Inclusive Value Chains in Plastic Waste Management
For a long time, waste management and recycling were primarily discussed in the context of environmental preservation. However with natural resources becoming scarcer and prices of raw materials increasing, it is no surprise that materials and energy recovered from recycling waste are gradually recognised as a valuable commodity, particularly by enterprises. In its Green Economy […]
Value in Sustainable and Inclusive Business Activities
‘Potential cocoa shortage by 2020’ was an obvious business case for a company like Hershey’s to invest in being resilient to climate change in order to sustain long-term profits. Hershey’s has even surpassed its 2014 goals, announcing that 30% of its globally sourced cocoa is independently certified and verified. Cost reduction strategies by Pacific Rubiales […]
An EU Backed Sanitation Stimulus in Poor Countries?
This Sunday (22nd March) is World Water Day. But there is little cause to celebrate. As the twin-track Post-2015 Development Agenda rolls on towards hopeful denouement at the end of this year, it is Millennium Development Goal no.7c (halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation) that is the […]
Water Stewardship: Good for Business and Development
The United Nations is finalizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of international goals addressing a wide range of global challenges, including energy, agriculture, governance, and poverty reduction. The SDGs will be implemented when the Millennium Development Goals, the UN’s last set of development targets, expire at the end of 2015 and water-related issues […]
Improving the Lives of 2.5m Farmers and their Families
More than 90% of farms are run by an individual or a family and they produce about 80% of the world’s food, yet many family farmers face ill health and low productivity as a result of poor diets. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) calculates that around half of the world’s hungry people are from […]
How USAID Partners with Business for Development Impact
USAID works with a diverse array of partners. Among these partners, the private sector—global and local businesses, financial institutions, investors, and entrepreneurs—has a unique and growing role to play in global problem solving. USAID partners with the private sector where there is strong alignment between development objectives and business interests. Today, there is increasing overlap […]
The Business Case for Girls
One of the most common questions we get from entrepreneurs is why we’ve chosen to focus the SPRING Accelerator exclusively on adolescent girls who are living in poverty. Entrepreneurs understand the general business case for base of the pyramid (BoP) consumers, who represent a global market of nearly $5 trillion. They also understand that BoP […]
A Milestone Year for Development
2015 is a milestone year in which the international community will set the development agenda for the next 15 years, most notably through the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) when they expire this year. We’ve had a long interest in the role business can play in […]
Inclusive Business: Forget Business School Strategy
In the coming decades, the majority of the world’s economic output and market growth will come from the emerging markets. Already, the seven largest emerging markets collectively contribute more to global output than do the G7 countries combined. That said, once one gets beneath the aggregate statistics, these emerging – and dynamic – markets are […]
Is Agribusiness or Agroecology the Future of Africa?
In a recent blog on Business Fights Poverty, Gem Kodhek claimed that ‘the future of Africa is agribusiness,’ highlighting how it is a growing area of investment and represents an exciting future for the continent. Indeed, large amounts of global capital are being invested, including the AECF challenge fund competition which will award grants and […]
India’s Companies Act – The 2% Solution
Money should begin flowing to Indian sustainability projects following new legislation. Are the givers and the receivers ready? NGO work is often hard and thankless, an unending attempt to do a lot with a little. However, a groundbreaking Indian law that requires large corporations to invest 2% of their profits in sustainability initiatives may make […]
How to Make Fair Trade Practices the Norm?
The last couple of years have been a low water-mark in the UK’s broken food system. The horsemeat outrage; the scandal of slavery in the shrimp industry; revelations about poor accounting and abuse of buyer power by some retailers. And increasingly aggressive price wars devaluing food and creating a race to the bottom. Through all […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]