Project Nurture

Where business and poverty alleviation were once considered separate domains, there is now growing consensus that the private sector is central to development. The private sector not only fuels economic growth, but also plays a critical role in making growth more inclusive – by engaging the poor as producers, distributors, retailers, and consumers in corporate business models and value chains. However, companies often find inclusive business models and value chains challenging to develop, due to sparse information about supplier capabilities and consumer preferences, low levels of education and skills, limited access to financial services, inadequate physical infrastructure, or ill-suited regulation. Stakeholders in government, the donor community, and civil society have comparative advantages in addressing some of these challenges, and as a result, cross-sector partnership is proving to be an important strategy. This case study describes one such partnership.