📅 23 – 24 May 2024
Bangkok, Thailand
To meet the commitments of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the private sector will need to play a greater role. Inclusive businesses are companies that: “provide goods, services, and livelihoods on a commercially viable basis, either at scale or scalable, to people living at the base of the economic pyramid making them part of the value chain of companies’ core business as suppliers, distributors, retailers, or customers.”
There are valuable models of inclusive business – including many agribusinesses – across Asia and the Pacific that are commercially viable and have social impact at scale. Inclusive business models are effectively supporting smallholder farmers, providing them with technical assistance, and access to finance, and facilitating integration into regional and global value chains. Inclusive businesses are harnessing technologies and business innovations to improve productivity and create entrepreneurship opportunities.
Access to finance remains an issue for many inclusive businesses seeking to expand their operations or deepen their impact. Business faces multiple challenges including the cost of capital and the scarce availability of affordable finance beyond the early stage. Investment readiness is also an issue, with companies facing difficulties in measuring and demonstrating impact.
The Impact Harvest Forum will identify opportunities to invest in and finance inclusive business models and facilitate their scaling up.
Objectives
- To explore opportunities for investing in inclusive businesses in agriculture and food systems.
- To identify concrete actions to promote and facilitate investments in inclusive businesses.
- To inspire more inclusive business models through masterclasses and knowledge sharing.
- To facilitate networking and explore partnerships among investors, government agencies, development partners, and firms.
- To showcase inclusive business models in agriculture and food systems.