NextBillion.net - Development Through Enterprise - Global

MicroCredit Enterprises

Lauren Abendschein — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 11:42:08 -0500

Managing Organization: MicroCredit Enterprises

Activity URL:

http://www.mcenterprises.org/

Activity Description: MicroCredit Enterprises is committed to reducing poverty by mobilizing private investment capital to finance micro-businesses of poor families throughout the developing world. MicroCredit Enterprises gears its entrepreneurial results to produce jobs, sustain micro-businesses and improve human lives.

MicroCredit Enterprises leverages the collateral assets of individuals and institutions to borrow debt capital in the United States which is channeled through overseas, locally-run, non-governmental microfinance organizations in order to make thousands of tiny business loans to local entrepreneurs. MicroCredit Enterprises' reverses the cycle of poverty in economically distressed countries using the tools of the marketplace to provide self-help opportunities to millions of impoverished women and their families.

Triple Jump

Ana Escalante — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:08:52 -0400

Managing Organization: Triple Jump

Activity URL:

http://www.triplejump.eu/index.asp

Activity Description: Triple Jump aims to provide financial services for microfinance institutions in all phases of their development. Triple Jump Fund Management, a leading microfinance fund manager, provides funding solutions, while Triple Jump Advisory Services, an independent foundation, provides consulting services and technical assistance.

Mission

Triple Jump's mission is to contribute to the sustainable development of emerging market economies by facilitating investment in micro and small enterprises.

Domini Social Investments

Ana Escalante — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 16:18:55 -0400

Managing Organization: Domini Social Investments

Activity URL:

http://www.domini.com/index.htm

Activity Description: Domini is an investment firm specializing exclusively in socially responsible investing. They manage $1.8 billion for individual and institutional investors who wish to integrate social and environmental standards into their investment decisions.

Each of Domini’s stock funds is actively managed according to an innovative strategy that combines the strengths of Domini Social Investments and Wellington Management.

CGAP

Ana Escalante — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:10:08 -0400

Managing Organization: CGAP

Activity URL:

http://www.cgap.org

Activity Description: CGAP's goal is a world in which poor people are considered legitimate clients of a countries' financial system--a world where all poor people have permanent access to affordable and client responsive financial services, that are delivered by many complementary institutions, such as NGOs, banks, and cooperatives, in many different ways. Finance for the poor will include savings, cash transfers, insurance, and loans, each tailored to the different needs of poor people. Microfinance will become an integral part of a competitive and diverse financial system that fosters the growth of all segments of society, and will no longer be a marginal or niche sector.

Population Services International - Social Marketing

Lauren Abendschein — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 11:06:38 -0500

Managing Organization: Population Services International

Activity URL:

http://www.psi.org/

Activity Description:

Population Services International (PSI) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C. that harnesses the vitality of the private sector to address the health problems of low-income and vulnerable populations in more than 60 developing countries. PSI achieves its mission principally through social marketing of family planning and health products and services, and behavior change communications.

The Nutrition Improvement Program

Seema Patel — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:39:39 -0500

Managing Organization: DSM

Activity URL:

http://www.dsm.com/en_US/html/dnp/hnh_mip.htm

Activity Description: DSM is a German company that creates and innovates products and services that promote a healthier, more sustainable, enjoyable, and efficient way of working and living. DSM's Nutrition Improvement Program, which focuses on the fortification of foods with vitamins and minerals in order to prevent disease and mortality due to malnutrition, is DSM's first initiative in the context of the 'Base of the Pyramid'. This is a new development in the field of sustainability to which the company will increasingly be paying attention. The 'Base of the Pyramid' concept involves the development and implementation of new, innovative business models in developing countries in order to profitably serve the needs of the four billion people living on at most a few dollars per day.

Berni Labs - Distributing "Bug Balancer" Pest repellant for farmers

Seema Patel — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 14:34:30 -0400

Managing Organization: Berni Labs

Activity URL:

http://www.nextbillion.net/files/rv19-bernilabs.pdf

Activity Description:

Several years ago in Los Mochis, Mexico, an early morning fire in an agrochemical warehouse released massive amounts of toxic fumes into the environment, causing serious health problems for the local population. This was the first in a series of ecological disasters that convinced Jorge Berni, a longtime resident of the agriculture-dependent community, that farmers needed a safer solution for crop control than the heavily toxic pesticides upon which they had relied.

Berni combined his training in chemical engineering with his twenty years of experience as an organic farmer to produce Bug Balancer, a chemical solution that serves to repel harmful pests that destroy farmers’ crops while attracting beneficial insects that are the natural predators of those pests. Local farmers quickly became interested in this solution when they began noticing that while their crops were being ravaged by insects, Jorge’s remained relatively unaffected. Word quickly spread of the benefits of this new, safe formula, and Jorge created Berni Labs in 1994 to increase distribution of the increasingly popular product.

Bug Balancer is an ideal solution for Mexico’s numerous small farmers. The formula is cost effective, as its price is ten times lower than some of the leading pesticides and it eliminates the need for expensive spraying equipment, reducing the cost of application by 20 percent. Bug Balancer is also safe for the environment and for the health of agricultural workers who have been forced to utilize traditional pesticides for a lack of competition. The natural formula includes a number of herbal extracts such as garlic, and it can even be applied with workers still in the field.

Today, Berni Labs has continued to achieve new levels of success as it taps into a growing demand for organic crop cultivation in Mexico. The company’s small team of 14 had its most lucrative year in 2005, generating nearly $1 million in sales by working with 17 distributors across the country. Berni Labs has also begun to expand its operations internationally, winning an enterprise competition with Mexico’s Ministry of Economics to receive government support for research and expansion into the Canadian market.

As Berni Labs continues to establish Bug Balancer as a safe and affordable alternative to pesticides, the company has begun research and field testing on other products to be released in coming years. This includes a formula for shrimp farmers to increase their yields that is based on Bug Balancer technology as well as a project to meet the needs of small ranchers that will inexpensively produce large amounts of livestock feed in a heavily condensed space.

The Full Belly Project

Seema Patel — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 17:54:28 -0400

Managing Organization: The Full Belly Project

Activity URL:

http://www.fullbellyproject.org

Activity Description:

The Full Belly Project, spearheaded by Jock Brondis, an ex-Peace Corps volunteer and light and sounds engineer, is a non-profit organization that designs and delivers simple agricultural machines to people in developing countries around the world. This project teaches people how to build hand-operated machines with common materials.

The peanut industry is not only huge in the Philippines but the reach goes as far as the different corners of the hemisphere, to almost 100 countries, feeding 500 million people and making it a great source of protein. It is also a cash crop which provides livelihood for poor people of developing countries.

But for such a big industry, the agricultural technology of peanuts is still trailing behind. People are still shelling peanuts by hand, painfully one by one. In Africa, most of those who do the work are women. (To save on fuel, peanuts are left dried under the sun which makes their shell hard to open.)

Jock Brandis, on his way to visit a friend in Mali, saw the heart of the problem and decided to use his technical skills to provide an agricultural solution. Thus the Universal Nut Sheller was born.

Invented by Brandis, the nut sheller can work 40 times faster than by hand. This coincided with the establishment of The Full Belly project spearheaded by Brondis which aims to “to relieve hunger through appropriate agricultural technology.” The goal of the organization is to distribute these machines around the world and make peanut a number one source of protein of third world countries. Brandis, out of his generous heart, didn´t patent his invention because he believes that it is “a gift to those in need.”

Not only can peanut provide livelihood but it contains highly nutritious properties which could solve worldwide hunger and eventually poverty-this time on a full stomach.

The machine is made of concrete and simple metal parts which only cost 50 dollars to make. It can shell “50 kilograms of peanuts per hour, and one machine can serve the needs of a village of 2,000. Its life expectancy is 25 years.” The Full Belly Project is now working in Uganda, Senegal, Zambia and Ghana. Filipino MIT graduate and Centromigrante head Illac Diaz has also collaborated with Full Belly Project with the help of a local cement company to teach locals how to build the machines.

MIT OpenCourseWare

Ethan Arpi — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 11:07:19 -0400

Managing Organization: MIT

Activity URL:

http://www.ocw.mit.edu

Activity Description:

MIT OpeCourseWare provides educators, students, and self-learners worldwide with access to MIT educational materials that many be used copied, and modified for non-commercial purposes. Among the available materials are lectures notes, syllabi, and course notes.

Fundacion Mundial de la Mujer - Bucaramanga

Ethan Arpi — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 11:22:38 -0400

Managing Organization: http://www.fmmb.org/sp/inicio/default.htm

Activity URL:

http://www.fmmb.org/sp/inicio/default.htm

Activity Description:

Fundacion Mundial de la Mujer - Bucaramanga is a microfinance institution based out of Colombia that provides banking services to low income women who are also entrepreneurs. In 2006, the organization won the Inter-American Development Bank's prize for excellence in microfinance for non-regulated institutions.