Engendering Regeneration for Supply Chains that Last
In a decade marked by climate shocks, pandemia, and global interconnection, the call to #InvestInOurPlanet is top of mind for individuals and companies – not just for Earth Day but for the future of life and business as we know it. Food and beverage corporations sense the urgency to transition to more renewable sources for […]
The path to living wages for low-paid workers worldwide
Recent crises worldwide have highlighted how fragile our global supply chains can be when disaster strikes. Whether it’s Covid-19, climate or conflict-related, these crises underscore the importance of ensuring the people who produce our goods and food earn enough to protect their livelihoods from shocks. At Fairtrade, we are committed to achieving living wages for […]
Inclusive business models can help close the gender gap
Even a successful inclusive business model does not automatically eliminate long-held prejudice and bias against women. “Supporting women in agriculture is the right and smart thing to do” – this has been our motto at GROW Liberia for the last five years. But what does this mean in practice? How do you convince partners – many of whom […]
Race to the top: How we pushed supermarkets to take human rights seriously
“Five kilos of extra beans on each worker’s table,” says Joseraldo Medeiros, a union leader in Brazil’s fruit exporting region of Rio Grande do Norte. “If we hadn’t fought for this, workers would not have received [the equivalent of] five kilos of beans in their salary.” The five kilos of beans cost 40 reais, or around $8, […]
Tackling global warming through the promotion of clean cooking energy in Ghana
Globally, over 1.1 billion people live without access to electricity and almost 3 billion people lack clean cooking facilities (SNV, 2022). The world’s poor are continuously affected by the low availability of sustainable and reliable energy, with increasing difficulty in remote areas. Modern energy services are crucial to human well-being as well as to countries’ […]
Women at the Center of Africa’s Post-Pandemic Recovery
Every year, Women’s History Month is a chance to celebrate women of the past who have shaped the Africa we have become – and to highlight African women who are making history today. History will look kindly on the women whose pioneering responses to the pandemic saved many lives. Women like Dr Tlamelo Setshwaelo, who […]
How the business community is stepping up in support of Ukrainian children and their families
The war in Ukraine has taken a harrowing toll on children. Since the beginning of the conflict, more than 1 .5 million children have fled the country and millions more are caught up in the escalating violence. Like all children driven from their homes by war and conflict, Ukrainian children arriving in neighbouring countries are […]
Switching to digital delivery during COVID-19: Key lessons
Existing inequalities relating to caregiving, to the digital divide, and to inadequate financing have been exacerbated during the pandemic—particularly in low and middle income countries—and overall, women-led businesses have generally seen larger declines in sales and profits, and have been more likely to close down (at least temporarily). ‘Life has been anything but business as usual for […]
What is a value chain? And why you should care.
Several years ago the women of Bihani Dairy, a Heifer-supported agricultural cooperative in southwestern Nepal, had an idea: Provide a collection center for milk produced by the area’s dairy farmers, an enterprise move that would reduce waste and offer farmers, who were otherwise forced to sell as quickly as possible for below-market fees, a chance to create […]
Living income and gender: adopting gender transformative approaches to improve livelihoods
The concept of ‘Living Income’ has grown in popularity as a way to improve livelihoods for smallholders. It goes a step beyond traditional notions of poverty alleviation: recognising that a household income can come from multiple sources and emphasising decent living and resilience over basic subsidence and survival. Where does gender come into this conversation? […]
Spotlighting Fairtrade and Aldi UK’s ‘Dignity for All’ – a programme for female flower workers
“Women have the potential of taking up leadership positions and roles, unlike in previous years when women were considered irrelevant and/or unable to lead and work equally as men”. This sentiment may seem like a given to most readers, but for the 25-year-old flower farm worker from Ethiopia who said these words it was a […]
Scaling Up Impact With Carbon Finance
In partnership with Relief International and Sustainable Development and Relief Associates (SUDRA), ClimateCare developed Gyapa – a Gold Standard project which supports health and livelihoods for families in Ghana by providing clean cookstoves. One of the largest and longest running cookstove projects in the world, more than 20,000 stoves are produced in local factories each […]
The chocolate entrepreneurs of Peru
In El Palo Blanco, a small town in the northeast of Peru, locals have been growing coffee and cocoa for generatins. But because Palo Blanco is situated in the lower lands, at the foot of Piura’s mountainous region, it is getting hotter each year, unpredictable weather and increasing prevalence of pests and diseases that threaten […]
Inclusive future of work for women with disabilities
Globally inclusion possess concerns on how to ensure that the future of work is inclusive, whereas leaving no one behind, for the over one billion persons with disabilities (PWDs). Ensuring an inclusive future of work is part of the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is worth noting that article 27 of the […]
With their own businesses and as workers, Egypt’s women can be winners
Rabeha is Arabic for “winner”. It is the brand name for a programme to provide women in Egypt with the means, knowledge and confidence to realize their unique and valid work-related goals, either as entrepreneurs, early-stage businesswomen or as paid employees. The Rabeha programme, run jointly by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and […]
The Kenyan woman changing young farmers’ futures
Twenty years ago, Victorine Atieno Owino began her career as a volunteer at the Ugunja Community Resource Center in southwest Kenya’s Siaya County. She filled her days organizing books as a librarian and handling paperwork as an administrative assistant, supporting the center’s work building the skills of local community members. But a common need began […]
Empowering underserved women around the globe
A look at inspiring inclusive business ventures and supporters to underserved women In Zambia, beekeeping used to be men’s work. Making beehives from barks and hanging them high up into trees requires strength. Later, farmers spend days in the fields to harvest honey. For women with children, this is hardly possible. This is gradually changing. […]
Robust social metrics for ESG investing: A practical way for boards to invest for impact
A new report published by Citigroup with SOPHIA Oxford shows how multidimensional social factors can be used by investors and corporates to reduce poverty, lower risk and open up large financial investment opportunities. The innovative approach based on a proved Oxford methodology looks at indicators that can flow from the household level through to the […]
The time to accelerate the “S” in ESG is now
She looks up with tears in her eyes and explains in Bengali that her children are now too old, and she missed her chance to get the legal allowed months for mother’s leave. The scene takes place in a small humid room in one of the thousands of factories in the ready-made garment sector in […]
‘Inequality kills’ but only 1% of companies show social responsibility
Millions are dead from COVID-19 whilst hundreds of millions have been thrown back into poverty. 99% have seen their incomes fall in the pandemic, while the 10 richest men doubled their wealth. As stock markets hit historic highs, what are the chances that companies can help address the problem of growing inequality? According to the […]