Growing the Wealth of the Poor - World Resources Institute

ENTREPRENEURSHIPcost-effective and locally manageable, have allowed the womenof Alimentos Nutri-Naturales to successfully improve local livelihoodsand food security. One significant way they have createddemand is through a partnership with a school lunch program,whereby biscuits made from Maya nut flour are included in thelunches provided to local schoolchildren (UNDP 2007).Cross-Scale LinkagesHorizontal LinkagesThe Equator Initiative experience has shown that some prizefinalists and winners may have 20 or more partners who assumedifferent roles at different phases of program development.Research shows that at least 8–12 partners are needed toprovide the levels and kinds of support required to meet all thetechnical, capacity-building, educational, infrastructural, legal,and marketing needs for program or enterprise growth (Berkesand Adhikari 2006:687; Berkes 2007:15190).The Village of Andavadoaka in Madagascar, a winner of the2006 Equator Prize, reacted to declining populations ofoctopus, the traditional source of local livelihood, by partneringwith marine conservationists to stabilize the species and implementa seasonal ban on octopus fishing. The successfulpartnership encouraged nearby villagers to join Andavadoaka’sefforts, resulting in a regional community network that isworking to preserve local coral reefs and manage aquaticwildlife populations. To further bolster local livelihoods, thevillagers in this remote isolated area have begun to exploreecotourism options in partnership with a UK-based NGO, and anew resort was scheduled to open in late 2007. The overallsuccess of the village’s efforts is tied to its work with a numberof partners: a national academic institution, two internationalNGOs, a variety of national government agencies, a privatesectorfishing company, and more than a dozen neighboringcommunities (UNDP 2007; Heid and Streets 2006:4–7).Vertical LinkagesResearch has shown that successful Equator Prize finalists andwinners are often connected across four or five levels (community,regional, national, multinational, international) and alsodemonstrate a system of co-management across the differentlevels, with vertically integrated responsibilities for programmanagement. If the number of levels a program extends acrossis truncated, the likelihood of success is diminished (Berkesand Adhikari 2006:687,688).The Shompole Community Trust, a winner of the 2006 EquatorPrize, belongs to the indigenous Maasai people in Kenya. It hasbeen successful in part because it was able to significantlyincrease community funds by entering into a partnership with aprivate investor who brought in start-up capital, internationalhotel standards, and marketing and management skills toestablish a luxury eco-lodge. The Shompole Lodge works inclose cooperation with the Maasai community, offering localemployment and training opportunities. Hotel visitors generatea monthly average income of US$2,000–5,000 that thecommunity invests in social development activities and biodiversityconservation. At the same time, the lodge operationsbenefit from the Maasai’s traditional expertise in managingtheir ancestral land and wildlife, ensuring a steady flow ofecotourists. Shompole’s ability to partner from the communitylevel with a corporate entity that works at the national level, andto use this linkage to attract an international clientele andnational and international media attention, has been a significantdriver of the Trust’s success (UNDP 2002, 2007).LeadershipEffective leaders and leadership teams are integral to bridginglevels and to building and maintaining partnerships. TheEquator Initiative has worked closely with representatives ofprize finalist and winning communities and has found thatthese leaders consistently demonstrate an ability to operate indifferent contexts and across different horizontal and verticallevels. They tend to think systematically about the design oftheir enterprises, and they catalyze innovative thinking, facilitatecommunications, and initiate organizational learning(Timmer 2004:4).Honey Care Africa, an Equator Prize 2002 finalist, illustratesthe importance of effective leadership in sustaining successfulenterprises. Honey Care was established in 2000 as a socialventure to promote local economic development throughcommunity-based beekeeping across East Africa. Since then, ithas helped more than 9,000 rural beekeepers (over 40 percentof whom are women) earn a supplementary income ofUS$180–250 per year—often the difference between livingabove or below the poverty line.Farouk Jiwa and his co-founders use a holistic strategy fordevelopment: in addition to providing beehives to rural farmersand guaranteeing to purchase the honey that is produced, theyhave also established tree planting and tree nursery programs,using the pollinating habits of the bees to improve local ecosystems.In addition, Honey Care’s leaders have created strongnetworks, partnering with NGOs and donors to support trainingin sustainable beekeeping and long-term relationships withproduct retailers abroad. The enterprise’s leaders were alsowilling to take calculated risks, introducing the latest beekeep-Continues on page 6057