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Source of my passion about the power of business to fight poverty: I am just interested

Overseas Development Institute, Department for International Development and Business Action for Africa

	The Overseas Development Institute is Britain's leading independent think tank on international development and humanitarian issues. Our mission is to inspire and inform policy and practice which lead to the reduction of poverty, the alleviation of suffering and the achievement of sustainable livelihoods in developing countries.
	The Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) is the part of the UK Government that manages Britain's aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty. DFID is committed to working with the private sector to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
	Business Action for Africa is an international network of over 200 businesses, business organisations and development partners. Its members work collectively to promote positive policy change in support of Africa's development, on-the-ground business-led projects, and best-practice sharing.

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At 9:31am on June 19, 2009, CHINYEMIKE TORTI said…: Hats off to ODA,DFID & BAC for their palpable passion pro-poor,pro-trade, passion in mitigating the devastating impacts of poverty on the world's vulnerable groups.With the looming aftermath of the global financial melt down, there is an urgent need for proactive initiatives to avoid a catastrophe,as the World Bank has predicted that between 200000-400000 babies might die between 2008 and 2015 if solutions are not found.Many governments in the least developed countries are morally bankrupt,suffer from lack of vision and patent collapse of leadership.Unfortunately the DFID well intentioned support channeled through in-country bureaucracies and civil servants end up in a big black hole leaving the poor short changed.Methink it is about time,proactive solutions wherein multinational companies,donor organisations,reached out with grass root poverty alleviation strategies,to target groups.There templates that could be adapted,such as the NESTLE milk district model,UNILEVER Shakti,home-to-home operation in India,the SUMITOMO Chemical company social issue driven spirit in Japan.Am aware that in Azerbaijan,BP the energy multinational company has a training and mentoring services for SME's.
The upshot of all these is that,donor agencies must realize the limitations and capacity of LDC governments and regional bodies like ECOWAS in implementing poverty alleviation programmes.Non state actors,SME's, civil society grass root groups should receieve more attention than before.

At 7:47pm on June 11, 2009, Weymouth Esterhuizen said…: Firstly I would like to say thank you to all parties helping us to improve ourselves and those around us...I am planning to set up a plan of action to own land, learn with my partners and workers to work with the land and providing food for them as well as others.

Using the land to export. Using the land to grow through arts.

If there is any advice for me as a new member to this site I would appriciate it...

Thank you

Weymouth Esterhuizen
South Africa

At 4:24pm on April 1, 2009, Mike Tyler said…: Reaching the BOP market of the poorest people with essential goods they can afford to buy is a big challenge. I believe it might best be done through collaboration between the business and charity sector, the former developing suitable goods, accepting low return and the charity sector using their logistics and on the ground partners to get the products to end users.

Would like to hear from anyone who agrees this approach should be explored

I am trying to decide if the conference planned for 21 April would be helpful to make contacts interested to try new approaches such as this!?

Mike Tyler
www.aidfortrade.org.uk
miketyler@aidfortrade.org.uk

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Overseas Development Institute,Department for International Development & Business Action for Africa's Blog

DFID Minister Gareth Thomas on how business and government can do more for poor countries

British companies have made real progress in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in recent years but it is time to go further. Working and investing in developing countries is good for development and the bottom line.

This was the message DFID Minister Gareth Thomas gave to more than 100 business representatives at an event at the Shell Foundation on Wednesday night (11/2/09).

Gareth Thomas said the challenges of… Continue

Posted on February 12, 2009 at 10:00pm — 1 Comment

Core business competencies for development impact: going beyond CSR

The shift from philanthropic CSR to using core business for development impact is no longer just an idea. It is being accepted within both the development and business sectors. While the idea may sound obvious, it has considerable implications for how business is done. It contrasts with two previous ways of thinking. One was that companies could deliver their social responsibilities through corporate philanthropy or isolated CSR programmes alone. Core business delivered shareholder value, while… Continue

Posted on February 10, 2009 at 2:30pm —

Innovation in a crisis - Private sector strategies for development: access, competition and engagement in a downturn

These are challenging times for the private sector development in developing countries. The downturn puts jobs, profits and poverty reduction goals at risk. It also questions old assumptions about the public-private division of responsibilities in delivering growth and development. Any time of intense pressure is also a time of innovation. Just as the public sector is developing its stake in supporting the private sector to keep business going, so we may have to adapt our views on how private

… Continue

Posted on January 14, 2009 at 5:30pm — 1 Comment

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