Business partnerships

For years those who worked in development viewed business and the international capital markets system as the root of the problem for the world’s poor. Until recently, business did not see itself as being directly involved in environmental or social concerns.

But that view is changing and there is now a growing understanding of the negative effects of business on the environment and vulnerable populations – and a realisation that these negative effects have associated costs to business and society as a whole.

Finding solutions

CARE International's view is that new solutions are needed to the complex problems that face the world today, such as rapid urbanisation and poverty, and that business has to be part of the solution. By harnessing the core skills and technical expertise of big business, CARE believes it can begin to find lasting, sustainable solutions.

We are working together with businesses with the aim of devising operating models that produce profit for companies while at the same time serving the interests of the poor.

This is all about using business knowledge, expertise and dynamism and combining this with the knowledge and skills CARE has of engaging with poor communities, understanding their needs and recognising their capacity to be active participants in development solutions.

How does it work?

One excellent example is a major microfinance initiative taking place in India, where CARE is developing a system with India’s second-largest bank, the ICICI Bank. What began as a few small-scale microfinance schemes is now turning into a totally new model for linking corporate and social sectors.

The initiative will provide the poorest with a comprehensive suite of financial services, including credit, insurance and new savings products, moving them away from an NGO-led initiative to a self-sustaining financial system that is viable and interesting enough for a major international bank to run.

Another partnership that is benefiting business as well as the poor is the hugely successful VegCARE in Kenya. It began as a CARE programme that grouped Kenyan farmers together so they could benefit from economies of scale and access international export markets.

They began selling their produce to Vegpro, which supplies western supermarkets with exotic vegetables, and CARE farmers were producing up to 60 percent of its Asian vegetable requirement. It was so impressed that eventually it joined CARE as partners in a new self-sustaining company called VegCARE.

Now many of the aubergines and baby sweetcorn in Tesco and Sainsbury’s have been grown by CARE farmers.

CARE International UK is becoming known for having particular expertise in partnership dynamics.

Partnership models can make money for business, thereby giving business an incentive to keep projects going and make the partnership more and more successful. By tying together the profit principle with the needs of the poor, CARE believes you can produce a model that really is sustainable, replicable and scalable. It is a new way of doing business.