Publication database

Foreign companies operating in a ‘host’ country’s private sector play an important role in fostering inclusive development in these nations. This PhD thesis, exploring the contributions of the Dutch private sector to inclusive development in Kenya’s three most important sectors, tea, flower and renewable energy, finds that private companies operate in a very specific context and must adapt to existing local circumstances that are often not automatically inclusive.

The idea of Inclusive Business is taking Africa by storm. The timely publication of a new concise book 'Inclusive business in Africa': A business model aims to take readers on a journey into the subject of Inclusive Business in Africa and shows how companies can be agents of change, contributing to inclusive development and growth. The publication brings together research supported by the Partnerships Resource Centre (PrC), a specialist research centre at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) and RSM’s Professor Rob van Tulder. 

Thirteen interdisciplinary research projects were reviewed for this synthesis paper. These projects addressed a range of business processes and innovations by and for small-scale producers and entrepreneurs in the agri-business sectors in countries across sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia. The paper stresses that innovations supporting inclusive business are only relevant and effective for the poor and marginalized when they are applicable to a specific problem and context, affordable at low costs, and accessible to all. This Is called the Triple A: applicability, affordability and accessibility.

Producer organizations (POs) provide benefits to smallholders by alleviating market access challenges. However, whether all farmers benefit from a PO is still a question. However, whether all farmers benefit from a PO is still a question. Limited evidence is available on whether POs are inclusive of poor farmers. Even if the poor join, do they participate in decision‐making? This report provides insights into decision-making structures and what factors influence power balances.

This report explores the role of different kinds of capital in bending the arc of agricultural market development towards inclusive growth. It pays particular attention to how impact-focused players deploying capital that is flexible in terms of risk-return expectations can best deploy it in order to catalyse large-scale transformations towards inclusion.

With the support of Grow Asia, the Cambodia Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (CPSA) was launched in May 2016 in order to link smallholder farmers to the market. CPSA focuses on six key crops: cassava, coconut, palm sugar, pepper, rice and vegetables. This publication provides a market snapshot for these crops and outlines CPSA's strategic approach. 

El proyecto que se presenta en esta publicación tiene como objetivo la mejora de la nutrición de población en riesgo del Departamento del Cauca y del Valle del Cauca, en Colombia, a través del consumo de Frucap, un producto altamente nutritivo y funcional que se canaliza a la población vulnerable a través de compras públicas y otras entidades del sector alimentario. Sin embargo, el gran éxito y aprendizaje del proyecto no se basa sólo en la accesibilidad del producto Frucap para poblaciones con deficiencias nutricionales, sino en el modelo de negocio inclusivo que hay detrás de su producción y desarrollo.

IDH convenes companies, CSOs, governments and others in public-private partnerships. The IDH Annual Report 2018 highlights the activities of IDH and their partner network towards reaching the SDGs.