News

Unilever and Oxfam joined forces to explore how to build sustainable smallholder-based supply chains that could grow Unilever's business while reducing poverty for marginalised communities.

In March's blog, Waddilove Sansole of SNV/ IB Forum of Zimbabwe discusses fragile economies and how IB can play a role in the development of the private sector.

In March 2015, the IB Forum of Zimbabwe and SNV were invited to present at a breakfast workshop hosted by the Southern Africa Trust and EMCOZ. The Workshop, entitled: "Inclusive Business - Assessment and Guidance Tools for Companies" launched the "Business for Development (B4D) Pathfinder Tools".

February 2015 News from the Practitioner Hub: Successful Inclusive Business Models
What are the ingredients of a successful inclusive business model? What works at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP)?

Are inclusive businesses reaching scale? What scale is that, in terms of revenue and reach? How many fail? These questions are impossible to answer because there is simply not enough comparable evidence. But buried beneath the surface, there is a wealth of monitoring data within programmes that have been supporting inclusive business, whether with grants, investment, technical support or other backing. This Spotlight draws on evidence from three portfolios, that have in total supported 160 companies, to share information on what patterns emerge from a combined data set.

This was a recurring and concluding theme in a presentation by Mr Tom Derksen (SNV Board Member and Global Director for Agriculture) when he addressed the recent Business Council for Sustainable Development Zimbabwe (BCSDZ) Annual Conference held in November 2104 in Harare. Extracts from this presentation are included in the IB Forum Newsletter for December 2014 ( refer to the "Newsletter" section on this website).