INCLUSIVE BUSINESS

DeLab: solutions about inclusive business
The existence of a group of people with common
needs and / or interests;
An entrepreneurial idea, coming from the “bottom”
or from abroad, suited to meet a specific need of
the target market, which guarantees a profit for
investors and the economic, social and environmental
sustainability;
An adequate level of collective consciousness,
which foresees a real and widespread participation
of all the actors involved, and their willingness
to share knowledge and experience;
National legislation favorable to the formation of
spontaneous organizations between groups of
people;
Technical support by specialized actors, local or
foreign, with experience in the area of intervention.
To simplify, let’s take as an example an imaginary
project where a small community of farmers producing
cocoa or coffee, in order to optimize resources and
achieve a better profit margin, forms a consortium with
other communities of producers with the same characteristics
(geographical features, type of crop, etc.).
This consortium reaches the following goals: 1) share
techniques to improve the quality of products, 2) augment
the availability of products to fetch a better price on
the market, 3) buy new equipment with the joint management
of a portion of the profit, 4) creation of financial
instruments for the access to credit for poor families (eg,
establishment of rural banks), 5) training for the new
generations about production techniques, 6) raising
awareness among members of the consortium on environmental
issues such as protection of forests.
Small farmers become entrepreneurs, with a shared
start-up capital. They manage the entire supply chain
through committees elected by the producers themselves.
The creation and consolidation of economic
bodies of this type, can be facilitated by foreign entrepreneurs
and/or non-profit organizations. While the first
is concerned with broadening the scope of action of their
businesses, the second is encouraged by their mandate
scope, both being careful about workers’ rights, the
environment, social and economic sustainability of the
business.
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