What if, by finding ways to provide basic goods and services and offering better opportunities for poor people to put their minds and muscles to work, businesses could create wealth — and do their part for human development?
A new report (pdf, 180 pages), written by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the framework of its Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative, sets out to demonstrate the effectiveness—both for social progress and for wealth creation—of inclusive business, that is, sustainable business opportunities that are good business and benefit low-income communities.
The report, titled "Creating Value for All: Strategies for Doing Business with the Poor" (download executive summary), draws on 50 extensive case studies demonstrating the successful pursuit of both revenues and social impact by local and international small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as multinational corporations.
About the Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative
UNDP’s Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative (watch a short trailer) is a platform to facilitate the engagement of all actors for more inclusive business models so that the pursuits of wealth creation and human progress can work to mutual advantage. It gathers relevant information, highlights good examples, develops practical operational strategies and creates space for dialogue.
Building on existing research, UNDP and its partners, among which the World Business Council for sustainable Development (WBCSD), which provided input based a.o. on its ongoing Alliance for inclusive Business in Latin America with SNV Netherlands Development Organization, believe that more needs to be done to generate and assemble information and analyses of low-income markets, to better understand inclusive business models that create value for all and to identify innovative strategies for doing business with this specific population segment.
The initiative's broad aims are:
- Raising awareness by demonstrating how doing business with the poor can be good for poor people and good for business
- Clarifying the ways that businesses, governments and civil society organizations can create value for all
- Inspiring the private sector to action
The Growing Inclusive Markets Initiative has also created a set of data, information and analytical products that will increase understanding of the low-income markets, including existing opportunities and challenges:
- Market heat maps identify opportunities by depicting access to water, credit, electricity or telephone service. Offering a visual overview of the landscape — and a first look at possible markets — the maps are supported by information on the structure of those markets, such as the various kinds of providers.
- The strategy matrix is an analytical framework that helps to identify market constraints and think through strategies to address them. It links five broad constraints in the markets of the poor with five strategies that can yield solutions.
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The case studies help to find solutions by learning from the experiences of others and describing successful business models that include the poor.
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