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Key Findings from the Base of Pyramid Week
Last week, top executives of multinational and regional companies, leading impact investors, members of government, and international organization representatives came from around the US and the globe to learn from the IDB and each other about how business models for the base of the pyramid can launch and scale quickly and profitably. The event was organized by Opportunities for the Majority (OMJ), the IDB department in charge of spotting, nurturing and funding business models to engage base of the pyramid markets on a large scale in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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- Uncategorized
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Remote Control: Three Innovative Solutions to Healthcare Distribution in Rural Areas
To ensure health products retain their quality means the entire supply chain – from storage conditions to distribution channels – must be considered. But distribution costs of health products and their associated service provisions in particular are one component of healthcare supply chains that’s often under-considered and therefore ineffectively budgeted. However, this is a new area of focus for many social enterprises that are looking to bridge the logistical gap.
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- Health Care
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Lighting a Pathway for Solar in Rural Uganda
Mercy Corps didn’t give out a single solar lantern. It didn’t give out any grants to buy solar panels. But, what the international nonprofit did do was bring solar to rural Uganda.How? Market facilitation. It’s a mouthful, but it’s kind of like matchmaking, and it’s a key role nonprofits can play to boost local economies.
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- Energy
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- solar, supply chains
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Avina’s Evolution: After 16 Years, the Foundation Focuses on Building Multiple Bridges
Fundación Avina describes itself as a “broker, co-investor and facilitator” across many countries in Latin America. Indeed, the organization is often working behind the scenes, building both consensus and bridges between multinational companies, governments and microenterprises, often with the goal of bringing marginalized workers into the formal economy. It’s a strategy aimed not merely at reducing poverty in the short term, but breaking the cycle for future generations.
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- Agriculture, Environment
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The FOUND Middle Series: FUNDES in Latin America
Next in our video series, the FOUND Middle, we introduce Ueli Frei, executive director of FUNDES. Frei discusses the organization’s work helping large corporations organize their suppliers and distributors and facilitating sourcing from small businesses.
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- Investing
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- supply chains
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Your Coffee, Their Lives, Our Planet
At the most basic level, engaging smallholder farmers in global agricultural supply chains may be one of the most powerful ways to reduce global poverty and ameliorate environmental degradation. It was a key point of discussion at the Sustainable Value Chain Finance Workshop, co-hosted by the Rainforest Alliance and Citi Foundation.
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- Environment
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- supply chains
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Can The iPad Revolutionize Rural Agriculture?
The iPad’s fairly steep price has kept it firmly entrenched in the developed world. That’s starting to change, however, as evidenced by efforts from Exprima Media and coffee importer Sustainable Harvest to bring the iPad to coffee co-ops and farmers in East Africa, Mexico, and South America.
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- Agriculture, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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- supply chains
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Guest Post: Promoting Green Entrepreneurship in India’s Auto-Rickshaw Sector
Auto-rickshaw services in Indian cities are mostly unorganized, creating myriad economic and environmental problems for both drivers and customer passengers. But linking rickshaw entrepreneurs with social investors presents a huge business opportunity to bring about social and sustainable benefits - the focus of an EMBARQ India summit next month.
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- Uncategorized