Hi Darian - do you have any good examples of donor supported convening platforms?
Darian, on your last point, one example is the African Cotton Foundation which serves as an industry-led platform to channel donor funding to the fields more efficiently. Interestingly it stems from a GIZ/BMGF project which we at Hystra helped transfer to the industry players
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Thatās a real problem. We see the most successful such partnerships being ones that take a very specific problem with agreed targets and some mutual accountability for progress. If the agenda is too broad and general then things quickly lose momentum. Donors can help share lessons from what has worked and why, while recognizing every context is different.
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We were involved in the Swiss South African Cooperation Initiative for over a decade until it became sustainable (through Govt ownership) --refer to my first comment in the discussion
Sustainaility in all its forms and definitions is still widely regarded as a cost to the businessā¦ reframing (and not just lip service) that involves exec management and board level discussion and action is a mustā¦
DFIDās support for SAGCOT (Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania) has been instrumental in agricultural development in the region. SIDA supported the Zambia Business in Development Facility supporting a range of partnerships for the SDGs.
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And creating the right incentives (e.g., compensation) that are tied to sustainability!
Thank you for the great insights and examples so far - letās move on to the final question:
Q3: What sustainable development issues (eg: climate change, human rights, deforestation, corruption) need to be prioritised for collaboration by government donors and large companies and industries/sectors?
One main alternative is to attach compensation of executive to these programs. Engaging with International Donors Fund requiered internal efforts and resources, without the commitment of the board is very difficult to advance.
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This is a difficult question to answer as each industry will and should prioritize issues that are closest to their business, but I feel that quality education remains at the heart of (or underpins) nearly all the SDGs: it is the key to poverty reduction; to promoting gender equality (by addressing cultural and social norms from the outset); to managing/changing behaviours and practices that impact sustainability and climate changeā¦as a few examples
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A3. Chronic poverty. At Mars, we believe that everyone working in our supply chains, including the farmers that grow the raw materials that go into our products, should earn sufficient income to maintain a decent standard of living. We have started investing in activities where we have a direct impact on smallholder farmer income, beginning with our cocoa, mint, and rice supply chains. But we canāt deliver SDG 1 alone. So, nearly two years ago, together with like-minded partners from the private sector, academia, government, and civil society, we launched the Farmer Income Lab, a āthink-do tankā that will work across stakeholders to identify what works and develop new approaches to driving meaningful increases in smallholder farmer income.
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To take a spin on this question, at a high level we need to reabalance priorities when it comes to the āpeople partā of sustainable development. Alongside the current focus on social products and reaching underserved populations with essential goods and services (all important!), letās re-emphasize the role of business (and support them) in lifting the millions who are vulnerable to harm through their value chains out of suffering and abuse and into lives of dignity. (Some examples of what this looks like: shiftproject.org/sdgs) More and more CEOs are recognizing this critical and transformational part of the equation, without which sustainable development simply doesnāt add up. And their companies canāt do it alone.
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without sounding like Chicken Little, while all issues are important in their own right, collectively as business, civil society and public sector, carbon neutral economy is arguably THE greatest threat and opportunity right now. AND arguably more time sensitive than anything else.
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think about Maslow as a model of prioritizationā¦
Poverty allivation should be a top priority, as it include many of the other topics. From many reports we know that climate change, biodiversity and ffod security are part of todayās challenges, but if we do not bring people to a safe and just place we are missing food security as one of the biggest issues. Any priority will come with a tradeoff.
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@Michelle - this is a great example. The Farmer Income Lab starts within the business - the incomes and livelihoods of farmers in the Mars supply chain - and takes on a huge and systemic problem since prices are driven by so many market factors. In your work with Oxfam and others you are really taking on a key driver of inequalities, with value chain structures that push risk to the most vulnerable and wealth to the wealthiest. Itās brave and bold and right. We need more partnerships of this kind and donors can play a role in making them happen - particular with listed companies that may be more timid that Mars has been in this instance!
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The potential for collaboration is the greatest where large companies have a vital interest to invest. On the one hand, these are critical risk areas. Cocoa has seen a lot of action because chocolate manufacturers worry about their supply, which comes to great extent from small farmers. On the other hand, it is about strategic opportunities. Here, technology plays a key role, and topics like AI for health or precision agriculture will see a lot of private sector action, including in low-income markets. We have been facilitating systems change initiatives between large companies, local enterprises and donors in this space, eg through ii2030.com .
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As part of complex ecosystems, we need to inform and be honest and transparent to society on what are the tradeoffs an impacts.
For the topics above, which are all risks from a company perspective, we have also seen the limits of the voluntary approach. These topics could use more regulation. Also, in addition to agreeing standards on roundtables of many private sector actors, which are by nature rather unambitious, governments might accredit and reward leaders. The āGold Standardā logic could help to create incentives to go beyond industry standards.
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Tomas, I agree. And for Mars, as it relates to poverty, we are focused on the smallholders in our supply chains. But there hundreds of millions of smallholders outside of our supply chains. So how can we amplify results from one supply chain, to others? That is what weāre hoping to achieve with the Lab.
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