Growing Sustainable Business (GSB) is a platform for companies to engage in pro-poor business activities in developing countries with a challenging business environment. Looking beyond social investments and philanthropy, the GSB mechanism is a service offered to companies that seek to develop commercially viable business projects within their core business or value chain with a view to increasing profitability and/or engaging in new markets. At its core, the GSB provides a vehicle for a company to do well by doing good. For more information about GSB, download the GSB brochure.

The initiative grew out of the 2002 Global Compact [1]Policy Dialogue on Business and Sustainable Development and is a key response to the report by the Commission on the Private Sector and Development - Unleashing Entrepreneurship 2005. The initiative was conceptualized by the private sector, announced and launched at WSSD, Johannesburg 2002 - endorsed in high level session. The GSB is coordinated by UNDP in cooperation with the UN Global Compact Office and its core agencies. The GSB was also highlighted in the report from the Commission for Africa March 2005.

The Growing Sustainable Business initiative recognizes that given the little investment that is reaching rural and other less developed regions of developing countries, the Millennium Development Goals will not be achieved without sustainable investment by the private sector. The GSB further recognizes that the untapped market opportunities will enable multi-stakeholder & cross-sector partnerships to greatly assist enterprise solutions to poverty reduction.

In Zambia [2], includes:

• Dairy processing and small scale supply to increase the supply of quality milk from small-scale farmers, add value to it and access high value local markets. In partnership with Land o'Lakes and various medium-sized dairies, GSB is supporting the development of a business model that could be applied by medium-sized dairies in Zambia who could potentially invest in processing capacity and are interested in a partnership with Land o'Lakes that would deal with quality and infrastructure issues on the supply side.
• Supplier linkages programme for retail. Lead company: Spar Zambia
  A programme to support local entrepreneurs who could potentially supply large buyers in Zambia, but who require access to finance and/or technical assistance to do so.
• Cassava processing for maltose and glucose. Lead businesses: Zambian Breweries Group, Freshpikt Ltd.
  Sourcing cassava from small-scale farmers to invest in a processing plant to extract starch from cassava and convert this to glucose and other syrups used in soft drinks and brewing.

In Kenya [3], includes:

• Fruit Processing. Lead Company: Kevian
  Kevian, a local fruit juice manufacturer, has purchased a fruit processing plant in Thika in an effort to produce its own concentrate, and is engaging in the setup of a local mango supply chain.

 In Serbia [4], includes:

• Dairy Milk Value Chain. Lead Company: Lura Somboled
  Work with Lura Somboled (Croatian company Lura recently acquired a processor in Serbia) to facilitate investment into cooling tanks, automated milking equipment, remote collection centers, access to credit for farmers wanting to specialize in milk production, etc. to consolidate and expand the collection network and equip farmers with knowledge and equipment.

GSB website: http://www.undp.org/partners/business/gsb/index.shtml [5]