Presenting the report Moving the Needle: Critical Success Factors for Scaling Asset Finance A new report by Epven, with support from the Shell Foundation and the Small Foundation, explores the challenges and emerging solutions to scaling asset finance options for small and growing agribusinesses (SGBs) in developing countries. The investment opportunity in agribusiness…
This paper presents an aligned yet customizable framework of indicators for measuring farm-level sustainability in smallholder agricultural supply chains. These indicators are proposed primarily in the context of performance measurement, but can also be useful for more in-depth impact evaluation studies. The proposal is not for one single common set of indicators, but rather for…
Small-‐scale farmers—whose output supports a population of roughly 2.2 billion people worldwide—manage roughly 85% of the world’s farms. And every day, companies trade with these farmers in a wide variety of products. As companies seeks more transparency through complex supply chains and invest together with development and financial organizations, there is more and more interest…
In 2012-2013, Food Lab company members of the Values Based Sourcing group supported a study on smallholder sugar in Paraguay to to pilot a performance measurement methodology while collecting data to assess the sustainability of smallholder sugarcane production there. This study was supported by Annie’s, Ben & Jerry’s, Clif Bar, The Body Shop and the Ford…
Agriculture is a source of livelihoods for an estimated 2.5 billion people globally. It provides jobs for 1.3 billion smallholders and landless workers. Thus, it has enormous potential to reduce rural poverty. Yet agribusinesses are usually built around a small number of large-scale suppliers ignoring that 85% of the world’s farms are managed by small-scale…
Review of the role of commodity exchanges in supporting smallholder farmer market linkages and income benefits Recently the government of Ethiopia mandated that all of the navy bean trade is to done through the new commodity exchange. But the new business models for sustainable trading relationships team has been working on this crop in Ethiopia…
How to build supply security and resilience with smallholder farmers 22nd – 23rd March 2016 Innovation Forum London, UK This multi-stakeholder conference will address the major risks for smallholder farmers across agricultural sectors, and focus on how to create scalable solutions to tackle future supply chain vulnerabilities. The agenda confronts such topics as innovations in…
Food and beverage companies are facing a rapidly changing world. Consumers everywhere are growing more knowledgeable and concerned about the ethics of where and how their food and drink are produced. At the same time, development organizations are increasingly seeing the critical role of the private sector in creating sustainable economic opportunities for small…
Dear colleagues, Any of us with sustainability in our job descriptions can look back with pride or look forward with some trepidation. The launch of the new UN Sustainable Development Goals and the climate agreement in Paris remind us all of the critical role of agriculture in global sustainability solutions. As CEOs make new commitments…
C.D. Glen from Rockefeller Foundation and Katarina Kehlmann from Technoserve discussed the opportunities that exist for lead firms to engage in post harvest loss reduction to increase supply, decrease repetitional risk, and deliver livelihood benefits in smallholder supply chains. They also highlighted potential areas of collaboration in sourcing regions. The 3 common agricultural leverage point…