Business Solutions for Smallholder Farmers in Africa
At last year’s G8 summit President Obama highlighted the need to invest in African agriculture, announcing a new initiative aimed at driving sustainable agricultural productivity. Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are the key to that initiative’s success. There are around 33 million smallholder farmers in the region, representing 80% of all farms and producing up […]
G8 Nutrition for Growth
UK Prime Minister David Cameron spoke about the role of foreign aid in reducing poverty and malnutrition. Originally given at G8 Nutrition for Growth conference on Saturday, 8 June 2013. This is the text of the speech as drafted. There will be a lot of people talking about statistics today. I want to start by […]
Rice production in Cambodia: the poor farmer’s perspective
Rice farming in Cambodia can be a tough and uncertain business. Rainfall is highly erratic, both drought and floods being regular occurrences, land is often infertile or under-nourished and investment in new farming systems and technology is minimal. Yet approximately 60% of the Cambodian population rely on agriculture (mainly rice production) for their livelihoods and […]
The Tipping Point: How Japanese Firms Can Shape the Inclusive Business Landscape
It was an honor to represent the Business Call to Action (BCtA) at a high-level side event last week in Japan—at the 5th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V). The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) hosted the event and supported Japan’s commitment and preparation for last week’s conference. JICA organized seminars on inclusive […]
The Hunger Alliance: Investing in Small-Scale Women Farmers
There’s already enough food in the world for everyone, but one person in eight goes hungry every night, and 2.3 million children die needlessly each year from malnutrition. What can be done about it? A report published by the Hunger Alliance suggests investing more in small-scale women farmers would be a good start. Three quarters […]
A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies through Sustainable Development
Last July, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, brought together a High-Level Panel to advise on the development framework that should replace the Millennium Development Goals when they expire in 2015. The group delivered its much-anticipated report at the end of last week, “A New Global Partnership: Eradicate Poverty and Transform Economies Through Sustainable Development”. One of […]
A WaterFirst Health Model – Delivering Healthcare in Emerging Markets
HealthPoint Services’ “WaterFirst” sells inexpensive, clean water to prevent water-borne illnesses in remote communities in India. But villagers who visit HealthPoint units to buy water get a lot more: they can also purchase health commodities like sanitary pads, condoms, and nutritional supplements for pregnant women. Villagers can also access health services like vaccinations and diagnostic […]
Beyond income: Understanding the BoP from an access to development perspective
No matter how much practitioners agree on quantifying the Base Of the Pyramid (BOP) based on their access to development and basic needs, we still seem to be loosing the battle against income threshold fundamentalists. Beyond the traditional controversies calculating purchasing power parity (PPP) income measurements, due in part to the lack of comparable basket […]
Radically redefining the role of business in a post 2015 world – the need for symbiotic partnerships for development
Despite much talk about the importance of business in the post 2015 development framework, astonishingly little agreement seems to have been reached on the question of how, in practice, the private sector should be involved in the post 2015 development agenda. And unfortunately, the report of the High Level Panel, which came out last week, […]
GSK & Save the Children Partnership: From Ambition to Action
The High Level Panel on the post-2015 development framework submitted its report yesterday (Thursday 30 May), giving the first indications of the settlement that will replace the Millennium Development Goals when they expire two years from now. The debate has featured discussions on everything from plankton abundance to WiFi access, but one issue that stands […]
Challenging Kenyan Agribusiness to Bring More Nutritious Foods to Local Markets
Following the World Health Assembly’s 66th annual meeting in Geneva last week, one prominent question should be on every participant’s mind: “Is what we are eating contributing to a healthy world?” As leaders and families especially in poor countries struggle to ensure there is a meal on the table, we should not lose sight of […]
Businesses invest in projects that improve lives and protect the environment
An annual state of the market report launched today, shows that businesses across the world continue to see the value of investing in projects that reduce carbon emissions, protect the environment and improve people’s lives, as a way to demonstrate industry leadership and take responsibility for their impacts. Over the last year alone, the private […]
Sustainable Food Production – A 21st Century Revolution
I grew up on a small farm, living on less than a dollar a day per person. I was lucky—we had a big garden, an orchard, raised some of our own meat, and hunted and fished for most of the rest. Years later, I worked with refugees and famine victims, seeing firsthand the impacts of […]
Gyapa Stoves project cuts a record amount of carbon and improves lives
This week, the Gyapa Stoves project, run by Relief International, announced it had cut a record amount of carbon emissions. ClimateCare has long advocated integrated Climate and Development projects like this, designed from the outset to protect the environment and improve people’s lives. Since 2007, nearly half a million Gyapa™ stoves have been sold, impacting […]
An Integrated Approach to Sustainable Food Production
TechnoServe As Eshetu Abote, a member of the Shegole coffee farming cooperative in western Ethiopia, crouches near his maize (corn) crop, the difference is apparent. The shorter plants – cultivated using traditional methods – barely reach his shoulder. The taller plants have benefited from training given during monthly sessions supported by TechnoServe’s team, which is […]
Empowering Agricultural Entrepreneurs to Sustainably Feed the World
At Cargill, sustainable food production is fundamental to what we do. Our core business is buying, processing and distributing grains, oilseeds and other agricultural commodities and selling them to customers that include food and beverage manufacturers, foodservice companies and retailers. These customers increasingly want to know – and want to prove to their consumers – […]
Business and the UN MDGs Post 2015 – Changing context: Business opportunity
In less than 1000 days, the world is due to keep true to its promise to the deliver the UN Millennium Development Goals, (MDGs), the framework that almost 200 governments signed up to in 2000 to address the most pressing issues of the world’s poorest by 2015. Much has been achieved but there is still […]
Defining a New Development Framework that Strengthens the Contribution of Business
Since 2000 and the launch of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Sub-Saharan Africa’s citizens have experienced growing stability and security alongside a sustained and widespread economic transformation that has lifted millions out of poverty. Despite these advances, progress across a broad range of MDG indicators remains frustratingly slow and uneven. At a time when aid […]
Social Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation – Not the Same Thing
Social entrepreneurs are obsessed, quirky, and disruptive – and that’s why they can be so effective in creating major change. At the UN Social Innovation Summit held at the end of May in New York City, a plenary panelist stated that social enterprises and social innovation are “really the same thing.” This conclusion was not […]
Social Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation – Not the Same Thing
Social entrepreneurs are obsessed, quirky, and disruptive – and that’s why they can be so effective in creating major change. At the UN Social Innovation Summit held at the end of May in New York City, a plenary panelist stated that social enterprises and social innovation are “really the same thing.” This conclusion was not […]