Nicaraguan bean farmers now have the chance to access credit, improve their agricultural methods and sell their crops directly to food distributors. Read how a new project is helping traditional small farmers increase their profits and become part of national supply chains.
Large areas of highly fertile volcanic soil have made bean production a centuries-old staple of the Nicaraguan economy and food supply. Although small bean producers have inherited a rich and important legacy, they have often struggled to earn a fair profit due to low productivity rates, lack of credit access and difficulty in organizing cooperative farming mechanisms.
On April 20, Jaime Elizondo, President of CEMEX Mexico, and Luiz Ros, Manager of the Opportunities for the Majority initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank, signed a partial credit guarantee agreement that will enable CEMEX to significantly increase the scope of its Mejora Tu Calle (“Improve Your Street”) program.
On April 20, Jaime Elizondo, President of CEMEX Mexico, and Luiz Ros, Manager of the Opportunities for the Majority initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank, signed a partial credit guarantee agreement that will enable CEMEX to significantly increase the scope of its Mejora Tu Calle (“Improve Your Street”) program.
Luiz Ros, manager of the IDB's Opportunities for the Majority initiative, pays tribute to C.K. Prahalad, a leader in the field of developing business models that engage the BOP. Prahalad recently passed away at the age of 69, but his legacy will be seen for years to come.
I was very saddened to hear over the weekend that C.K. Prahalad passed away. An Indian-born management expert, businessman and professor, he could be called “the father of the base of the pyramid” thanks to his unique understanding of the needs and potential of our world’s poorest people.
An interview with Pedro Bulcão, executive director of Brazil's SINAF Group, about his company's innovative approach to selling life insurance to low-income customers.
There are many ways private companies can serve base of the pyramid (BOP) populations. These underserved communities represent a large untapped market and, as such, offer a number of opportunities to organizations willing to address their basic needs in a responsible and profitable way.
Two leading Mexican companies, Mi Tienda and CEMEX, were recognized at the IDB’s Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors in Cancun, Mexico, for their innovative projects that engage with low-income populations in Mexico.
On Friday, March 19, IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno meet with Jose Ignacio Avalos, a leading social entrepreneur who has been instrumental in creating major nonprofit organizations that address critical needs of the poor in Mexico, including Mi Tienda, a company that supplies hundreds of small grocery stores in rural communities in Mexico.
Only 13% of lower and middle-income Mexicans use the Internet, in many cases because computer access in rural areas is limited or nonexistent. Learn about a pilot project that is helping connect villagers in the Yucatan region to the rest of the world through affordable, high quality Internet service.
At about 2:00 pm on Thursday, July 9, I received an e-mail saying, “we are at a store and it works!” I knew exactly what this cryptic message meant and where it was coming from: a remote rural village in Yucatan, Mexico, where many houses do not have electricity and, until that moment, access to Internet was limited only to the very few who could afford a thirty minute walk and a ME$200 taxi ride to the nearest town.
Virtually unknown only a few years ago, microloans are now a proven tool to help improve the lives of millions of individuals in developing countries all over the world. The IDB’s Opportunities for the Majority initiative is currently working with Global Partnerships, one of the institutions leading the way in what might be called “Microfinance 2.0.”
Virtually unknown only a few years ago, microloans are now a proven tool to help improve the lives of millions of individuals in developing countries all over the world. Now, a next generation is building on the experience and success of “traditional” microfinance to offer new services along with loans. Insurance, pension accounts, and other financial services are natural outgrowths for microlenders, but some are branching into even more diverse fields, such as job training and health screening.
Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM), one of Colombia’s largest public utilities companies, has long offered electricity, gas, and water services to its clients, the majority of whom live in very low-income areas. Now, EPM has started offering microloans to selected customers, and, thanks to support from the Inter-American Development Bank and other partner organizations, it will be able to turn even more of its customers into borrowers.
Empresas Publicas de Medellin (EPM), one of Colombia’s largest public utilities companies, has long offered electricity, gas, and water services to its clients, the majority of whom live in very low-income areas. Now, EPM has started offering microloans to selected customers, and, thanks to support from the Inter-American Development Bank and other partner organizations, it will be able to turn even more of its customers into borrowers.
A partnership between the IDB, GAIN and Fundacion FEMSA is working to encourage the private sector to develop solutions that will help families at the base of the pyramid manage a healthy diet.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, an estimated 53 million people live without access to sufficient food, and 16% of children suffer from a state of chronic malnutrition.
Eighty percent of construction activities in Brazil are self-managed ventures, carried out by insufficiently or non-trained workers. See here how the innovative learning program Doutores da Construção has turned more than 230 hardware stores into interactive multimedia learning hubs to successfully train Brazilian construction workers all over the country and leverage the potential of majority markets.
The Brazilian housing sector has expanded significantly in recent years – so quickly that the supply of trained construction workers has not been able to keep pace.
Eighty percent of construction activities in Brazil are self-managed ventures, carried out by workers with little or no training. Most of Brazil’s estimated 4 million construction workers are not adequately prepared to deliver quality work, and are vulnerable to avoidable construction site risks.
