Sustainable Development to Combat Poverty

Food Processing as the Missing Link in Africa’s Value Chains

In 1998, Pauline Kamau started her maize-milling business with a few machines in her mother-in-law’s basement in Kenya. Soon, the business grew to fill a small factory. She hoped to supply her community with high-quality maize flour, which is the local staple food, but demand outstripped her production capacity.

Agriculture, Innovative Business Models, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises

October 13, 2017

Power Sector Reforms Spur Private-Sector Participation

Ivy Namasani makes a dress in her tailoring shop in downtown Blantyre, Malawi. Her store suffers from frequent power blackouts that hamper her ability to do business. As part of the Malawi Compact, MCC is supporting the Government of Malawi in its efforts to strengthen the country’s power sector and…

Energy, Finance and Investment, Technology

October 13, 2017

Credible Standards Benefit from Multi-stakeholder Standard-setting

In an age of multiplicity of approaches to sustainability, the question arises time and again of which of these embody credibility and deliver impact, and what engenders such outcomes. Karin Kreider, Executive Director at ISEAL, considers some of the key

Agriculture, Partnerships

September 29, 2017

Want to Change the World? Allow the Private Sector to Do What it Does Best

For the past week, the world has watched as heads of state and global business leaders convened in New York City for the 72nd United Nations General Assembly. The agenda was far from light. Topics ranged from food security to climate change to the refugee crisis to healthcare. The task…

Agriculture, Finance and Investment, Global Goals, Health, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Refugees and Migration, Technology

September 28, 2017

Last Mile Financial Inclusion: What Will It Take to Reach More Rural Women?

Digital services – with their geographic reach, ease of use, and transparency – are driving financial inclusion and alleviating poverty. But are rural women being left behind? Financial inclusion is unlocking the potential for micro and small enterprises in poor and rural communities to grow, and reducing gender inequalities. Women with access…

Agriculture, Finance and Investment, Gender, Innovative Business Models, Technology

September 27, 2017

System Leadership in Practice: Technoserve’s East Africa Coffee Initiative

Read enough blogs, and you might think the formula for increasing smallholder farmers’ incomes is well-known: training + access to (inputs x finance x markets). Simple, right?

Agriculture, Governance and Transparency, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Technology

September 26, 2017

Partnering to Get Every Child Learning

The world is witnessing the highest levels of human displacement on record since World War II. Of the unprecedented 65.3 million people forced from their homes, almost one-third are refugees, seeking protection from violence or persecution. The majority of refugee children have lost not only their home, but also…

Agriculture, Education, Global Goals, Refugees and Migration

September 21, 2017

Developing More Responsible Leaders

Emerging World’s mission is to ‘help business shape a better future’ and one of our main areas of interest is to understand the role of Responsible Leadership and how best to develop it. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been delighted to work closely with Dr Karen Blakeley, Head…

Intrapreneurship, Water and Sanitation

September 20, 2017

The Money is There to Fight Climate Change

Policy debates on climate change and sustainable development routinely cite the massive numbers needed to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): an additional $1 trillion annually in clean energy investments to limit global warming to below 2 degrees and between $5-7 trillion a year to achieve the SDGs…

Agriculture, Climate & Environment, Climate Justice, Energy, Finance and Investment, Global Goals, Water and Sanitation

September 19, 2017

New Report: Enabling Smallholder Farmers to Improve Their Incomes

Many global companies buy significant amounts of the crops they need from smallholder farmers in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Our new report aims to clarify the roles and levers for companies and other actors, often working together, to help increase smallholder farmers’ incomes.

Agriculture, Finance and Investment, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Technology

September 18, 2017

New Report: Unlocking Investment to Deliver the SDGs in Challenging Places

How can we collaborate to unlock investment to deliver the SDGs in challenging places? Our new report showcases and draws lessons from a selection of exciting and innovative partnerships and funding models that have led to successful investments.

Agriculture, Finance and Investment, Global Goals, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Partnerships, Social Enterprises

September 18, 2017

Lessons in Corporate Social Innovation

Justin, first of all, please introduce yourself to the Business Fights Poverty community. I work at the intersection of strategy, sustainability and innovation. I started my career as a strategy consultant, and as time went by, I began looking for ways to apply those skills to the most intractable challenges…

Agriculture, Innovative Business Models, Intrapreneurship, Social Enterprises, Water and Sanitation, Youth

September 15, 2017

Empower a Woman and a Whole Cocoa Community will Thrive

Do you know where chocolate comes from? Do you wonder who produced the cocoa in your chocolate and under what circumstances? Do you care if the chocolate you buy is sourced in a responsible way, with equal access and opportunity for women? Without cocoa there is no chocolate, and without…

Agriculture, Gender, Youth

September 13, 2017

Supporting Corporate Social Innovation to Bring Mobile Services to Smallholder Farmers

Q: Tegan, you are the Business Intelligence Manager at the mAgri program at GSMA. What does the mAgri program do? A: We catalyze scalable, commercial mobile services that improve the productivity and incomes of smallholder farmers and benefit the agriculture sector in emerging markets. We bring together our members (mobile…

Agriculture, Intrapreneurship, Technology

September 12, 2017

Using Customer Data to Crack the Last-mile Distribution Challenge

You can’t manage what you don’t know. While we’d probably all subscribe to that maxim, it’s one that rings especially true for organizations seeking to serve the more than four billion low-income people living at the base of the pyramid (BoP). BoP markets have long been heralded for their potential…

Energy, Innovative Business Models, Social Enterprises, Technology, Water and Sanitation

September 6, 2017

Women’s Financial Inclusion in West Africa: From Policy to Practice

The Decade of African Women – launched in 2010 by the African Union – has seen significant strides made by African countries to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment. Notable within West Africa has been the drive towards women’s economic empowerment. Launched in October 2010 as the Decade of African…

Agriculture, Finance and Investment, Gender

September 5, 2017

Driving Inclusivity in African Agriculture

Concordia recently participated in the Inaugural International Congress for African Agribusiness and Trade (ICAAT) at Rutgers University, an event that brought together African agricultural and political leaders with bilateral and multilateral institutions, overseas development organizations, U.S. agribusiness, agricultural investors, technical and policy experts, and African civil society representatives. The…

Agriculture, Innovative Business Models, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Partnerships

September 5, 2017

Translating the UN High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment into Action

Business Fights Poverty welcomed the creation early last year of the UN High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment. Join us to translate its recommendations into action.