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Social Enterprise

How to sell Big Macs in India: A lesson for social entrepreneurs

Social enterprises often takes their cues from venture capital, but a recent article at Co.Exist claims there is a lot to learn from the big, bad transnational corporations as well.

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Value Chains

Two companies making trade fairer without 'fair trade'

When fair trade farming didn’t pay enough for one farmer to make ends meet, he started a new coffee company to take control of the production process and boost profits.

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Social Enterprise

Africa is finally booming, but don’t break out the champagne yet

Africans are celebrating levels of economic growth and political stability that were unthinkable just 10 years ago, but without the appropriate economic and political reforms, the continent could quickly relapse.

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Value Chains

Chocolate shortage by 2020? How mini loans could save the day

Social lenders aren't meeting poor farmers' financing needs. If commercial buyers don't provide more capital, the world could face shortages of luxury cash crops.

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Value Chains

Natural disasters cost corporations $400 billion in 2011, UN says

Environmental disasters not only cripple smallholder farmers, they also mean high costs for the corporations at the buying end of the supply chain. A forthcoming UN report will show just how detrimental those costs can be.

Thanks to co-ops like COOPCAB, the coffee business is back and brewing in Haiti. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/27632962@N04/3395940600/">Vilseskogen (flickr)</a>

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Social Enterprise

As aid to Haiti slows, a private co-op scores loans and turns heads

This article was republished by The Christian Science Monitor.

Heinz sells 80 percent of British beans. That may be exactly why they passed on a chance to do so in a more innovative way. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vek/4226781275/sizes/z/in/photostream/">Kevin Spencer (flickr)</a>

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Value Chains

Why the biggest brand sometimes isn't the best innovation partner

A new case study of the Ethiopian bean industry includes a depressing anecdote reminding us that innovation rarely starts at the top of the market.

Chinese agriculture is shifting away from some traditional products like gingko to capture Western markets<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldbank/5416212301/lightbox/">World Bank Photo Collection (flickr)</a>

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Value Chains

As Chinese farming goes global, some see risks

The reorientation of Chinese agriculture to an export-centric model is creating unprecedented domestic growth, but there may be a hidden cost to developing nations.

Nigerian farmers head to a meeting for the latest information.Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/gatesfoundation/5782066016/">Gates Foundation (flickr)</a>

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Value Chains

Nestle: Food security is not a philanthropic activity

Poverty and hunger in Central and West Africa can't be solved by donated food. Nigeria needs to rebuild and boost its own agricultural economy. Nestle has a plan to do just that.

Kenyan flower farmers are making more money thanks to a new middleman. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldbank/2629345354/">Photo: World Bank (flickr)</a>

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Value Chains

Your Walmart bouquet may have been grown by these Kenyan farmers

Flower growers in Kenya have plenty to sell, but no buyers. Meanwhile big-box retailers in the U.S. and UK want more flowers. New research reveals that a middleman connecting them could be profitable for both.

Mounting evidence is persuading economists that globalization, not just technology, is eroding middle-class pay in rich countries. Photo: <a href="http://flic.kr/p/58yf2U">Seattle Municipal Archives (Flickr)</a>

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Value Chains

Finally, straight talk on trade: It's good, but not for everything

One of the less plausible pieties of international economists—the claim that globalization doesn't substantially hurt the middle class in rich countries—may be dying, the New York Times reports.