Empowering Poor Populations: How Business Can Transform Poverty Relief
Freedom is Not Trusted When It Comes to the Poor Population, Let’s Change That with Business There has been a consensus that capitalism and the free market are not designed to overcome poverty. We need to overcome this belief. We celebrate the capitalist economic framework for its ability to improve the lives of the majority who […]
Connecting Mexican Farmers and Buyers Through Regenerative Practices
From Small Farms to Formal Markets: Connecting Mexican Farmers and Buyers Through Regenerative Practices Agriculture is a lifeline for over 8 million farmers in Mexico, with smallholders representing a significant portion of the farming landscape in the country. Small farms account for 57% of crop farms, 78% of cattle farms, 89% of pig farms, and […]
Profit with Purpose: How Women-Inclusive Business Practices Drive SME Success
Can inclusive investments advance growth within the localized private sector? Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are powerful drivers of economic growth: they account for 90 percent of businesses, more than 50 percent of employment, and create two out of three jobs globally. This presents a significant untapped opportunity to advance gender equality in low- and […]
Unlocking the Potential of Young Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa
A Call for Innovative Financing Solutions Youth entrepreneurship in Sub-Saharan Africa represents an extraordinary opportunity to drive economic independence, societal transformation, and sustainable development. Yet, millions of young entrepreneurs remain constrained by a rigid financial landscape. These young minds, particularly women and other underserved groups, operate predominantly in the informal sector, with no access to […]
The Fairtrade Foundation: 30 Years of Transformative Change
“It’s more revolutionary what you put on your plate than what you post on the internet.” Those are the words of Silvia Herrera, a second-generation coffee farmer from Chiapas, southern Mexico, who I met earlier this month. Silvia is right. We should never underestimate the power we have as consumers. Power to change an unfair […]
Terwilliger Center for Innovation in Shelter: The “Invisible Market Segment”
There is a common mantra in business that companies can “do well, by doing good.” And while that may be true; too often, “doing good” is more difficult than meets the eye and many businesses opt out, even if “doing good” could bolster bottom lines. But what if there was a way to make “doing […]
Small Business, Big Impact: The Transformative Power of Women Entrepreneurs
In the corner by one of the many potted plants, three Vietnamese women sit around bowls of steaming noodles and dumplings, engrossed in discussion. Despite the noise and chaos of the traffic outside, it’s peaceful in this small and cozy vegetarian restaurant tucked away in Hanoi’s Old Quarter. Sounds of conversation and laughter grow as […]