Studies of Danish NGOs promoting income generation and pro-poor growth highlight that there is a widespread uncertainty about the role of NGOs in private sector development and to which extent the civil society strategy can allow NGOs to engage with market actors in their efforts to alleviate poverty (CISU 2012; NGO Forum 2012). Also there is a sense that the private sector is the opponent to development rather than a necessary source of income to the poor themselves. This paper seeks to clarify the role of the Danish civil society in the area of income generation and pro-poor growth based on existing policies and studies and particularly on the overall approach of value chain development (VCD) and making Markets work for the Poor (M4P).
The paper starts out by examining the civil society strategy of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs which forms the basis for public NGO financing in Denmark. The assessment of the Danish policy environment includes extensive reference to a paper on the role of civil society in pro-poor growth initiatives prepared by CISU, an umbrella and fund for smaller Danish NGOs. Secondly, a couple of studies on the experiences of Danish NGOs working with the private sector are presented. Starting from a short reference to the role of NGOs in the area of microfinance, the paper then presents the role of the NGO in the development of pro-poor value chains including the planning and analysis process. Interventions are further specified in terms of a number of areas in which NGOs can work with lead firms and small producers and how to organize farmers in value chains. The paper also touches a number of ways that NGOs can ensure that working with the private sector indeed benefits the very poor.
Finally, I would like to stress that this short paper is only a presentation of relevant policies and practices in the area of value chain development as seen from the perspective of the civil society in Denmark. It hopes to provide an overview but is not an analysis or a review as such.
Advice for self-published writers on promoting their work online and offline, from Tom Chivers, director of Penned in the Margins (www.pennedinthemargins.co.uk) and CompletelyNovel (www.completelynovel.com), the readers' and writers' community site.
Presentation held by Pratik & Vinay at the biogas information seminar in Wageningen, 4 October 2009, organized by the Wageningen Environmental Platform and Community Composting Network
Studies of Danish NGOs promoting income generation and pro-poor growth highlight that there is a widespread uncertainty about the role of NGOs in private sector development and to which extent the civil society strategy can allow NGOs to engage with market actors in their efforts to alleviate poverty (CISU 2012; NGO Forum 2012). Also there is a sense that the private sector is the opponent to development rather than a necessary source of income to the poor themselves. This paper seeks to clarify the role of the Danish civil society in the area of income generation and pro-poor growth based on existing policies and studies and particularly on the overall approach of value chain development (VCD) and making Markets work for the Poor (M4P).
The paper starts out by examining the civil society strategy of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs which forms the basis for public NGO financing in Denmark. The assessment of the Danish policy environment includes extensive reference to a paper on the role of civil society in pro-poor growth initiatives prepared by CISU, an umbrella and fund for smaller Danish NGOs. Secondly, a couple of studies on the experiences of Danish NGOs working with the private sector are presented. Starting from a short reference to the role of NGOs in the area of microfinance, the paper then presents the role of the NGO in the development of pro-poor value chains including the planning and analysis process. Interventions are further specified in terms of a number of areas in which NGOs can work with lead firms and small producers and how to organize farmers in value chains. The paper also touches a number of ways that NGOs can ensure that working with the private sector indeed benefits the very poor.
Finally, I would like to stress that this short paper is only a presentation of relevant policies and practices in the area of value chain development as seen from the perspective of the civil society in Denmark. It hopes to provide an overview but is not an analysis or a review as such.
Advice for self-published writers on promoting their work online and offline, from Tom Chivers, director of Penned in the Margins (www.pennedinthemargins.co.uk) and CompletelyNovel (www.completelynovel.com), the readers' and writers' community site.
Presentation held by Pratik & Vinay at the biogas information seminar in Wageningen, 4 October 2009, organized by the Wageningen Environmental Platform and Community Composting Network