Data for inclusive business

In Kenya, BoP households account for 1 in 5 of every dollar spent, and almost a quarter of this is spent on food and beverage. These and other insights on the shape and spending of BoP consumers are shared by Euromonitor International, based on their interrogation of multiple data sources, combined with modelling and forecasting.

Big data on smallholder farming is already emerging in high-value sectors. The potential across smallholders is huge, with possible gains for businesses and farmers alike. BoP expert Karen Smith outlines those gains and how a new business, Smallholdr, provides a new data-based system for supply chain management and upgrading.

At Endeva’s Inclusive Innovation Factory ii2030, pioneers from the agriculture sector discussed how technology can provide solutions for precision agriculture. Building on the model of e-Kutir, Christina Tewes-Gradl presents innovative ideas on how smallholders can access data and business opportunites.

Wild fish catch from Lake Victoria has dropped significantly to half of what it was. A mobile-based survey confirms the slump. TTC explains this mobile tool, and how it has helped a public private partnership invest in aquaculture.

Data and collaboration provide new opportunities for action and impact. This is as true for business as for others. Claire Melamed, leading Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data, outlines the data revolution in development with examples of how companies are tuning in.

Data on food fortification saves lives argues the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN). Investing in food fortification has a return on investment of 30:1, saves lives, and prevents long-term sickness. Yet, under-investment prevails. Good data won't build political will overnight but is a step towards better planning and investment. GAIN’s Global Fortification Data Exchange (GFDx) was launched to do just that.

Ellen Stofan, former Chief Scientist of NASA, explains how huge reams of data from space are being tapped to help governments, business and citizens to manage resources in the face of climate change.

Lack of data about household energy use and poverty levels is holding back necessary investment and planning decisions in the renewable energy sector. Dimitrios Mentis and Sanjoy Sanyal share how geospatial information system (GIS) datasets and visualised maps are being used to close this gap.

Looking for useful data? These are our suggestions on open data sources, toolkits and an introduction on how to apply big data to help you dive into the data that is out there.

Mere access to data will not lead to a better world warns Andreas Pawelke from the World Wide Web Foundation. Too much data is accessible to only a few people. So instead of investing in ever-bigger data, investment is needed in new legal frameworks, local data capacities, and requirements to share data.

Making data collection less of a burden and more of an opportunity for its investees is a key objective of the Department for International Development (DFID) Impact Programme. Here, they share the first case study in their Deep Dive series that shows how gathering customer-centric data enabled a Ghanaian animal feed business to understand their value to BoP consumers and scale their business.

In this interview, Gayan Peiris, Digital Strategist of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Action Campaign, explains the importance of using global data sources wisely to identify the needs of local communities and showcase ‘real’ progress made.

Dr Consulta is a Brazilian business rapidly expanding its chain of clinics. The company is focussed on keeping costs low so that their prices are 20% of typical private competitors. So why are they investing time and effort in customer feedback? Product manager Jorge Tung tells us why and explains how to do it efficiently.

This month, Caroline Ashley did not pick a typical publication as the Editor’s Choice, but a website that is all about data. Find out what it makes Our World in Data so special and unique that you should not miss it.