Companies incorporating global development into their core business strategies
 Engaging entrepreneurs in new African markets
The Coca-Cola Company
Coca-Cola’s Manual Distribution Center (MDC) model identifies and engages local, independent entrepreneurs who distribute and sell Coca-Cola beverages in small, specific geographical areas. In Africa this initiative has created jobs, promoted entrepreneurship and strengthened local economies.
To date, approximately 2,400 small distribution businesses (MDCs) have been formed, creating direct employment for more than 11,000 people, and generating more than $500 million in revenues, primarily in high density urban areas throughout East Africa.
MDCs are typically located in areas where a lack of stable roads and infrastructure makes it difficult for delivery trucks to travel. Those who set up MDCs employ others in the area who then sell and distribute Coke’s beverage products to retailers, often by bicycle or pushcart. This model helps Coke secure hard-to-reach markets while creating job growth in those communities. As a result of the MDC program’s success, Coke is expanding MDCs across Africa with the goal of doubling the program and its impact by 2010. Learn more at The Coca-Cola Company website
Developing world contributes to global solutions
Elsevier
Elsevier is the world’s leading publisher of science and health information. The company helped found the Research4Life program to ensure that clinicians, researchers and policymakers in resource-constrained countries have access to the information they need to address challenges in health, agriculture and the environment in the developing world.
Research4Life, a partnership of United Nations agencies, leading universities and publishers, provides users in 108 developing countries with access to more than 7,000 journals, databases and other information resources, along with training in research and IT skills, at little or no cost. Participants include public health researchers working to adopt the best medical practices and treatments; clinicians working to prevent HIV/AIDS and malaria; and field researchers working to develop new agricultural and environmental practices.
The program enables developing world scientists to become active contributors to the global scientific community and add to the body of Elsevier’s publications. It fosters the development of healthcare and R&D capacity and, by making it possible for researchers and clinicians to work productively in their home countries, stems the outflow of intellectual talent. It also ensures wider dissemination of the work of Elsevier-published authors to readers who would not otherwise be able to use and cite it in their own work. Learn more at the Research4life website
 Investing in 10,000 Women
Goldman Sachs
In 2008, Goldman Sachs launched 10,000 Women, an initiative to invest in underserved female entrepreneurs around the world. The initiative is based on research published by Goldman Sachs, the World Bank, and others that found that the economic empowerment of women can lead to economic growth and improved living standards for whole communities. Economic growth is an important element of Goldman Sachs’ core business.
This program funds business and management education for 10,000 female entrepreneurs over five years. Through a network of more than 50 non-profit and academic partners, including seven of the top 10 business schools in the world, locally customized courses are being taught in 16 countries, including Afghanistan, Brazil, China, India, Rwanda and the United States. The program provides its participants with the opportunity to gain practical skills such as accounting, drafting a business plan, accessing and management of capital, and marketing to develop and sustain their businesses and fuel economic growth and social progress.
In addition to advancing the education of female entrepreneurs, Goldman Sachs is supporting partnerships between leading global business schools and academic institutions in developing and emerging markets. These partnerships are building global business education capacity by training faculty and developing curriculum. Learn more at the Goldman Sachs website
Financial services for frontier markets
Safaricom
The majority of the rural population in Kenya remained unbanked until Safaricom, Vodafone’s Kenya affiliate, stepped in to offer mobile phone users the opportunity to transfer money through their phones. Vodafone, in partnership with Safaricom, the Commercial Bank of Africa and microfinance company Faulu, designed and piloted a mobile-payment platform in Kenya called M-PESA, combining ‘M’ for mobile, and the Swahili word ‘pesa,’ for money.
Following a successful pilot, M-PESA was launched commercially in 2007 in Kenya. The service was developed for mobile phone customers who lacked access to banks or had insufficient funds to justify opening bank accounts. Within its first month of operations, M-PESA registered over 20,000 customers, vastly exceeding expectations. Now with over 6 million customers and more than 10,000 new users registering each day, M-PESA is filling the void for affordable, secure and convenient financial services for emerging economies.
The success of M-PESA in Kenya has lead Vodafone to partner with mobile network operators to provide the mobile money transfer service in Tanzania and Afghanistan, with plans to expand M-PESA to other countries. An international money transfer service between UK and Kenya, with M-PESA as the money-out service, is currently being piloted. Learn more at the Safaricom website
 Investing in the future of farmers
Starbucks Coffee Company
One way Starbucks ensures they have a sustainable supply of high-quality coffee is by investing in the future of coffee farmers and their communities through alternative loan programs. These investments provide farmers across Latin America, Asia Pacific and Africa with access to loans not offered by traditional banks.
During the growing and harvest season, many coffee farmers dip into their modest reserves to cover expenses until they can sell their crop. Some are forced to sell early—at lower prices—or to borrow money at exorbitant local interest rates, cutting into their profits and setting up a cycle of reduced earnings in subsequent years.
To help address this issue, Starbucks has invested $12.5 million in farm loan funds managed by groups such as Root Capital, Verde Ventures and Calvert Foundation, benefitting more than 100,000 farmers. These organizations make loans to provide coffee growers the capital they need until they can sell their crop at the best price. Loans also help cooperatives and farmers fund pre-harvest activities, improvements to farms or equipment and export financing. As part of the Starbucks™ Shared Planet™ commitment to ethical sourcing, the company plans to nearly double its investment in these kinds of programs to $20 million by 2015. Learn more at the Starbucks Coffee Company website
Novella Partnership harvests abundance
Unilever
Allanblackia trees, which grow abundantly in the tropic forests in Central, East and West Africa, have traditionally been harvested on a subsistence basis – until Unilever scaled up production of the tree’s seeds to supply oil for the company’s spreads. In 2002 Unilever co-founded the Novella Partnership with the United Nations Development Program, international and local NGOs, regional and national governments and other companies to build a sustainable oil supply chain for the allanblackia nut while providing rural farmers with a new source of income.
The first phase of the project encouraged farmers to harvest and sell seeds from allanblackia trees growing in the wild and on community land. The second phase focuses on planting allanblackia on fallow and degraded lands, supporting biodiversity as well as providing additional income. By 2008, 10,500 farmers in Ghana and Tanzania had helped raise 40,000 seedlings.By 2017, the partnership aims to work with 200,000 farmers to plant 25 million trees, leading to an estimated doubling of farmers’ household incomes. The growing market supply chain is expected to produce an acceptable return on investment for Novella’s commercial partners including Unilever. Plans are in place to accelerate allanblackia development in Nigeria to broaden the reach of the economic benefits for rural communities. Learn more at the Unilever website
Connecting with Latin American farmers
Wal-Mart
Since 1998, Wal-Mart Centroamérica has supported the region's social and economic growth by partnering with local farmers and selling their products. The program, Tierra Fértil, or "Fertile Soil," currently helps over 5,000 producers throughout Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. Wal-Mart expanded this program last year by entering into an alliance with Mercy Corps, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Guatemalan nonprofit Fundación ÁGIL (Fundación Apoyo a la Generación de Ingresos Locales). The Inclusive Market Alliance for Rural Entrepreneurs (IMARE) will help these farmers build their capacity and move from traditional corn and beans production to demand-driven production, preparing them to enter the supply chain.
The company plans to train 600 farmers over three years to supply produce for its local stores. Most of the fruits and vegetables the retailer sells in its 457 Central American stores are produced locally. Wal-Mart wants to diversify its supplier base to keep its shelves stocked as it expands and provide local farmer the opportunity to produce niche items such as herbs that big growers can't be bothered with and that are too expensive to import. This program has been replicated in Puerto Rico and incorporated into Wal-Mart’s best practices. Learn more at the Wal-Mart website
Photos, top to bottom: The Coca-Cola Company, Goldman Sachs, Starbucks Coffee Company
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