Geneva, 2 July 2010 - What are the links between business and development? And what is the business role and opportunity in addressing sustainability challenges of developing countries and emerging economies? These questions are addressed in a report launched today by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).

Geneva, 22 April 2010 - The WBCSD has launched "The Inclusive Business Challenge", an easy-to-use presentation and simulation tool to help companies and stakeholders identify and implement models that profitably engage low-income populations across companies' value chains and develop affordable products and services that meet the needs of low-income populations.

The tool aims to help companies raise awareness of the role of business in development and to introduce the challenges, drivers and principles of inclusive business. It presents good practice examples, and suggests ways to integrate inclusive business into company strategy. A key feature of the tool is in the simulation activity which is designed to be used in an interactive workshop setting to identify risks and opportunities in building inclusive business.

Business Linkages: Enabling Access to Markets at the Base of the Pyramid, IBLF, July 2009

The report summarises the findings of the fourth and final event in the Business Linkages Series which looked specifically at enabling access to markets at the base of the pyramid..

"Emerging Markets, Emerging Models" from Monitor Group is a first-of-its-kind report analyzing the actual behaviors, economics, and business models of successful "market-based solutions" -- financially-sustainable enterprises that address challenges of global poverty. The report provides strong evidence that engaging the poor as customers and suppliers presents an exciting--and significant--opportunity to establish new paradigms to bring genuine social change in economically sustainable ways. The research is focused on India, which offers an advanced laboratory of social enterprise approaches and proved to be an especially fertile source on model effectiveness.

World Economic Forum, January 2009 

The report documents a series of commercially viable business models that have proven effective at strengthening food value chains in developing countries, and offers recommendations for scaling them up. It presents examples of specific business approaches that can engage poor producers, consumers and entrepreneurs along the food value chain. It outlines design principles for companies interested in developing such initiatives, and suggests actions that all stakeholders can take to facilitate expansion of these business approaches.

In a "Collective Advocacy Messages on Agriculture", Business Action Africa has called for links between smallholder farmers, local markets and supply chains that link with national, regional and global economies, and for the development of long term, stable relationships between those farmers and their customers. These are part of five action areas to scale up growth in the agricultural sector, improve the prospects and welfare of its farmers, and the sustainability of production.

MVO-CSR platform September 2008

"The voice from the South is not heard enough when it comes to defining corporate social responsibility." That message came clearly across during the CSR World Wide Week in May 2008.

Some 27 civil society representatives, mainly experts from NGOs and trade unions, from Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America came to The Netherlands to discuss their experiences with CSR, and how the mainly 'Northern' concepts influence the daily life of people in developing countries.

Social Business Enterprises - Maximising Social Benefits or Maximising Profits? The Case of Grameen-Danone Foods Limited

by Asad Kamran Ghalib and Farhad Hossain. Brooks World Poverty Institute Working Paper 51, July 2008

This paper discusses the basic features of a social business enterprise (SBE) and provides an illustration of the theoretical framework; the second part of the paper presents the case of Grameen- Danone Foods Limited (GDFL), a social business enterprise. It carries a detailed analysis of its rationale, incorporation, product, operations, and the challenges it currently faces. The paper concludes with a note on the benefits which such a social enterprise brings, and surmises future prospects.

Bulletin 385, ISBN 9789068327458 | KIT Publishers 2008

by M. J. Boomsma

How can we unleash the potential of sustainable development and integrate it into trade? This book explores how procurement by Western companies can be carried out in such a way that all parties benefit, including the poor.

Oxfam GB has launched a new series 'Briefings for Business'. The purpose of this series is to explore a new form of dialogue with companies through which they can share experiences of how poor people are affected by business operations.

The first in the series looks at business and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aim, amongst other things, to halve poverty, lower levels of hunger, reduce maternal and childhood mortality, and increase access to water and sanitation.