NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

TechnoServe and WWF today announced a global partnership to increase prosperity and safeguard biodiversity. Leveraging each other’s expertise, the partnership will deliver business models that help strengthen community resilience and increase incomes while safeguarding biodiversity and responding to climate change in some of the most vulnerable landscapes and seascapes in the world.

The twin crises of climate change and nature loss threaten the livelihoods of millions of people and communities in low-income countries. By combining TechnoServe’s mission to reduce poverty through business with WWF’s mission to build a future in which people live in harmony with nature, this new partnership will enable communities to improve incomes sustainably.

In the Western Indian Ocean region, TechnoServe and WWF are establishing a network of partners determined to create a coastal communities business incubator to foster sustainable blue economic development. The two partners also intend to work together to strengthen food systems in Africa, creating inclusive value chains that deliver food security while sustaining the natural world. The partnership will also strengthen Community Conservation Enterprises (CCEs) in Oaxaca, Mexico, thereby improving rural livelihoods and supporting conservation.

“Environmental sustainability requires economic sustainability, and vice versa,” said William Warshauer, president and CEO of TechnoServe. “People in low-income communities around the world deserve a leading role in addressing climate change and nature loss–which must include economic security for themselves and their families. With a long track record of creating sustainable business solutions to poverty, TechnoServe is honored to join WWF, the world’s leading conservation organization, to make this vision a reality.”

“Reflecting our focus on communities as critical conservation partners, WWF works with more than 200 community-led conservation enterprises in over 50 countries across the globe. Integral to targeted efforts to protect some of the world’s most biologically diverse landscapes, seascapes and river basins, they make a vital contribution to WWF’s global ambition for zero loss of habitats. Working with TechnoServe, a global leader in poverty alleviation, to accelerate this critical area of work will drive long-lasting impact for both people and nature, long into the future,” added Cristianne Close, Global Markets Practice Leader, WWF International.

Photo courtesy of John O’Nolan.