Corporations

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Youth Skills

Hilton's new hospitality: A jobs plan for global youth

Hilton Worldwide and the International Youth Foundation are combining forces to outline a strategy for creating 73 million youth jobs in the next 10 years.

Koblah Agbeta holds up rice seeds from his farm in Abutia Kpota, Ghana. Quality seeds are critical for a good harvest. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/48639212@N02/4775000120/">Gates Foundation (Flickr)</a>

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Value Chains

GMO wars should take back seat to other farm issues, says DuPoint Pioneer

A corporate seed manufacturer is suggesting that slowing the spread of genetically modified crops would be acceptable, if that's what it takes to keep industrializing Africa's farms.

Kenyan smallholder farmers. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/38476503@N08/5367334314/">Photo: CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture (flickr)</a>

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Value Chains

Four ways to make contract farming work for the very poor

Will contract farming, done right, serve as the missing link between small farmers and markets?

SELCO Technician installing solar panels. Credit: SELCO

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Sustainable Energy

SELCO: A shining star in market-driven social enterprise

This article was republished by The Christian Science Monitor

In India, one iconoclastic solar company employs deep knowledge of the ways communities use energy to overthrow the traditional means of bringing power to the people.

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.

Two Kenyan school boys play soccer. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/teachandlearn/2861273492/sizes/l/in/photostream/">Teachandlearn (Flickr)</a>

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Value Chains

UK retailer John Lewis is the latest to implemement a buy one, donate one program in Africa - with a twist

A small African company that got its seed money from a grant has just received a major endorsement. Alive & Kicking will now have their brand, Balls for Africa, sold by a major retailer in the UK.

Tienda owners in rural Guatemala stand proudly in front of their store, newly stocked with much-needed health products. Photo: Lindsay Murphy/Mercy Corps.

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Guatemala’s Tiendas de la Salud: Where profit and social impact meet

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The history of climate change negotiations in 83 seconds

Finding the 'right' partner is just the beginning. Managing the relationship can make or break a great project. <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/o5com/5220980008/">o5com (flickr)</a>

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How to build great CSR partnerships: 5 rules from DevEx

When corporations begin to look at high-functioning social responsibility partnerships, DevEx has identified 5 keys to keep them on the right track.

Companies are working to empower in the tech sector. Photo: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/unwomenarabstates/7245942414/sizes/m/in/photostream/”> UN Women Arab States (Flickr)</a>

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Youth Skills

Geekery for all: Google chips $6m to youth tech empowerment

With the iLab educating in Liberia and the Switchboard mobilizing health across Africa, Google is working on global technology empowerment.

Mobile phones are one of the ways ADB says will increase microfinance availability among the poor. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/cimmyt/8048414699/">CIMMYT (flickr)</a>.

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Financial Inclusion

MFIs should offer more than just microfinance, study finds

Despite the surging popularity of microfinance in the last several decades, access among the poor in Asia and the Pacific remains low. A new report says technology and livelihood programs will put it in the hands of more people.

Left: Patricia Wolff, founder and executive director of Meds and Food for Kids. (Photo: MFK.) Right: Paul Farmer, founder and executive director of Partners in Health. (Photo: <a href="http://flic.kr/p/csKJu9">Nyaya Health, Flickr</a>.)

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Social Enterprise

Devil take the hindmost? Haiti peanut battle puts NGOs head to head

When antipoverty nonprofits compete, it's not always clear who will lose more: the one whose business is threatened, or the people both nonprofits set out to serve.

Global companies like Ford are finding that social responsibility programs are key tools for building staff satisfaction, but it's just the start. Photo:<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/fordapa/3940121012/sizes/z/in/photostream/">Ford APA(flickr)</a>

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Social Enterprise

More than ever, CSR is a business advantage, not just charity: Nine

Corporate social responsibility used to be about improving a company’s image, but a fundamental shift is well underway. CSR is quickly becoming a major factor in companies' core business strategies—and a marketplace advantage.