Building Business Partnerships Fit for the Future: A Renewed Vision for Business Action on Poverty, Inequality and Climate Change

Partnerships
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Hi All, this is Mazen,

To build innovative and resilient partnerships, we need to collaborate on multiple levels. First, it’s crucial to agree on a shared vision. Additionally, we should integrate a community of practice and actively listen to the voices of local communities. At DOT, we work with local Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to ensure integration into local communities, making sure their voices are heard and their needs are met.

We cannot address challenges solely from a global perspective. Instead, we must bring in the voices of youth and local communities and start addressing challenges at their source. This approach ensures that our solutions are both relevant and effective.

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I wanted to ask if this entire forum would be saved so that we can read with more time all the answers and these good ideas.

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Yes this has to be about collective equity and value creation within supply chain communities. Even with sustainability projects these often have an extractive nature in an extractive supply chain. More needs to be done to create economic solutions at the community level that are regenerative and just.

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I completely agree. It will be difficult to take this forward without the support of local communities and those who are closely associated with them

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Wow - so much thought and insight - thank you. Our second question today:

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Through my work at &frnds we developed a unique business model that involves partnership with large consumer companies (FMCGs), global technology companies (e.g. Microsoft), financial institutions (e.g. IFC, local banks); small local wholesalers and micro-retailers that enables us to digitize and optimize these value chains. This addresses poverty and inequality by helping these small and micro businesses to grow their sales, receive better pricing and discounts from their suppliers and access innovative financing for their businesses.

Our approach combines both a human-centric approach (local sales agents) and technology to drive digital and financial inclusion. Further, we leverage the latest advances in technology to ensure these last-mile businesses are not left behind. For example, we are working with Microsoft to implement an AI-driven ordering platform that enables these small businesses to benefit from the latest in Generative AI and makes it much easier for them to adopt digital solutions enabling us to scale much faster and based on a much leaner model. This is a win-win solution for all the players in the value chain creating economic growth for all.

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Ha ha ok ill be patient!

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Completely agree. This is a great point on the need for agile partnerships able to adapt to rapid learning and decision-making! Specific to donor-focused business partnerships, this past year ACDI/VOCA ran a series of adaptive partnerships clinics across our market systems projects to inform operational guidance on best practices for learning adaptively for transformational partnerships - you can check out more information here: Beyond the “Unicorn”: Creating Adaptive Partnerships Across an Organization - ACDI/VOCA

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This is great. Thanks for sharing this resource.

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I mentioned Oxfam’s focus on Partnerships for Innovation (P4I). A key feature of such partnerships is that we seek to leverage, lift and learn from an innovation on the part of the private sector, and refine and apply it to a development challenge.

Necessity is a huge driver of innovation. The pandemic served as a huge disrupter; more challenges are coming, and the links between climate and inequality are here already. In 2019—the year before the pandemic, the UN OCHA’s Global Humanitarian Overview projected 90 million people would be in need of humanitarian assistance. 5 years later, the number has increased to 301 million people projected to be in need humanitarian assistance, driven by the interlinked challenges of climate, conflict and the continued impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. Climate-fuelled disasters were the number one driver of displacing people within their own countries over the last decade - forcing an estimated 32 million people from their homes in 2022. We all need to prepare to perform in this new environment.

Our sister organization in the Philippines worked with a strong network of partners, including business, civil society, local humanitarian leaders and local government to develop a key innovation around forecast-based finance, B-READY. The Philippines is the most impacted country in the world by typhoons. What we noticed there is that when people in extreme poverty most need humanitarian assistance, is in that crucial window before a disaster strikes. We worked in partnership to develop a major advance in anticipatory action (acting before a predicted disaster, to reduce humanitarian impact before it unfolds). Through B-READY, we were able to do digital cash transfers at the right time to the people who need it most, empowering them to make their own choices in order to increase their resiliency.

B-READY launched in 2019, when we supported the release of 2,000 cash grants, activating the pre-disaster cash transfer protocol on a real time basis. For the money movement solution, we worked with Maya Philippines, which offers secure digital payments, and used Visa cards developed under an earlier partnership with Visa. The process was tested and expedited and, in 2021, families received cash payments the day before Typhoon Dujuan was forecast to hit their region. In total, between 2019 and 2022 we ran 8 successful anticipatory action disbursements in the Philippines. These disbursements reached approximately 5,000 households, impacting more than 20,000 people. This money allowed recipients to move to a safer location, purchase necessary food, water and medicines for evacuation and practice other life-saving actions.

This partnership was extremely innovative: B-READY payments digitize humanitarian response payments to help families and small businesses protect themselves and their assets before a disaster. We see three primary innovations: Linking anticipatory action, mobile cash disbursements, and predictive meteorological abilities alongside local, community and ancestral knowledge to create a best-in-class humanitarian program.

Based on its success, we received a planning grant from Visa, to explore ways to scale up B-READY in the Philippines and other high-risk countries. Watch this space.

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There are many ways that sourcing on Fairtrade terms addresses poverty, inequality and climate change through core business operations. For example, if you source on Fairtrade terms you can future-proof your supply chain better. More fairly paid and highly trained farmers and workers are better equipped to deal with global challenges, from climate change to human rights abuses. Fairtrade also allows businesses to access invaluable insights from our three Producer Networks at origin in Latin America & the Caribbean, Africa & the Middle East, and Asia Pacific.

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Fortifying commonly consumed foods with essential vitamins and minerals is one of the best and most widespread public private partnerships in which I’ve been part. Over 150 countries now implement fortification partnerships between food industry on the one side and regulators on the other. The best partnerships are the ones which are open dialogue between these two players to adjust standards and practice to national and local context. It is due to this global fortification initiative that debilitating diseases like Pellagra and Beriberi as well as severe iodine deficiency has been virtually eradicated in most countries. ATNI is proud to support these efforts globally.

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Q2 response
The partnerships that come to mind are mostly newer or social mission driven companies that have social and environmental impact embedded in their DNA. Businesses like Veja or Finisterre have innovated to source and sell products in a different way, while organisations like CafeDirect or Divine have completely different business missions and operating structures. Other companies we recognise as leaders are; Timpson’s and Lush as both are employee owned, Tony’s Chocolonely 5 point sourcing plan, and SSE and Octopus Energy for operationalising the just transition.

In the more traditional business space, there are few businesses which we see integrating impact partnerships in core business models really effectively. And for us, the key is about ‘core business operations’ - how a business is fundamentally creating inclusive prosperity, equality and climate/nature positive impact. We see that this should include genuine partnership with suppliers, customers and sourcing communities to understand and transform the impact that businesses have.

There are many innovative partnerships which address critical issues like the environment and social equity. However, these initiatives are often siloed or temporary. We believe true impact happens when sustainability is fully integrated into core business functions, not just separate projects. This can involve procurement teams working alongside sustainability experts to develop sourcing practices that benefit both the environment and communities.

We recognise that not every business is coming from the same starting point on this journey and for many of us, there is still groundwork to do to understand and map those business impacts to be able to make transformations to business models. At The Partnership Collective we support all businesses from those at the beginning of their understanding through to those who are at the innovative end of integrating their business, environment and social strategies to help them to analyse the insights, prioritise impacts and create and implement integrated action plans that include the wider business (to create internal partnerships too).

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CottonConnect is keen to facilitate dialogue, foster innovative ideas, and encourage collaborations among diverse stakeholders to drive sustainable policies and innovations for a more inclusive and sustainable future. We work with textile brands to empower women and bridge inequality through comprehensive training programmes in agricultural techniques, financial management, and entrepreneurship, that develop their individual capacities and improve the productivity and sustainability of their farms. Our initiatives, such as Women in Cotton programme, have engaged over 300,000 (as of 2023) women in sustainable agri-skills, literacy, numeracy, rights, and healthcare. (Women in Cotton — CottonConnect)

Specific outreach programmes geared towards women farmers are vital, especially in areas where women are less likely to be involved. Our Women Climate Change Ambassadors’ Programme is a good example, empowering women farmers as leaders in climate resilience, ensuring equal opportunities, including access to resources and training, is imperative, along with fostering an environment where the community recognises women’s contributions to the overall advancement and sustainability of cotton farming communities.

Another key initiative is the Primark Sustainable Cotton Programme, a partnership between Primark, RUDI and CottonConnect, now in its tenth year, which is successfully providing training on sustainable agricultural practices that increase women’s economic empowerment and self-reliance.

Achieving gender equality and alleviating poverty depends on a range of improvements and support: raising awareness and recognition of the crucial work they do; giving them targeted training programmes and access to resources; and building their confidence to share skills and learning to the benefit of their wider communities.

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Take a look at this example of how Tate & Lyle Sugars has worked with Fairtrade to fight child labour together in Belize. Working with Fairtrade has meant that ASR Group, which owns Tate & Lyle Sugars, can address child labour through work with local partners: Tate & Lyle’s case study

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A couple of examples from Standard Chartered, commercially we have partnered with WEConnect to launch a financing facility for women-owned business members in our emerging market footprint. By bringing our commercial expertise together with the reach and network of our long-standing partners, we aspire to offer a holistic solution for promoting gender-inclusive entrepreneurship – contributing not only to individual businesses’ success, but also to broader economic development.

Philanthropically, we have partnered with Primark to co-create and pilot a peer led financial health training for workers within the Primark supply chain in Vietnam. We were able to leverage the expertise of both businesses to test a programme that supported workers to identify and understand their money personality, how to set financial goals, save and invest, improve their budgeting and understand available social protections.

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In the Philippines, MEDA has partnered with Auro Chocolate, a proudly Filipino tree-to-bar chocolate brand that works with local farming communities, through the RIISA project funded by Global Affairs Canada. The partnership has played a key role in addressing poverty, gender inequality, and conflict resolution in both the Saloy and Paquibato communities in Davao. Through the provision of training and financial resources for organic certification, and the integration of gender inclusion practices into its community programs, MEDA has supported Auro in working with 10 cooperative associations and farmer groups, which represent around 600 individual farmers to improve their livelihoods. The enterprise has also expanded into cafes in the Philippines and beyond – moving beyond the tree-to-bar model and adding a tree-to-cup or tree-to-plate model into the mix. Sowing Seeds of Peace and Inclusion: Auro Chocolate Transforms the Cacao Landscape in Davao - MEDA

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With respect to transformational partnerships addressing poverty and inequality, I’d like to highlight work of our sister organization, Oxfam Italy.

Bolton Food, part of the multinational company Bolton Group headquartered in Italy, is actively working to set itself on a path of sustainability that aims to “develop full sustainability of their supply chain” with the view to becoming the most sustainable and responsible tuna company.

Bolton chose to collaborate with Oxfam with the intention of having a greater understanding, insight and risk mitigation of the issues related to salient human rights issues along their supply chain. Bolton Food consider Oxfam the right partner due to our international network, collaborative approach and vision with the private sector, our independency and expertise in human rights impact assessments and analysis, and social empowerment related issues. Oxfam can offer an international team of senior program managers and policy advisors with expertise in different supply chains worldwide to advise and support strategy development.

The overall objective of the collaboration is for Oxfam to support Bolton Food in its journey to both developing and implementing an impactful human and labor rights strategy in its fishery supply chain. The main outcomes we’re getting after in the first phase include:
1_ Bolton Group Policies Assessment e New Human Rights Policy for Bolton Group
2_ Human Rights Impact Assements in Ecuador, Morocco and Colombia value chain
3_ Vessels Code of Conduct
4_ Action plans following the HRIA findings and recommendations

Oxfam Italy and Bolton are in the last year of the partnership, and have even more exciting developments to come—watch this space as well!

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This is great - is there more that can be shared on this @Caylee_Talpert1

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We have a shining cohort of young people part of our Learning Planet youth design challenge https://www.learning-planet.org/2023-2024-youth-design-challenge-finalists-training-programme-update/. They have been pitching learning programmes on themes of flourishing, engagement, and sustainability. Think a great entry point for businesses transitioning to/focusing more towards global impact is backing youth ideas with support (not just financial! Mentorship and time is a huge benefit for young students looking to make their ideas reality)

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