Private Sector Development
Private sector development is integral to Agriteam’s approach to poverty reduction. We have worked at the policy, or macro level, with national governments, to develop and implement National SME Development Plans; at the meso level with business support organizations and service providers to improve the capacity of support organizations and service providers to serve their SME clients; and at the micro level assisting individual micro and small businesses.
A key element in the Agriteam PSD toolkit is the use of value chain analysis to identify key interventions within the pro-poor supply chains. For example, in Private Enterprise Accelerated Resource Linkages, Phase II (Pearl2), we applied value chain analysis—using participatory approaches—to eight sectors of the Philippine economy. The results of the analysis provided input to the development and implementation of the strategic sector development plans of 19 business support organizations. This resulted in the strengthening of the exporting capacity of the organization’s member SMEs.
We also use a business case approach to encourage the adoption of gender and environment initiatives by SME owners/managers. This involves providing clear evidence to the owner/manager that using gender-fair business practices and appropriately designed environmental practices benefits the company’s bottom line. To encourage better environmental practices, particularly with small-scale manufacturers, we have developed and used an environmental benefits database to record and provide feedback to owners/managers on bottom-line benefits.