An Open Letter to Larry Page
Dear Larry, In your recent conversation with Charlie Rose at TED, you said you’d rather hand over your cash to Elon Musk (Tesla, SpaceX, Solar City) instead of donating it to a philanthropic organization. I understand the sentiment. The nonprofit sphere has generally proved itself incapable of solving many of society’s most intractable problems. In […]
Getting Ready for Success at the BoP
Having supported companies to enter BoP markets over the last decade, the European BoP Learning Labs and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) have learned about best practices in inclusive business innovation, marketing, last mile distribution, financing, partnering, and measuring results. To share their insights, the Learning Labs and WBCSD teamed up in 2013 […]
Making Use of Social and Environmental Performance Data
Last month, ANDE welcomed the 200th member to our network of organizations that support small and growing businesses (SGBs) in emerging markets. Our members provide direct investment, capacity development services, and a host of related ecosystem-building services that support the growth of small businesses. This was an important milestone for ANDE, and we think it […]
Global Partnerships for a Post-2015 World
The case for development partnerships is clear: We know that in order to tackle the global challenges we face, we need to get important actors from different sectors to work together towards a common agenda for tackling complex problems like malaria, malnutrition, poverty, or environmental degradation. What we don’t understand well enough yet is HOW […]
Business and Development – A Leap of Faith?
Have you ever wondered what is really driving the many initiatives and investments that are taking place in the name of business and development? It was the first question I grappled with when I entered this field over 10 years ago. Yet despite the work of a great many organisations to better understand and quantify […]
Water and Energy – Interlinked and Interdependent
The theme of this year’s World Water Day is ‘Water & Energy’, highlighting the fact that the two resources are closely interlinked and interdependent. Energy generation and transmission requires utilization of water resources, whilst about 8% of global energy generation is used for pumping, treating and transporting water to various consumers. A third element that […]
Fairtrade: Celebrating the First 20 years. What’s Next?
The Fairtrade Foundation launched its first products – coffee, chocolate and tea – 20 years ago. As one of the Oxfam types who sat around in the late 80s debating whether UK supermarkets would ever stock ‘alternative trade’ products, this is a moment to savour. We’ve come a long way. Sales in 2013 were £1.78 […]
Creating What’s Next for ICTs and Development
In less than a decade’s time, the majority of the world’s poor now own or regularly have access to a mobile phone. As a result, the internet and communications technology (ICTs) industry offers the newest and most relevant platform to reach the poor with essential services such as information, social networking, education, healthcare, employment opportunities, […]
Will Ending Poverty Require Endless Economic Growth?
What is Progress? If you ask this question of most Americans, they’ll probably say something that implies continuing growth in material wealth — more stuff for more people, in other words. The overwhelming majority of professional economists would agree: progress means ever-higher economic output, which in turn means increasing use of natural resources and ever-bigger […]
Let the Lifecycle Be Your Guide
As a company that’s been helping to pioneer on sustainability for most of our 160-year history, we’re excited to have the opportunity to share some of our learnings through the Sustainable Apparel Series in partnership with Triple Pundit and other brands. Throughout this series we hope to share lessons, provide actionable insights, and examples of […]
Growing Sweet Prosperity in Peru
TechnoServe’s Simon Winter visits Peru and discovers a burgeoning cocoa industry. On a recent trip to Peru, it was a mouthwatering pleasure to see how the formerly coca-cultivating San Martin region is now home to an emerging cocoa and chocolate industry. At TechnoServe, our mission is to work with enterprising people in the developing world […]
Investing in Tanzania Agribusiness
Hugh Scott, Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund Director, explains the latest funding opportunity for businesses to apply if they have an innovative project for Tanzania I am excited to announce that the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) is ready to fund for-profit businesses that have innovative, agribusiness related projects for Tanzania that will benefit the rural […]
Behind the Brands: What Progress One Year On?
In February 2013 we launched an ambitious campaign using the power of consumers and investors to hold the world’s biggest food and drinks companies to account for what happens in their supply chains. One year on, private sector adviser Erinch Sahan reveals how the policies of the Big 10 have changed. It’s a year since […]
Innovations to Protect Farmers from Climate Risks
Farmers in India are accustomed to a certain amount of weather extremes. Much of Indian agriculture is oriented around monsoon seasons that regularly feature torrential rains. But reports from the World Bank and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warn that, as climate change begins to alter weather patterns, growing conditions in the […]
AECF Tanzania Agribusiness Window Accepting Applications for Funding Between US$ 100,000 and $1,000,000.
Hugh Scott, Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund Director, explains the latest funding opportunity for businesses to apply if they have an innovative project for Tanzania I am excited to announce that the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) is ready to fund for-profit businesses that have innovative, agribusiness related projects for Tanzania that will benefit the rural […]
The Impact of Mobile on the Development Sector
‘Africa is not just a mobile-first continent, it is mobile only’ – CNN[1] While commercial business has taken the lead in optimising the opportunity mobile presents in Africa, the development sector is catching up. Now, every aid and development organisation is being forced to think actively about how mobile relates to its core business. Africans […]
Why Cheap Bananas Threaten Farmers Futures
To mark Fairtrade Fortnight and the Make Bananas Fair campaign. Michael Gidney, CEO of the Fairtrade Foundation, explains why we need to make sure all bananas are sourced fairly and ethically in the UK. I have just come back from visiting banana producers in Colombia. Along the humid tropical coast bananas seem to be everywhere […]
DFID’s Increased Focus on Economic Development
DFID’s shift towards a stronger focus on economic development is a top priority for the UK Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening. Last month, she delivered a speech at the London Stock Exchange where she gives the rationale for ramping up our work in this area. A new strategic framework – “Economic development […]
Small Business Fights Poverty?
There is very little argument these days about whether businesses are critical in development processes. Not surprising when you consider that their combined activity eclipses both aid and government spending. But there seems to be less consensus on what approaches with business will achieve poverty outcomes. How should we shape policy and practice to ensure […]
Uniting David & Goliath to Accelerate Agri-Development
Having worked across public, private and non-profit sectors in agricultural development for over 25 years, I have seen first-hand the benefits of successfully engaging with small-scale farmers in emerging economies. There is a clear link between the development of a viable agricultural sector, inclusive economic growth and food security in emerging markets. Research by Imperial […]