A Sustainable Garment Industry in Cambodia?
Cambodia is proving to be the next tough test case for multinationals’ supply chain weaknesses Without a doubt, the garment industry is the peg on which Cambodia’s economy hangs: 350,000 young workers are employed in making the shirts and shoes, hoodies and underwear, skirts and jeans found in stores such as Marks & Spencer, Primark, […]
Solar Seaweed Drying Transforming Lives in Zanzibar
Dar es Salaam, Dec 10th, 2015: Seaweed farming in Zanzibar is undergoing a dramatic transformation thanks to an innovative new way to dry the product during the rainy season. Despite Zanzibar producing some of the best seaweed in the world, the industry is extremely inefficient. Production is among the lowest and cost per kilo is […]
How Nestlé is Creating Shared Value in Mexico
A few months ago, I was invited by the Nestlé Creating Shared Value team in Mexico to participate in a visit to their dairy producers in Aguascalientes, Mexico. We left bright and early for this day trip, which turned out to be an eye-opening experience. We saw first-hand the difficulties that small and growing dairy […]
Innovations Shaping the Future of Fertilizer Use
When a farmer has access to the right kind of fertilizer, the rewards can be great. She will see a dramatic improvement in the yield she can get from her land. In the world’s poorest countries, this will mean the difference between her and her family going to bed hungry or with a full stomach. […]
2015 SEED Awards for Social & Environmental Enterprise
In South Africa, a 2014 SEED Award Winner, GreenABLE, recycles empty printer cartridges generating a steady flow of income and employment opportunities for previously unemployed persons with disabilities. In addition, its activities reduce the amount of waste going into landfills. The enterprise is just one example how small scale social and environmental enterprises can contribute […]
2015 SEED Awards for Social & Environmental Enterprise
In South Africa, a 2014 SEED Award Winner, GreenABLE, recycles empty printer cartridges generating a steady flow of income and employment opportunities for previously unemployed persons with disabilities. In addition, its activities reduce the amount of waste going into landfills. The enterprise is just one example how small scale social and environmental enterprises can contribute […]
The Wealth of the Poor
I don’t know about you but I struggle to think of a device I could purchase that would improve my work productivity or help me save money. Actually, looking at the gadgets that clutter my desk I have probably been over-equipped for a long time. By contrast, poor families at the “base of the pyramid” […]
Local Innovation to Help Save Lives Globally
Innovative technologies or interventions that transform healthcare and save children’s lives in poorer countries often remain local. Without funding or a platform to expand, they can make a substantial difference in their immediate vicinity, but rarely have the chance to spread their wings. This matters because preventable diseases such as malaria and diarrhoea are claiming […]
Unlocking Business Potential of Small-Scale Agriculture
Today’s farmers face an uphill battle. The uncertainties of climate change further complicate more familiar problems such as land degradation, land scarcity, and younger generations leaving agriculture. Many farmers in the developing world already face erratic climate conditions that frequently devastate their crops and herds and prevent them from investing in more productive agricultural technologies. […]
Tracking Reach at the Base of the Pyramid
By Lara Sinha, Hub Manager, The Practitioner Hub for Inclusive Business Changing lives for people at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP): easy to say, tough to deliver, and very tough to define and measure. Although nearly all inclusive businesses and social investors aim to benefit clients at the BoP, there is huge diversity in […]
Improving Health and Tackling Climate Change
Today, climate and sustainable development expert ClimateCare, celebrated its 18th Birthday by launching a fund that aims to create a new market for ethanol cookers, improving the health of the local community and protecting the environment by cutting CO2 emissions. The work is part of a broader programme of activity that ClimateCare has been selected […]
Enabling Local Entrepreneurs to Offer Energy Access
While the work of companies led by experts may be crucial to prove new solutions, we believe that in order to provide access to basic services at scale, the world needs viable business models that encourage local and national entrepreneurs to meet the needs of their neighbors. Lumeter Networks’ mission is to overcome the barriers […]
Passion Fruit and a New Approach to Agriculture
Partnering to Scale Impact of Sustainable Entrepreneurs
A woman using a solar energy charger, supplied by Kumudzi Kuwale, 2014 SEED Africa Award Winner By Helen Marquard, Executive Director SEED & Anais Mangin, Project Manager SEED Are locally-driven social and environmental enterprises too small to have an impact? We at SEED don’t think so, and Organic Africa demonstrates that. In 2007, when everyone […]
Eight Steps to the Four A's of Food Security
The potential of African agriculture is undoubtedly bright, but it will take more than just encouraging investment from large scale agri-players – of which Olam is one – into the continent. Food security depends on the four As – the essential combination of availability (is there enough), accessibility (in the right place), affordability (for the […]
Eight Steps to the Four A’s of Food Security
The potential of African agriculture is undoubtedly bright, but it will take more than just encouraging investment from large scale agri-players – of which Olam is one – into the continent. Food security depends on the four As – the essential combination of availability (is there enough), accessibility (in the right place), affordability (for the […]
No Strings, Big Risks and Even Bigger Rewards
We are taught at school if at first you don’t succeed, then try, try and try again, yet how many charities put this mantra into practice? Too many charities avoid risk and rarely admit failure, especially to their donors, which prevents them from learning from mistakes or revising their strategies. Yet charities have such huge […]
How We Can Help Smallholders Feed the World
The world’s population is expected to number more than 9 billion people by 2050, and to feed them agriculture will have to grow by 60%. It’s an expansion that can only be fuelled by investment – to the tune of $83 billion. Growth generated by agriculture is up to four times more effective at reducing […]
Lifting the Game in Sustainable Reporting
With the start of a new year, it is usually a time for people to reflect on the year that has passed, draw lessons from it so that they can improve themselves in the coming year. For sustainability practitioners, and advocacy evangelisers like myself, it is also an opportunity for us to review the year […]
Enhancing Vital Goods and Services Provided by Nature
25 years ago you’d have been hard pressed to find anyone in a company who thought that nature had anything to do with their business. We thought that nature would pollinate, control crop pests and disease and would continue to provide plentiful water and rich soil – all free of charge. But with rapid industrialisation […]