Enterprise Development

The Enterprise Development Community of Practice develops and promotes pro-poor, market-based strategies to bring about sustainable poverty eradication. Local markets are investigated for opportunities to strengthen value chains, foster productive livelihoods, and ultimately improve a community’s quality of life. For more information on Enterprise Development COP, historical initiatives and published resources, visit the SEEP Network Website.

For additional web and online learning resources visit our Delicious Page HERE

2011 Initiatives

v  The Value Initiative

• Urban Value Chain Development
• Business Planning for Sustainability and Scale-up

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The Value Initiative

Launched in 2007, the SEEP Network’s Value Initiative aims to advance the knowledge and practice of urban value chain development to stimulate pro-poor economic growth and contribute to urban poverty reduction. The Value Initiative has a special focus on vulnerable populations, which include migrant workers, youth in conflict areas, and HIV & AIDS affected.

To address these aims, the Value Initiative is composed of two core projects:

PLP: Urban Value Chain Development (UVCD) 

Although value chain development represents an innovative opportunity to address poverty, best practices have yet to be comprehensively documented and disseminated in an urban setting. Accordingly, the Value Initiative provides direct supports to four demonstration programs that are implemented by consortia of practitioners with 3-year grants totaling $500,000 to $700,000 each to advance and build capacity in urban value chain development. The four partner consortia include the following:

 For more information on the program and its partners, please click here.

PLP: Business Planning for Sustainability and Scale-Up (BPSS)

A key challenge in enterprise development is achieving sustainability on a large scale and attracting significant long-term investment for enterprise development work. In response, the Value Initiative has partnered with five leading practitioners in value chain development, social enterprise and fair trade around the world to develop innovative, “next generation” models for sustainable, larger-scale enterprise development.

For more information on the program and its partners, please click here.

Global Enterprise Development Network (GEDN)

Although microenterprise development practitioners operate around the world, knowledge-sharing and collaboration remains underdeveloped. GEDN addresses these needs through the development of a global network of enterprise development practitioners, expansion of SEEP membership roster of leading practitioners in enterprise development, and support for emerging enterprise development networks, associations, and learning hubs based in developing countries.

Health and Microenterprise Development Working Group

A working group committed to linking Microenterprise Development Practitioners, Public Health Professionals and Policy Makers to address the challenge of health access by introducing strategies for cross sector partnership and integrated programming for microenterprise development and economic strengthening amongst vulnerable populations including HIV & AIDS-affected communities.

Market Facilitation Initiative Working Group

Partnering with the Livelihoods Network, the SEEP Network has established the Market Facilitation Initiative (MaFI) to assist practitioners working in Pro-Poor Market Development to move from market assessments and program design to implementation by advancing practical principles, techniques, and tools.

Currently, there is a wide body of resources on how to conduct market research and program design for market development programs; however, there is far less available on the “how” in terms of program implementation.  MaFI members have created three Working Groups--Subsidies, Linkages (horizontal, vertical), and Capacity Building--to focus their efforts on establishing good practices for market facilitation.

For more information on MaFI’s mission and learning initiatives, please click here.