Issue 10: Mutual prosperity for business and the poor

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Have you ever thought how different the world would be if poverty and stark inequalities did not exist? What is the role of business in developing countries? Can they be a positive force to improve the economic prosperity of a country by creating jobs, and developing products and services that meet the needs of the poor?

In recent years there has been some debate about this issue and there is an emerging theory that suggests that the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) represent a ‘latent’ market. There are both positive and negative perceptions on the role of business in addressing the bottom of the pyramid consumers as a new market opportunity. Can this be a win-win for business and the poor? Or it is just a way of justifying the spread of capitalism across developing countries?

At Business in the Community we believe that if channelled in the most appropriate way, business can act as a positive force for development and the private sector can be harnessed to address the needs of the poor.

We can help support companies achieve this at our forthcoming workshop 21 October 2011: Mutual Prosperity for Business and the Poor

It is widely recognised that the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not be achieved by 2015. However, businesses have a role to play to address some of the key issues highlighted in the goals such as addressing poverty and hunger, improving literacy and educational opportunities for children and women, addressing gender inequality, addressing health concerns and others.

In our experience of working with businesses we have seen the potential and positive impact businesses can play. Some businesses have begun to successfully build markets at the BOP as a way of fighting against poverty.

In order to illustrate this, we are delighted to share an interview with Malcolm Lane, Director of Corporate Affairs from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) which covers the work that TCS are doing in this area and how they are addressing the needs of the poor and opening up potential new markets. TCS has recently been highly commended in the Coffey International Award as part of BITC’s Awards for Excellence 2011, which recognises the positive impact that businesses are having by addressing the MDGs.

TCS’s programmes are addressing some of the fundamental social and economic deprivations of the poor which impact their basic quality of life. One of these initiatives, the Adult Literacy programme, is developing a cost-effective and innovative solution to an age-old problem: adult illiteracy.

In addition, we have included an interview with Meeta Singh, Head the Corporate Responsibility function and part of the leadership team at Hindustan Unilever, which shows the innovative way in which Unilever has addressed the financial empowerment of women. Meeta Singh explains how the Shakti programme has been rolled out across rural India and the profound impact that it has had.

We also have a case study from IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Ltd which concentrates on how the company is helping farmers to improve their productivity. The M-Powering Farmers Mobile Phone initiative was developed to provide agricultural information via mobile phone to aid famers in developing a more productive, profitable and sustainable agricultural sector in India.

We hope that this edition goes some way to show the positive effects that companies are already having in relation to the BOP and may inspire others to focus their innovation on this potential new niche market.

In order to encourage more businesses to start addressing the MDGs in their programmes BITC is running the workshop: Mutual Prosperity for Business and the Poor. During this workshop, on 21 October which is kindly hosted by Linklaters, we will approach some of these issues with some of the biggest international companies in the UK. They will present their case studies and share their knowledge and thoughts about developing the BOP as a new emerging market.

And finally, for a lighter read, catch up on David’s Blog which shares some of the inspiring programmes that he has come across over the years in South America.

Elisa Naveran,
Communication Support Officer