The Business of Agriculture: What’s missing?
By Alison Griffith,Senior Policy and Practice Advisor, Private Sector and Markets, Practical Action, and George McAllister, Director of Programmes, Garden Africa Smallholders have the potential to become the backbone of agricultural growth in Africa and to supply our growing demand for food – if they have the right environment. The World Bank’s proposal to develop […]
Benchmarking the Business of Agriculture
Smallholders have the potential to become the backbone of agricultural growth in Africa and to supply our growing demand for food. As Kato Lambrecht said in her blog yesterday, the policies and practices of governments can have a huge impact on whether or not they can realise that potential. The African Smallholder Farmers Group have […]
Making Markets Work for Smallholder Farmers
John Ngari farms a seven acre plot in Mbere Kenya. In a recent conversation he remarked that ‘It is an eye opener for us that farming can be a business. My sons can enter farming as a business just like any other. What I am looking for is to have my own, small-scale industry so […]
Only Business Can Solve Poverty
There’s nothing mysterious here. Poor people tell us they’re poor because they don’t have enough money—and who knows more about making money than businesspeople? Capital, Jobs, Scale Private business possesses three overarching and undeniable advantages in addressing the challenge of poverty: Profitable businesses attract substantial capital. Successful businesses hire lots of people. Successful businesses are […]
8 Insights from the Mind of an Intrapreneur
The inaugural 3-day Intrapreneur Lab offered a unique and intimate insight into the minds of today’s leading ‘social intrapreneurs;’ the enterprising individuals working on the inside of large corporations to create innovative business solutions that drive social change. Of course, entrepreneurial employees with noble motives have been part of large companies for years, but increasingly, […]
The Challenges of Going to Scale – A BIF Perspective
In our latest BIF insider “Scaling Inclusive Business – Why do some successful IB pilots fail to scale”, Jack Newnham identifies and examines seven broad reasons why some inclusive businesses do not go to scale. The publication draws on a range of examples (mostly not related to BIF), illustrating which hurdles could and could not […]
Intrapreneurship – A View from the Bridge
You’re on the Titanic. You see the iceberg. What do you do? You could just enjoy the party. After all, it’s probably too late to do anything so one might as well have fun. Alternatively, you could quickly make for the lifeboats and plan an escape while you still can. Or you could climb up […]
We Must Make Farming Profitable
A farmer tells his child, “study well and get a job or you will suffer like me.” This is not an isolated caution from a hapless father, but a reality that plays out time and again across villages in the emerging world. Parents don’t want their children to farm. As governments across the world clamour […]
5 Tools to Help Social Intrapreneurs Drive Change
What do Rosa Parks, Rachel Carson, Lech Walesa and a group of gay men at a New York bar in 1969 have in common with social intrapreneurs? According to David Grayson, Director of the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility at Cranfield University, they are all change agents – people who pushed against the status quo […]
How to Change the Way the World is Fed?
As we mark World Food Day this week, we are greeted by the news that 842 million people – about one in eight – are still chronically hungry. Although this represents an improvement on the figures from previous years, it is not enough, and it looks like we are at risk of missing the Millennium […]
"Gender-Neutral" Financial Services
I recently stood in front of a group of investors and business coaches and explained the gap in investment in women-led small businesses. After the presentation, an audience member asked me whether I thought banks and investors should start biasing their services toward women. “No,” I replied, “you should unbias them away from men.” This […]
“Gender-Neutral” Financial Services
I recently stood in front of a group of investors and business coaches and explained the gap in investment in women-led small businesses. After the presentation, an audience member asked me whether I thought banks and investors should start biasing their services toward women. “No,” I replied, “you should unbias them away from men.” This […]
Social Intrapreneurism – A Dialogue
When a researcher in corporate responsibility meets a management consultant, it rarely begins with improvising a jazz piano duet at a conference. This is, however, what happened when Melody McLaren, an Associate of the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility, first met Lionel Bodin, a Senior Manager at Accenture Development Partnerships, during the inaugural award ceremony […]
Developing Effective Youth Entrepreneurship Programmes
There are approximately 1.3 billion young people between the ages of 15 – 24: they make up a quarter of the world’s working population but represent half the world’s unemployed. One solution to combat spiralling unemployment has been the launch of youth entrepreneurship programmes providing services such as training, mentoring and access to finance. But […]
Investigating Inclusive Business Models in Africa
Woolworths through its Good Business Journey, has a comprehensive plan to make a difference in six priority areas: sustainable farming, protecting water supplies, reducing energy use, improving the management of waste, making a significant contribution to social development and supporting transformation initiatives As part of the company’s CSR investment, Woolworths was the first and main […]
A Chance to See Is a Chance At Life
Public health care coverage in Mexico continues to be low, relative to international standards. While the Mexican government provides traditional health care to the formal sector, in 2004 it created “Seguro Popular” — insurance for low-income, informal/self-employed individuals. Internationally, in 2011 the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average health expenditure per country was 9.3 […]
The Best Social Innovations of 2013
The SAB Foundation has announced the finalists of its 3rd Annual Social Innovation Awards 2013. A total of 26 finalists will vie for the R1-million first place prize, which will be used to grow and commercialise their product or service. The SAB Foundation Social Innovations Awards was first launched in 2011 by its chairperson, Cyril […]
Sustainable Development for Artisanal Diamond Miners
What is happening today in the diamond business? A few years ago the appalling human tragedy in Sierra Leone – fuelled by ‘blood’ diamonds – was front of mind. The international diamond industry, concerned that consumers would turn against its luxury product, joined governments and civil society in the Kimberley Process to eradicate the trade […]
Strengthening Micro-Enterprise in Peru
Alfredo Peña Rojas owns a local mini-market and delivery service in Iquitos, Peru. He has built himself a strong business thanks to his boundless personal enthusiasm, and established a good trade despite the location’s poor roads and consequent access difficulties. But basic efficiency problems were evident in day-to-day operations. For example, some customers were no […]
Why Conventional Methods to End Poverty Have Not Worked
Rather than approach the problem directly, most large-scale, rich-nation efforts to end global poverty have employed indirect methods to eradicate poverty. This is the second in a six-part series on the fight against global poverty adapted from The Business Solution to Poverty: Designing Products and Services f…, by Paul Polak and Mal Warwick. It’s difficult […]