Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities
Rashid is a farmer I met in the Marangu region around Kilimanjaro, like his father and grandfather as well as the thousands of other farmers in the region he farms coffee, bananas and a variety of other vegetables. With declining crop prices, the income he earns from these crops is negligible and most of his […]
Vegetable Seeds – Growth in Nutrition and the Economy
At the wholesale market in Arusha, Tanzania, it’s all about tomatoes. Everywhere you look, there are stacks of wooden crates piled high with the crimson orbs, ready to be packed onto trucks and driven off to the capital, Dar es Salaam, for distribution throughout the region. The thriving tomato trade is among the most visible […]
Modern Slavery Bill: The Power of Collaboration
We can celebrate the UK Government’s recent announcement that it will include a reporting requirement for businesses in the Modern Slavery Bill. This has the potential to make a significant difference. Following the establishment of the Joint Committee led by Frank Field in January 2013, the draft Bill was published in December 2013. The Government […]
We Need to Talk About Toilets
You visit the toilet about six to eight times a day on average 2,500 times a year. This amounts to three years of your life spent sitting on a toilet. If you are lucky. If you are not one of the two and a half billion people in the world unable to access adequate sanitation. […]
Harnessing Markets to Enhance Access to Nutritious Food
Herbert Smorenburg, Senior Manager Netherlands Office, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition The IFC estimates that the 4.5 billion people at the “base of the pyramid” (BoP) spend $2.3 trillion a year on food and beverages. Even farmers are net purchasers of foods, particularly during the lean season before the next crop is harvested. Yet, this […]
The Nutritional Value of Toilets
“Don’t ever, ever eat in the toilet!” When I grew up I imagined every mother in the world admonished her children with this warning. If you’ve grown up hearing this message, as so many children in middle and high income countries have, you simply cannot think of food and toilets in the same sentence without […]
Innovative Finance Partnerships
Meds and Food for Kids (MFK), a non-profit dedicated to saving children’s lives by fighting malnutrition in Haiti, had a problem. It saw an opportunity to produce high quality therapeutic foods locally and at a scale significant enough to reach thousands of children with this life-restoring product, but to do so it needed financial support […]
Partnerships for Good Growth: Improving Crop Efficiency
Vegetables and Specialty Crops, Syngenta We all know that, globally, our population is growing. To put it into perspective, we are adding over 200,000 people to our planet every day. The good news is that infant mortality is down to the lowest rate in history in many countries, and many people are living longer, fuller […]
Improving Access to Nutritious Food
Cargill The poor eat poorly. In the developing world and developed nations, in rural communities and urban centers, the world’s poor are disproportionately undernourished or unhealthily overweight. The global prevalence of malnutrition is a serious threat to human health and wellbeing. Its consequences are lasting and costly, whether in the form of stunting and other […]
Reducing Risk is Key to Strengthening Access to Finance for SMEs
Manager, Anglo American Over 25 years, Anglo American has invested in enterprise development in host countries to support the development of both the business and local communities. A key priority is to ensure that the economic impact of our enterprise development activities extends beyond the mining sector and encourages more broad-based economic growth in countries […]
Access to Cash Doesn’t Solve All the Problems
CARE International’s approach to SME development includes access to finance as an important element. But we also believe that it is essential to adopt a systemic view of the market system and of the socio-economic situation of the individuals and communities with whom we work. Our financial inclusion strategy includes the provision of credit, savings, […]
Meeting the Long-term Financing Needs of SMEs in Uganda
In Uganda, small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) contribute around 70% to GDP. But while most of the finance offered by banks is short-term, it is long-term finance which is necessary for the growth of most SMEs. Frequently, this results in SMEs in Uganda using the wrong kind of funding for expansion – for example using […]
Financial Institutions and the SME Financing Gap
Holger Rothenbusch, Managing Director, Debt and Financial Institutions, CDC It’s well known that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have an important role to play in the economic development of developing countries. In Africa, they contribute to around 40% of GDP as well as 50% of overall employment. In some sectors, this level of job creation […]
Shopkeepers with Business and Social Focus
SABMiller is the world’s second-largest brewer with more than 200 beer brands and some 70,000 employees in over 75 countries. The company’s approach to sustainable development is a key element of SABMiller’s business strategy. Its success is based on solid share value strategies: supporting the role that small businesses play in generating economic growth and […]
The Partnership Behind Uganda’s Soybean Industry
One of the main bottlenecks to the development of Africa’s rural economy and agriculture sector is an often divergent agenda from the government, private sector, researchers and NGOs. Someone needs to “connect the dots” to enhance synergy, and avoid contradictory advice for farmers. East and Central Africa face many complex agricultural problems that no single […]
Women's Power in Agriculture
A salesgirl dressed as a cowgirl waits for clients in a cattle showroom in Depok, West Java province, Indonesia, Oct. 18, 2012. REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni When it comes to women’s economic empowerment, we tend to hear only about the two ends of the spectrum: high-flying women who’ve made it to the top in the macho world […]
Women’s Power in Agriculture
A salesgirl dressed as a cowgirl waits for clients in a cattle showroom in Depok, West Java province, Indonesia, Oct. 18, 2012. REUTERS/Enny Nuraheni When it comes to women’s economic empowerment, we tend to hear only about the two ends of the spectrum: high-flying women who’ve made it to the top in the macho world […]
Life in the IBM Corporate Service Corps in China
Born and raised in Balotra, a moderate town in Rajasthan in the West of India, entrepreneurship was part of my heritage. I grew up surrounded by people who’d set up their own businesses and so when I finished my undergraduate degree in engineering I felt the call of business and made my way via advanced […]
Supplying Power and Creating Jobs in Uganda
BACKGROUND In 2004, Uganda’s electricity distribution network was very run down. As a result of many years of neglect, the network of over 20,000km of poles, sub-stations and wires had fallen into disrepair. There were approximately 120,000 rotten poles in the system, which was a serious issue both in terms of quality of supply and […]
USAID Promotes Inclusive Business for Development Goals
The Business Call to Action interviews Ricardo Michel, Director, Centre for Transformational Partnerships, US Global Development Lab at USAID Ricardo Michel is responsible for the overall strategic direction to best use local and global public-private partnerships for accelerated sustainable development. Previously, Michel served as acting director for the Office of Innovation and Development Alliances, where […]