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 […]
What Drives Companies to Invest in Inclusive Business?
This month’s Editor’s Choice explores companies’ own perspectives on Sustainable and Inclusive Business. It’s a rare glimpse probing inside the company structures and lingo, to see what drives and what impedes company engagement. Growth for Good or Good for Growth is a new report by Monitor Institute, Citi Foundation and The Fletcher School at Tufts […]
The Future of Africa is Agribusiness
AECF Since the global economic crisis of 2008 a number of interesting trends have been going on. Economic growth rates globally, and in key parts of the global economy like Europe, and recently, even China have fallen. The recent slowdown has hit the prices of key commodities like oil, and precious metals. But not those […]
How Can We End Malnutrition?
Here is a business proposition: invest $1 today and reap $16 in benefits, saving millions of lives at the same time. Yes, this 1,500% payback is possible – according to theGlobal Nutrition Report 2014 – and represents a return on investment that has comfortably outperformed the US stock market over the past 80 years, while […]
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 […]
Three Ways Businesses Can Boost Sustainable Development
What does a procurement manager in Managua have to do with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? Or a Kenyan farmer’s mobile-phone plan with the World Economic Forum’s development discussions? When it comes to long-term development solutions – well, everything. Given the increasing involvement of the private sector in developing countries, ordinary aspects of doing business […]
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 […]
Strengthening Public Extension Service Delivery to Farmers in Bangladesh
Mahmud Zaman explains how the LAN project aims to increase farm productivity and efficiency. A recent case study published by Katalyst, Improving Public Agricultural Extension Services in Bangladesh Using the M4P Approach, has attracted interest from a wide range of readers and the BEAM Exchange has organised a webinar to discuss the topics and share […]
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 […]
Top 10 Blogs of 2014
It’s been another incredibly active year on Business Fights Poverty with over 600 stories featured on our homepage. We are proud of the fact that 95% of our content is produced by members. By sharing your insights, you are helping inspire and inform a global movement of people passionate about harnessing business to fight poverty. […]
Top 10 Discussions of 2014
Our discussion forum has been lively again this year, with 21 discussions held over 2014. Thank you to all the panellists who made the time to join our panels, and to all of you who participated! As we approach the New Year, we have taken a look back across the discussions posted in 2014 to […]
Global Health: 3 Good News Stories From 2014
When the calendar turned to 1 January, who could have imagined 2014 would be quite such a tumultuous year for global health. The outbreak of Ebola virus, which emerged in February this year, continues to rage across West Africa and has killed more than 6,000 people. No one yet knows when it will end, but […]
Communicating Sustainable & Inclusive Growth
As 2014 comes to an end, companies are beginning to reflect on their achievements from the past year and are already planning for their 2015 corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. CSR reports have become the norm among Fortune Global 500 corporations to communicate about successes and challenges associated with reaching sustainable and inclusive growth goals. […]
Communicating Sustainable & Inclusive Growth
As 2014 comes to an end, companies are beginning to reflect on their achievements from the past year and are already planning for their 2015 corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. CSR reports have become the norm among Fortune Global 500 corporations to communicate about successes and challenges associated with reaching sustainable and inclusive growth goals. […]