Half the Sky: Change the Way We Talk About Women and Gender Equality
On September 4th 2013, the Women Advancing Microfinance (WAM UK) and Women in Social Finance networks are co-hosting the UK screening of the highly acclaimed documentary Half the Sky. We want to share this landmark film with the change-making Business Fights Poverty community as Half the Sky is a breakthrough on how the world thinks […]
Building an Affordable Learning Market
By Katelyn Donnelly, Executive Director, PALF and Ravi Patel, Analyst, Affordable Learning Fund As we approach 2015, it is clear that the international community will not meet its commitment to universal primary education (MDG goals). As of 2011, UNESCO estimated 57 million children of primary school age were still not enrolled in school. Additionally, 69 […]
The 3 Most Common Misconceptions About Business and Human Rights
Human rights remains a topic that companies may reference perfunctorily in their codes of conduct, but few really seem to understand. In their defence, this is in part because, first, best practice standards on business and human rights are often nascent at best, and, second, human rights tend to expressed in a nearly impenetrable mass […]
A Sri-Lankan Coconut Entrepreneur’s Story of Success
An Interview with Nimali Gunawardana, Nimali Chips and Fibre Mill, Sri Lanka Nimali Gunawardana (25) and her business, Nimali Chips and Fibre Mill, have been hailed as pioneers. Within a year she has created an environmentally-friendly enterprise producing and exporting coir for mattresses and coir piths and, more uniquely, making coconut husk chips which is […]
6 Ways Businesses Can Be Inclusive and Socially Responsive
The big question that us development professionals who are working at the intersections of development and business faces today is whether private sector led growth can be inclusive and socially responsive. Our experience on that count is mixed. Businesses obviously promote economic growth, jobs and other associated social benefits. However, the business models generally tend […]
iDE and innocent foundation: Creating successful NGO-Business Partnerships
Since 2006 non-profit organisation iDE UK and the innocent foundation have achieved a major impact in some of the world’s poorest communities in Africa and Asia. They have found new, innovative ways to create shared value that can offer insights into creating successful partnerships between NGOs and the business world. Creating shared value starts with […]
Meet Anowara Shuley: Sewing Fabrics and Reaping Success
Anowara Shuley is challenging traditional beliefs, empowering destitute women and educating the poor. Following a family dispute which left her destitute, she embarked on a self-funded tailoring course. At the age of 24 she launched her business, Shawon Hosto Shilpo, producing fashion and handcrafted products for sale in Dhaka in Bangladesh. However, due to a […]
Meet Mohan Singh: Inspiring Entrepreneurship through Mentoring
Do you remember that one teacher or guide who made a positive and lasting impact on your life? If you have ever provided support or advice based on your own life experiences, you have been a mentor to someone. And everyone needs a mentor. “Mentoring” might not be a glossy word but it is a […]
Event Audio: Base of the Pyramid Consumers – Getting the Right Product to the Right People
Stoves, water purifiers, off-grid power, nutritious foods – so many innovative products and services are being developed for base of the pyramid (BoP) markets. But companies developing these products have to be innovative and creative in the face of several challenges: low purchasing power, traditional consumer preferences and logistical problems (such as inadequate infrastructure) that […]
Marketing GravityLight for the Base of the Pyramid
By Caroline Angus, Associate, On Purpose GravityLight ticks multiple boxes: An innovative form of off-grid lighting? Tick. A light to help eliminate harmful and hazardous kerosene lamps? Yes. A light independent of batteries –their limited lifespan, capacity and issues of disposal? Check. A light that doesn’t rely on the weather? Yup. A light that brings […]
How Can We Create Business Opportunities in the Fight Against Malnutrition?
For decades, hunger has been the most serious problem plaguing developing and newly industrialized countries. While headway has been made in the battle against hunger, two billion people are still suffering from malnutrition in developed and developing countries alike. Because of this, on June 3rd and 4th, Ashoka Changemakers held a Globalizer Summit in Frankfurt, […]
Empowerment Through Metrics
You might be surprised to learn that the solution to global hunger doesn’t lie in simply increasing the world’s food supply. If more food isn’t the answer, then what is? For an issue as wide-reaching as global hunger, the basic questions can be the most important – and most elusive. For example, how do we […]
Agency Through Community
Even the most groundbreaking ideas will fail if only one or two individuals pursue them. In order to reach a tipping point, an idea needs the support of a community—and the bigger the community, the better. That’s why Ashoka invited more than 150 experts from diverse fields to a Globalizer Summit in Frankfurt, Germany this […]
3 Lessons Food Companies Can Learn From Social Entrepreneurs
One panel discussion at Ashoka’s recent Globalizer Summit in Frankfurt, Germany, “Fighting the ‘Hidden Hunger,” brought together stakeholders from various sectors, including funding agencies, agri-businesses, think tanks, nutrition organizations, and social entrepreneurs who were interested in growing a global nutrient economy. Reflecting these diverse backgrounds, the panel included Prof. Dr. Konrad Biesalski, author of the […]
Turning Waste into Wealth – A Young Entrepreneur’s Contribution Towards Community, the Environment, and National Happiness
At just 30 years old, Karma Yonten is Bhutan’s first citizen to turn waste management and recycling into a business. The old saying goes that “one man’s meat is another man’s poison”: Karma saw opportunity in the country’s maligned, unsightly and toxic landfills, which had dangerous side-effects for people’s health. His pioneering enterprise, Greener Way, […]
Accelerating Peace through Youth Entrepreneurship
I recently participated in a conference on fighting piracy in Somalia. The topic: how to combat the thousands of men, AK47’s strapped to their backs, that were taking skiffs into the azure blue waters of the Indian Ocean to hijack and loot ships. The conference had a packed schedule, and international security officials discussed everything […]
Cocoa Life and Verification: A Circle of Learning
By Mil Niepold, Senior Mediator, Consensus Building Institute My job is to listen, and to encourage others to be excellent listeners. Listening means being open to hearing what people need and want, what works and what doesn’t. Listening gives others, especially those who haven’t been heard, a voice, and this is key to creating and […]
Technology Boosting Economic Opportunity in Rural Ghana
Almost half of the world’s people live on less than $2.50 a day. In my country, Ghana, nearly 30 percent of the population and almost 60 percent of those under 25 survive below this grim poverty line—facing stark daily choices between spending on food, healthcare, education and shelter. In a world where the wealthiest one […]
Revolutionising the Rice Industry in Mali
When I was growing up in Ethiopia, Cameroon and Mali in the 90s, my friends and I talked about creating companies that addressed problems in our communities. However, we always thought that first we’d have to become financially solvent ourselves. The perception that planting the seeds for a formal business requires a degree of financial […]
Celebrating the Tenth Annual Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards
On Wednesday, we celebrated the tenth annual Diageo Africa Business Reporting Awards. Looking back over the last decade of the Awards, I am extremely pleased at how they have helped to recognise how great business journalism can showcase successes, highlight challenges and support broad economic growth within Africa. A strong independent media have a critical […]