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The Business Innovation Facility project portfolio

The Business Innovation Facility project portfolio
LONG PROJECTS
AfriNut, Twin Trading
Pro-poor nut processing, Malawi
AfriNut is an inclusive pro-poor peanut processing business which aims to process Malawian groundnuts for sale on domestic and regional markets.
mKrishi, TCS
Agricultural mobile service, India
The initiative offers personalized and integrated agricultural services in local languages to low-income farmers living in remote areas via their mobile phones.
iSchool
e-learning in rural schools, Zambia
The iSchool project aims to provide internet connectivity and online education resources ('e-learning' ) to Zambian schools on a commercial basis.
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Jita
Rural Sales Programme, Bangladesh
The Jita programme has created a rural sales-force comprising women entrepreneurs or "Aparajitas", who sell consumer goods in their communities.
Oando Plc.
Clean cooking fuels, Nigeria
Providing low income households with affordable and clean cooking fuels through light-weight (LPG) cylinders with an integrated cooking ring.
AACE Foods
Agroprocessing for local food, Nigeria
AACE processes, packages and distributes locally sourced food products such as jams, spreads and spices for commercial and retail customers in Nigeria.
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MicroVentures
Farmer market linkages, Malawi
This project aims to develop market linkages between smallholder farmers and Malawian wholesalers, retailers and food processors. It will initially focus on 850 women.
ERAS Phosholer Pran
Soil testing for farmers, Bangladesh
This project aims to increase the incidence of soil testing at the village level through sales of soil testing kits to smallholders to increase their harvests and produce higher quality crops.
Sylva Foods
Indigenous foods, Zambia
Sylva Foods aims to grow demand for traditional foods and beverages such as dried meat and cassava based on an inclusive local sourcing model.
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Sokoa, Furniture Village
Furniture manufacturing, Nigeria
This ventre will set up a local furniture manufacturing cluster with workshop units, factory spaces, as well as a retail units in one place.
Agora
Fresh produce supply chains, Bangladesh
As it expands, retail outlet chain Agora aims to build the capacity of small and medium fresh produce suppliers and develop robust supply chains.
Tata Tannery
Inclusive value chain, Zambia
Tata processes rawhide sourced from small-scale cattle farmers for export. This venture aims to develop a sustainable supply strategy for leather production.
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Healthstore Foundation
CFW clinics, Zambia
One Family Helath will establish a network of clinics providing healthcare services to the poor in rural, slum and peri-urban areas of Zambia.
MEGA
Micro-hydro electricity, Malawi
MEGA aims to bring locally-generated electricity to Malawian communities through micro-hydro power using water from the Lichenya River flowing down Mt Mulanje.
Universal Industries
High quality cassava flour, Malawi
This project aims develop a business model for the production of high quality cassava flour for use in Universal's own products and for sale as a substitute to starch.
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Malawi Mangoes
Fruit processing facility, Malawi
In this venture, Malawi Mangoes plans to implement the first large scale fruit processing plant in Malawi to convert magoes and bananas into fruit pulp for export.
Saraplast, 3S SHRAMIK
Portable sanitation, India
This inclusive business venture aims to provide access to sustainable sanitation and waste management in urban slum settlements across India.
MCX
Gramin Suvidha Kendra, India
This initiative aims to distribute agricultural inputs, expert advice, warehousing and future pricing information to farmers by partnering with the Postal service.
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Shiblee Hatchery & Farms
Cage culture fish farming, Bangladesh
Shiblee Hatchery & Farms Ltd aims to engage 100 landless families as fish farmers of cage-cultured tilapia, along the banks of the Adhamanki River.
Stanbic Bank
Smallholder farmer finance, Nigeria
A farmer finance and credit scheme that aimsto reach 5,000,000 farmers through after five years.
ACI
Sustainable contract farming, Bangladesh
Implementing a sustainable contract farming model that engages poor landless farmers as maize producers.
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Guinness Nigeria
Building inclusive value chains, Nigeria
Developing a sustainable value chain through partnerships with millers and local producers of sorghum, cassava and maize.
Pabna Meat
Sustainable meat supply, Bangladesh
Pabna Meat are introducing measures which will increase their capacity to process cattle and benefit local women who will be engaged as contractual suppliers.
Copperbelt Energy Corporation
Biofuel production, Zambia
CEC aims to expand its biofuel production by including producers of jatropha, castor and other oil seeds into its supply chain.
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Cropserve Zambia Ltd
Agricultural inputs for small scale farmers, Zambia
Cropserve’s inclusive business project aims to develop an effective and sustainable distribution model to supply the small scale farmer segment with affordable and high quality agro inputs.
Watelife
Water management model, India
Waterlife India aims to develop an end-to-end system for water management, that will increase the distribution of clean and affordable water to low-income areas in India.
Barrick Lumwana Mining
Local Contract Developer Programme, Zambia
The LCD programme aims to increase the amount of goods and services procured from local mining industry suppliers, as well as training and building in-country capacity to enable local SMEs to access wider markets.
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Hindustan Unilever
Low-cost water purifier for poor consumers, India
HUL has developed Pureit, a low-cost water purifier that supplies safe water and has an auto shut off mechanism that blocks the flow of water when it is no longer fit to drink.
Dala Foods Nigeria Ltd
Soluble juice drinks, Nigeria
Dala Foods aims to market an instant, powdered version of a nutritious indigenous drink popular amongst low-income consumers in Nigeria.
Lafarge Cement Zambia
Biofuel production, Zambia
CEC aims to expand its biofuel production by including producers of jatropha, castor and other oil seeds into its supply chain.
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Pran Agro Business Limited
Developing a cassava supply chain, Bangladesh
Pran aims to introduce cassava cultivation to women producing ginger and turmeric in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, to produce glucose and processed foods.
Teragro Commodities Limited
Scaling up fruit processing, Nigeria
Teragro aims to source the fruit required for its fruit juice concentrate processing plant from local smallholders.
Sun International
Biofuel production, Zambia
CEC aims to expand its biofuel production by including producers of jatropha, castor and other oil seeds into its supply chain.
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Sun International
Enhancing smallholder climate resilience, Zambia
Sun International Hotels aims to develop climate-resilience amongst the 400 farmers engaged in its local fruit and vegetable sourcing programme.
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SHORT PROJECTS
ACI Agribusiness
Contract farming workshop, Bangladesh
BIF facilitated a workshop bringing together 20 managers from different parts of the division to brainstorm an integrated approach to working with smallholder farmers...
FSB, Amar Desh
Developing an accounting system, Bangladesh
This project aims to help FSB develop an accounting system to analyse their financial performance over the last three years. The information will facilitate a review of the...
Innovation workshop
Facilitating a workshop with NGOs, Bangladesh
To foster successful partnerships, this project delivered a Private Sector Engagement Strategy Workshop with several prominent NGOs wanting to engage with businesses...
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BSOA
Guidelines for SME capability model, Bangladesh
Based on the outputs of a larger project with Agora retail outlets, this customised package will set our 'how to' guidelines that fit the needs of other retail SMEs and will be developed...
Marks & Spencers
Ethical Model Factory, India & Bangladesh
The Business Innovation Facilty conducted an impact assessment study of the EMF pilot so that the commercial and socio-economic aspects of the project can be better understood...
Partnering for inclusive business
Workshop, Bangladesh
A series of training and networking activities provided staff of companies and NGOs the opportunity to develop their partnering skills.
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Tree Crops Limited
Business plan design
TCL's project aims to develop a business plan for the construction of a new factory that will increase its capacity to process natural extracts for food and cosmetics...
Macademia industry plan
Sector-wide strategy, Malawi
This project supports two macadamia industry experts to develop an industry strategy for the Malawi macadamia sector which will then be disseminated...
Nali chilli sauce
Sales and marketing plan, Malawi
Starting as a family business, it is now in the final stages of building a new factory that will allow them to increase production volumes and meet ISO and HACCP...
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Global Tea Commodities
Clean energy assessment, Malawi
GTC runs three processing sites for tea, coffee and macadamia nuts. This project aims to investigate potential for switching from diesel to renewable energy sources on these sites....
Malawi Mangoes
Cost of living survey, Malawi

Malawi Mangoes is developing and inclusive fruit processing business. This project supported that venture through a cost of living survey in the Salima District.

Malawi Mangoes
Access to finance, Malawi
This project aims to facilitate Malawi Mangoes' access to the funding it needs for these activities by helping it identify potential investors and develop promotional materials...
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BISC
Operation management, Malawi
This project will develop an operational management plan for financial services company BISC, as well as a marketing plan and sales pitch. If successful, this inclusive business will lead to a...
Climate-smart business
Workshop, Malawi & Zambia
This project delivered a workshop for a group of local businesses, as well as a series of one-to-one consultations for Facility-supported companies, to help them understand the impacts of climate change.
Nyama World
Beef supply chain, Malawi
This project will deliver a feasibility study examining the possibility of using the smallholder supply chain, working with local NGOs to improve livestock management and inputs, providing secure...
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EcoBricks, CCODE
Feasibility study, Malawi
The vision behind this project is to set up a viable brick production business, creating safe and permanent employment opportunities and reducing...
Landscape study
Access to finance, Zambia
This project will conduct a study of the different finance options available to businesses who face challenges with the prohibitively stringent lending demands of commercial banks.
Sunline
Business plan review, Zambia
Zambian company aiming to set up a peanut butter processing plant. This project will develop the venture's business plan and map its development impacts.
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Taj Pamodzi Hotels
Local smallholder sourcing strategy, Zambia

This project aims to explore possible procurement strategies that address the challenges of local sourcing in the Zambian hotel sector

CHC Commodities
Inclusive business strategy, Zambia
This project will help CHC understand the size of the local and international markets for starch and glucose and the potential for growth over time...
Inclusive business healthcare
workshop, Bangladesh

The aim of this workshop is to brainstorm ideas for inclusive business health programmes for the rural and urban poor in Bangladesh.

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Better Cotton Initiative
Designing farmer KPIs, India

This project aims to create a list of key farm-level indicators to measure sustainability and livelihood improvements for smallholder cotton farmers.

Moringa Miracles
Business planning, Malawi
Developing a business plan to use innovative farming and processing techniques to commercially farm moringa leaf powder and press moringa oil.
Guinness Nigeria
Designing an inclusive business strategy, Nigeria

This short project provides Guinness with a roadmap and series of guidelines for the development of this supply chains.

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ISCEA
Agribusiness supply chain conference, Bangladesh

This conference focused on building and managing strong supply chains in the agribusiness sector.

Pabna Meat
Pre-pilot support, Bangladesh
This short project supports a larger project will deliver partnership brokering, financial planning and project management assistance.
Mistubishi Corporation
Market research for Furikake, Bangladesh

In this project, the Facility will assist Mitsubishi with market research  to test the likelihood of Furikake food supplement being accepted.

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Access to finance
Landscape study, Bangladesh

This project will identify all the opportunities for funding that inclusive businesses could access in Bangladesh and compile them into a usable map.

World Food Programme
Biscuit sector mapping, Bangladesh
WFP’s current programme in Bangladesh is designed to support the Government in improving the long-term food security and nutrition..
World Vision
Strategy workshop, Bangladesh

This strategy workshop will build on previous Facility activities to help this large NGO develop a strategy for supporting inclusive business in Bangladesh.

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Azure
Developing solar energy operations, India

Azure aims supply utilities, government and commercial customers with its solar energy services by setting up two solar photo-voltaic (SPV) systems in rural India.

Sun Hotels
Local meat sourcing strategy, Zambia
Sun International aim to source meat for their restaurants from local livestock farmers, engaging them in their value chain.
Climate-smart business
Sankalp Forum 2012, India

The Business Innovation Facility ran a 'Climate smart business' workshop at the Sankalp Social Enterprise Forum to inform business about climate finance.

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Milk Mantra
Bulk milk cooler scoping, India

Milk Mantra aims to explore the idea of community-managed bulk milk coolers (BMCs).  These would enable the farming community to gain access to government and private dairy support schemes.

Airtel
Mobile wallet for rural banking, India
Airtel has recently launched its mobile banking service, Airtel Money, for its urban customers and for m-commerce.  Airtel is now keen to explore models for expanding into rural areas.
T
Partnerships for inclusive business
Workshop, Malawi

The project is designed to deliver two workshop events to facilitate partnering for inclusive business amongst NGOs and the private sector.

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Charles Stewart
Rocket Chickens, Malawi

Charles Stewart is a Malawian chicken business that has recently been testing a “rocket furnace” heating system for their chicken brooders, a technology developed by Clioma Consulting.

Kulima Gold
Warehouse Receipts, Malawi
In order to leverage the reach of their Kulima Gold shops for the ACE warehouse receipt system in Malawi, Rabs Processors wish to trial the system with five of their shops.
Rice Milling Company
Feasibility study, Malawi

A feasibility study is being conducted for Rice Milling Company, a Malawian family agro-processing business, to assess the potential and modalities to buy to buy their paddy directly from smallholder farmers.

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GEMS 2
Supporting the League of Contractors, Nigeria

This project aims to help raise standards and practices in the Nigerian construction industry and attract larger projects and improve the standard of living of local artisans employed in the industry.

Guinness Nigeria
Inclusive business strategy, Zambia
This project aims to help Guinness identify the key elements of a strategy for stakeholder partnerships so that core business activities have greater social impact, engineers and local artisans.
Sabeanat
Developing a distribution network, Nigeria

Sabeanat aims to expand its distribution of milk and margarine products across Nigeria, by engaging low income people as micro-distributors.

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Abira
Developing a business framework, Nigeria

This project aims to provide consultancy support for Abira to develop a business framework through which it will carry out its support to agribusinesses.

Onward Paper Mill
Product distribution review, Nigeria
Onward aims to develop a franchised notebook distribution system in which retail branded kiosks will sell notebooks and related products to local communities.
Beekeeping Extension Society
Business model development, Nigeria

This venture aims to develop a sustainable business model for a programme originally set up as a non-profit to help rural beekeepers increase honey yields through training.

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Social Impact Measurement
Workshop, Nigeria

This workshop targeted businesses and social enterprises interested in assessing their social return, highlighted approaches that companies can use to measure social impact.

Folowayio Farms
Identifying partnerships, Nigeria
This project aims to broker partnerships between Folawiyo Farm and experts in business and technical development to build the capacity of rural poultry farmers
Mitimeth
Commercialising water hyacinth, Nigeria

MitiMeth works within riparian and lakeside communities to transform water hyacinth into a valuable consumer product, which can be woven by local artisans into craft goods.

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Makamashi
Converting farm waste to cooking briquettes, Nigeria

This project aims to provide technical support to Mikamashi in its conversion of farm waste into cooking briquettes, as a more environmentally friendly fuel alternative to wood.

Climate-smart agribusiness
Workshop, Zambia
This project delivered a workshop for a group of local businesses, as well as a series of one-to-one consultations for Facility-supported companies, to help them understand the impacts of climate change.
BioCarbon Partners
Charcoal value chain analysis, Zambia

The Facility worked with to BioCarbon conduct a value chain analysis of the charcoal trade in rural areas around Lusaka, and draw up a business plan based on these findings

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ARK
Investment scoping strategy, Zambia

Building on ARK's investments in dysentery control in Zambiato investigate the role of the private sector in improving supply of and demand for essential health commodities

BIF, IAP, IBLF
Partnership workshop, Zambia
This workshop targeted high-level decision makers from companies in Zambia to conduct partnership broker training and a seminar on the business case for partnering.
Livestock Centre of Excellence
Workshop, Zambia

Delivering a business plan for a group of agribusinesses in the beef, dairy, poultry, pork and aquaculture sectors, for setting up a livestock centre of excellence that will train small-scale farmers

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Paradigm Initiative Nigeria (PIN)
Investment scoping strategy, Zambia

Building on ARK's investments in dysentery control in Zambiato investigate the role of the private sector in improving supply of and demand for essential health commodities

Pheks Investment
Business Planning, Malawi
Pheks aims to expand their paper recycling operation, sourcing waste paper from local companies and making egg boxes which it sells to large chicken / egg businesses. 
Small & Medium Enterprise Development Initiative (SMEDI)
Workshop, Malawi

A workshop is to be facilitated for the newly formed Small and Medium Enterprises Development Institute (SMEDI) in order to enhance the understanding of the MSME sector stakeholders on SMEDI’s role in fostering private sector development.

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Aceso Healthcare Partners
Developing medical diagnostic clinical services, Nigeria

This venture aims to develop  alternative models for the deployment of a medical diagnostics clinic that delivers value to its investors and sustainable social benefits to the surrounding community.

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