To meet the ambitions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the private sector will need to play a greater role in supporting development objectives. Inclusive businesses (IB) offer the opportunity to address development challenges and leave no one behind. 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.”[1]

Inclusive business provide triple wins. They provide market opportunities to enterprises; they provide above market-rate income opportunities and access to affordable essential goods and services for low income and marginalised groups; and they help governments deliver affordable goods and services and lift people out of poverty at scale.

These workshops will be taken forward within the framework of the recently launched “Regional Inclusive Business Models in Agriculture and Food Systems” initiative supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and have been designed in collaboration with the activity partner, Invest India.

The aim of the workshops is twofold, creating awareness about Inclusive Business policy, models and what Inclusive Business is, as well as offering a platform for consultation and discussion on the Inclusive Business ecosystem in India and how the private sector can contribute to India’s central government goal to double the real incomes of farmers between 2016-2022.  

Related documents: 

Roundtable programme 

Roundtable background

[1] As defined by the Inclusive Business Framework of the G20 and referenced in the Guidelines for the Promotion of Inclusive Business in ASEAN.