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Entrepreneurship for a
Green Economy
Veer Singh
Rajput is a 43 year old entrepreneur from Ganeshgarh, Jhansi who used
his experience of working with technical institutes and organic farming
centre to set up a vermi-compost production centre in his village.
Within a few years, most people in the village started buying their
compost from him and he successfully enabled the entire village to farm
organically. In the local market he is known for the quality of his
product, and has the Indian Railways and Forest Department among his
clientele. He has become a role model for aspiring entrepreneurs, while
demonstrating that profits can be made by caring for nature. Micro enterprises such as Veer Singh’s are a pathway to address multiple Sustainable Development Goals through one initiative. His work contributes to fulfillment of goals on sustainable production (SDG 12), ensuring livelihood generation and economic growth (SDG 8), reducing poverty (SDG 1), ensuring better management of natural resources (SDG 14, 15) and building resilience (SDG 13). Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises make up more than 90 per cent of all businesses globally, contributing to more than half of all employment and more than a third of gross domestic product. (Fida, 2008).1 It is also known that clusters of small businesses build a more diverse economic model in comparison to big businesses; an aspect that is critical to building resilience in society and the environment. Being decentralised and local in nature, there is greater inter-dependence and ownership of natural resources; as communities are dependent on the resources for their sustenance. Further, small businesses also have the ability to quickly adopt innovations and replicate them at scale. All of the above, making them a one-stop shop for not only localising the sustainable development goals (generally found to an esoteric concept to be dealt by government and civil society) but for creating far reaching and enduring impact. We need to therefore, bring the once pervasive concept of decentralised entrepreneurship driven value-creation to the forefront again; bringing life back into the “missing middle” of entrepreneurs and their immediate business networks. It is time to nurture not just few Veer Singhs but many a million more. Micro-enterprises are a hugely diverse group, with a wide range of strengths and constraints. Many are in business due to necessity, for want of other viable income alternatives. Others seek opportunity and dream of changing their lives. Hence, in order to nurture entrepreneurship at scale, there is need for systemic change, driven by a process of transformation that is planned and managed in a participatory manner. Collective will, with collaborative action is required to first remove barriers that stifle the emergence of micro-enterprises and second, put them on an accelerated growth trajectory that enables entrepreneurs to turn into impact creators – leading the transition into fair, green and resilient economies. A cookie-cutter, scheme driven, top-down approach in which one solution is meant to fit all, will not work. An essential first step in a process of systems innovation is to understand the inter-connectedness between problems. In this instance, we need to ask ourselves three key questions:
Second,
among the major challenges that confront us, is how the appar In focusing on entrepreneurship, such platforms need to prioritise, in a concerted manner, the following objectives: a) Liberate entrepreneurial energies through social innovation We need to take into account the social and structural constraints that currently make it much more difficult for the disadvantaged to see and take advantage of emerging opportunities and available resources. It specifically needs to look at, for example, at how mobility challenges, patriarchal systems, etc. inhibit women from setting up entrepreneurial ventures. Every entrepreneur in rural India has a story. Each is a potential innovator and agent for mobilising social change. We need to, therefore, co-create solutions within the community - empowering entrepreneurs with tools to create their own futures with their own hands. b) Strengthen the entrepreneur through a robust support system Once the systemic issues that impede entry into entrepreneurship are resolved, we need to provide support services that enable enterprises to run as viable, profit-making and expanding ventures. The spectacular improvements that have occurred in the lives of the privileged few in Indian society are, in large measure, due to an explosion in access to information and knowledge. Our work should aim to, therefore, effectively improve access to knowledge on various aspects of running a successful business and facilitates enhanced exchange of information between stakeholders in local enterprise eco-systems. Collaborative action is required at two levels – the meso-level with one set of actors providing services that enable ‘efficient’ and ‘effective’ operations; and the macro-level with agencies who provide easier access to capital and influence the policy and regulatory environment. c) Accelerate green enterprise solutions through a conducive policy environment Investments need to reach local economies where resources are scarcest and where there are big risks to the SDGs not being achieved. Particularly relevant is the need to systematically support formal and informal enterprises engaged in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, renewable energy, water and sanitation, waste management and other sustainable production and service sectors. And most importantly, there needs to be additional reforms and partnership initiatives to create enabling conditions for green micro enterprises in the form of new policies that provide incentives to large businesses to make their value chains greener and more inclusive by establishing marketing avenues for the products and services of local enterprises. Partnering with la Caixa Banking Foundation of Spain, in the Work 4 Progress initiative, Development Alternatives has put together an “innovation platform” to create systemic solutions that unleash entrepreneurship. With an eye on viral replication, our team is working with local stakeholders and development partners to put the following “triggers” in place:
Development Alternatives aims to demonstrate impact at scale, through the establishment of approximately 30,000 new micro-enterprises or expanded businesses each year from 2022 onwards. We have set up a special purpose vehicle, the Indian Micro Enterprises Development Foundation to accelerate the provision of enterprise and cluster development services in the most underdeveloped areas of India. In 2027, we anticipate that over 300,000 families will experience the benefits of a secure livelihood from enterprises that have received support from IMEDF and partners in the Work 4 Progress initiative. Lastly, we believe that the global goal of livelihood security for all will not be achieved by one platform alone but through the emergence of similar platforms in various geographies across the world. ■
Endnote
Kanika Verma
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conflicting objectives of economic viability (essential to
sustainability) and social inclusion (essential for benefits to reach
the marginalised segments, particularly women) can both be met. There
is need for collaborative, dynamic platforms that bring diverse
stakeholders together to pursue shared goals. One such example of a
platform is The Smart Power for Rural Development (SPRD) programme
funded by The Rockefeller Foundation. Successfully running in its 5th
year, the programme takes a systemic view of energy access in rural
India, particularly for productive use. It does so through recognition
of the transformative role, electricity and entrepreneurship, when
brought together, play in local value addition, inclusive economic
growth and employment. The programme has led to greater incomes through
micro enterprises, the creation of new jobs, new enterprises run by
women, pure water being made available; in addition to thousands of
homes being lit up through clean power.