I would point out that the MIF is actually a multi-donor trust fund, so it is, in itself, a vehicle for bringing multiple funders into a program while managing the transaction cost implications. There have also been some multi-donor challenge funds like USAID and SIDA’s Grand Challenge on Securing Water for Food.
On the corporate side, there is enormous potential for food, beverage, and consumer products companies to collaborate with companies in the information and communications technology and financial sectors. Their work is complementary – so they can all benefit reputationally and financially. There is precedent for companies in the same industry sector to collaborate in pre-competitive ways. The question is to what extent specific small business development programs are pre-competitive, or how they can be designed to be so, if that is critical to efficacy or affordability. In a retailer program, increased sales can be a rising tide that lifts the boats of all the food, beverage, and consumer products companies whose products participating retailers sell. But it may be harder to share benefits like increased retailer loyalty.
Jane, I think the limit is the sky. Just based on our experience in Latin America, where there may be around 20 million of formal small business (not to say the informal ones), there are opportunities in every sector. Certainly retail and mass consumer goods might be the most common. You can find small business in the value chain or any other industry: mining and metals, oil and gas, forestry and automobile industry just to mention a few. If any corporation would act as SABMiller does in ways that improve the competitiveness of their business partners, the impact could be huge!!!
Jane Nelson said:
Final planned question and then we can have some more questions from the audience. What is the scope for broader alliances of companies, donors, governments, and civil society organizations to work together to strengthen small businesses?
Really agree with this Miguel. We are seeing the same trend. In YBI's major partnership with MIF focused on youth entrepreneurship in Latin America we have potentially competing private sector brands working together with us to make this programme a success and increase the reach and impact for young people. We still need to do more to engage with governments in the process, but at you say, change is happening....
Miguel Aldaz said:
On the final planned question. Today’s societal and environmental problems are just too big for the public sector to tackle them alone. Confronting them instead requires increasing private sector involvement, as the scale and complexity of development issues puts their resolution beyond the power of any single institution. These issues require collaboration not just across sectors, but also across competitive industries, where the strengths of top, even rival, brands can be applied to identify innovative, effective development solutions. And herein lies the problem. Collaboration among traditionally competing brands means these means rivals must sign up for shared image and branding, something that doesn’t come quite naturally to ultracompetitive entities. Large corporations almost universally recognize the need to work in public-private partnerships. But to collaborate within their very industry??? The good news, however, is that change is coming. A new era of industry collaboration is emerging, and multilateral institutions like the IDB, feel very proud for facilitating it. Though the competition between brands is a given, companies are now more than ever willing to set aside the battle of the brands to achieve a larger socioeconomic and environmental impact. The process is not easy or fast, and the IDB’s neutrality and convening power is playing a key role in it, but programs like “4e Path to progress” have to potential to effectively prove that where there is goodwill, there is always a way.
All businesses should follow the policy of import substitution whereby they encourage local entrepreneurs to set up small industries that will cater the needs of other production facilities
Import can be defined as sourcing any raw material, spares or other services from a source fay away from the host community, city, region, state or country
the governments and local regulators should offer tax benefits to such small industries that not only produce but also generate employment opportunities mainly for the low level skills..
Thank you Justin, I'm thinking about the impact socially and on the environment that may generate scalating the distribution of products to rural communities that may not be able to deal with it by its own. For example indigenous or afro communities with no trash dissposition or no comparable experiences of having permanent alcohol distribution. I mean this must be taken in account as a core item and not as a marginal CSR matter. It is just as important as providing tools for financial endurability of the small businesses; it is about sustainability of the business as a whole.
Justin Bakule said:
Camilo, thanks for this question - can you elaborate on what you mean by the "post consumption responsibility strategy"? In a program like 4e, I see the benefit case accruing to the company and to the retailers but you make a good point that there is a bigger loop created here that includes consumers.
Camilo Santa said:
If the purpose is to create shared value, it is most important to incorporate a post consumption responsibility strategy when scalating markets through rural retailers, if not then it is just business as usual, don´t you think?
In Cerveceria Nacional (SABMiller Panama) we our proud to execute 4e in four of our provinces. It has been of great impact to more than 300 Panamanian families of rural areas.
Hi Jane, this is Brett Bivans from the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD, formally ICAP). The achievement of Beer, Wine and Spirits Producers' Commitments (www.producerscommitments.org) will also require the engagement of small retailers to achieve their goals and the social benefit of reducing harmful drinking, including reducing under age drinking. Including this in the value chain and the relationship with small retailers, where as Andres says 60% of sales can occur depending on the market in Latin America, can be a powerful social norms change.
From Andrés Peñate. Hi Brett. Indeed. The 4e program has specific training designed to promote responsible sales of beer. What we have learned is that the main driver of tenderos at the base of the pyramid is social respect. What they really want is to be respected and appreciated by their communities, the 50 families that are their customer base. Their business and livelihoods depends upon it. They want to do the right thing.
Camilo, there is an example of a tendero's community leadership project that is about recycling. This could be an opportunity to deal with those issues and potentially generate additional income - it depends on the recycling environment in the country/locality.
Camilo Santa said:
Thank you Justin, I'm thinking about the impact socially and on the environment that may generate scalating the distribution of products to rural communities that may not be able to deal with it by its own. For example indigenous or afro communities with no trash dissposition or no comparable experiences of having permanent alcohol distribution. I mean this must be taken in account as a core item and not as a marginal CSR matter. It is just as important as providing tools for financial endurability of the small businesses; it is about sustainability of the business as a whole.
Justin Bakule said:
Camilo, thanks for this question - can you elaborate on what you mean by the "post consumption responsibility strategy"? In a program like 4e, I see the benefit case accruing to the company and to the retailers but you make a good point that there is a bigger loop created here that includes consumers.
Camilo Santa said:
If the purpose is to create shared value, it is most important to incorporate a post consumption responsibility strategy when scalating markets through rural retailers, if not then it is just business as usual, don´t you think?
Thiis is the story of Marcela Cantor a Colmbian womanTendera who joined the 4e program. She is a leader, a social agent of change of her community. And she wants to take care of handicapped children of her community.
Camilo, there is an example of a tendero's community leadership project that is about recycling. This could be an opportunity to deal with those issues and potentially generate additional income - it depends on the recycling environment in the country/locality.
Camilo Santa said:
Thank you Justin, I'm thinking about the impact socially and on the environment that may generate scalating the distribution of products to rural communities that may not be able to deal with it by its own. For example indigenous or afro communities with no trash dissposition or no comparable experiences of having permanent alcohol distribution. I mean this must be taken in account as a core item and not as a marginal CSR matter. It is just as important as providing tools for financial endurability of the small businesses; it is about sustainability of the business as a whole.
Justin Bakule said:
Camilo, thanks for this question - can you elaborate on what you mean by the "post consumption responsibility strategy"? In a program like 4e, I see the benefit case accruing to the company and to the retailers but you make a good point that there is a bigger loop created here that includes consumers.
Camilo Santa said:
If the purpose is to create shared value, it is most important to incorporate a post consumption responsibility strategy when scalating markets through rural retailers, if not then it is just business as usual, don´t you think?
Hello, this is Alberto Jaramillo, i am a marketing and sales man. I am dedicated to sell Diferential Agricultural products to small business in bogota Colombia
Justin, if you are still on, it would be great to hear your comments on the link between shared value and collective impact in supporting small businesses. What we have heard is that it takes an ecosystem.
As we’ve discussed here, small business engagement can present similar challenges to the ‘last mile’ issues which bedevil development initiatives. It all makes sense but you have a massive distributed challenge of how to get information and assistance to hundreds of thousands of individual store owners. Obviously, a MNC company like SAB Miller has the organization and resources to engage its biggest customers with tailored service…but when it comes to servicing hundreds of thousands of the smallest customers, they need help. With the organizational commitment and resources, it becomes a smart play to engage NGOs, implementers like FUNDES, etc. both because the company can’t reach the small retailers but also because the NGO has local knowledge and relationships important to making this work. Importantly, governments and NGOs also have more specialized measurement capabilities particularly on the social impact side which companies tend to be lacking.
Agree fully with Justin.
Camilo, yes you are right, the issue of post consumption recycling is an emerging concern among base of the pyramid tenderos. We have seen several tenderos organizing communities to recycle more and have cleaner streets. In addition to bring a social benefit it is also a source of extra income for the tiendas. In Panama we see a particular interest in this topic.
And here you can find more information on the regional initiative I mentioned earlier (I'm afraid it's only available in Spanish): http://reciclajeinclusivo.org/
Jane Nelson said:
Andres can say more about this.
Jane Nelson said:
Camilo, there is an example of a tendero's community leadership project that is about recycling. This could be an opportunity to deal with those issues and potentially generate additional income - it depends on the recycling environment in the country/locality.
Camilo Santa said:
Thank you Justin, I'm thinking about the impact socially and on the environment that may generate scalating the distribution of products to rural communities that may not be able to deal with it by its own. For example indigenous or afro communities with no trash dissposition or no comparable experiences of having permanent alcohol distribution. I mean this must be taken in account as a core item and not as a marginal CSR matter. It is just as important as providing tools for financial endurability of the small businesses; it is about sustainability of the business as a whole.
Justin Bakule said:
Camilo, thanks for this question - can you elaborate on what you mean by the "post consumption responsibility strategy"? In a program like 4e, I see the benefit case accruing to the company and to the retailers but you make a good point that there is a bigger loop created here that includes consumers.
Camilo Santa said:
If the purpose is to create shared value, it is most important to incorporate a post consumption responsibility strategy when scalating markets through rural retailers, if not then it is just business as usual, don´t you think?
Camilo, there is an example of a tendero's community leadership project that is about recycling. This could be an opportunity to deal with those issues and potentially generate additional income - it depends on the recycling environment in the country/locality.
Camilo Santa said:
Thank you Justin, I'm thinking about the impact socially and on the environment that may generate scalating the distribution of products to rural communities that may not be able to deal with it by its own. For example indigenous or afro communities with no trash dissposition or no comparable experiences of having permanent alcohol distribution. I mean this must be taken in account as a core item and not as a marginal CSR matter. It is just as important as providing tools for financial endurability of the small businesses; it is about sustainability of the business as a whole.
Recycling is becoming an important concern among base of the pyramid. When asked about what they can do for their communities, many 4e tenderos say: promote post consumption recycling. It is good for the community but also a potential source of extra revenue.
Justin Bakule said:
Camilo, thanks for this question - can you elaborate on what you mean by the "post consumption responsibility strategy"? In a program like 4e, I see the benefit case accruing to the company and to the retailers but you make a good point that there is a bigger loop created here that includes consumers.
Camilo Santa said:
If the purpose is to create shared value, it is most important to incorporate a post consumption responsibility strategy when scalating markets through rural retailers, if not then it is just business as usual, don´t you think?
