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• Managing evaluation and selection processes for partnership proposals
• Coordinating negotiation and contract signing
• Ensuring regulatory compliance, including the enforcement of land rights
• Providing funding with assistance of larger for-profit companies
• Linking private partners to local public institutions and services
• Providing technical and managerial assistance
• Monitoring and evaluating the partnership at both the national and local government levels
For private businesses, the roles include:
• Developing business plans with thorough financial and market analysis
• Contributing funding or in-kind resources as agreed
• Leading implementation of partnership activities and delivering results
• Providing professional management
• Securing markets for end products and procuring raw materials from farmers
through contract farming agreements
• Providing technical assistance and business management training for FOs
• Disseminating inputs and technology
• Linking farmers to business development services (BDSs) such as financing and
third-party certification
• Supporting the monitoring of partnership activities
Companies and NGOs have discovered several reasons to partner:
• Creating business value and environmental benefits. A business-NGO partnership can result in measurable business and environmental benefits such as
reduced costs, reduced risk, new market development, and enhanced brand value
along with reduced environmental impacts in the company’s product line, operations, or supply chain.
• Raising the bar on environmental performance. Innovations arising from partnerships can create competitive advantage for a business as well as establish a new
standard of environmental excellence for others to build on.
• Leveraging skills and perspectives not available in the organization. Partnering
with an NGO can help a company address issues that it may not have the expertise, skills, or resources to manage on its own. NGOs also provide a valuable
outside perspective. For the NGO, a partnership can provide a testing ground for
the effectiveness of its approach to an issue.
• Building respect and credibility. When a partnership between a trusted NGO and
a well-known company delivers tangible results, it improves the image and credibility of both organizations.
• Providing independent validation. NGO participation can provide independent
“third-party” validation of a company’s claim of environmental and social benefits from a project.
• Helping achieve a long-term vision. While most leading companies and organizations have long-term goals and visions, they often are preoccupied with shortterm priorities in their day-to-day operations. A partnership project designed to
7 Innovation and the Quest to Feed the World
• Managing evaluation and selection processes for partnership proposals
• Coordinating negotiation and contract signing
• Ensuring regulatory compliance, including the enforcement of land rights
• Providing funding with assistance of larger for-profit companies
• Linking private partners to local public institutions and services
• Providing technical and managerial assistance
• Monitoring and evaluating the partnership at both the national and local government levels
For private businesses, the roles include:
• Developing business plans with thorough financial and market analysis
• Contributing funding or in-kind resources as agreed
• Leading implementation of partnership activities and delivering results
• Providing professional management
• Securing markets for end products and procuring raw materials from farmers
through contract farming agreements
• Providing technical assistance and business management training for FOs
• Disseminating inputs and technology
• Linking farmers to business development services (BDSs) such as financing and
third-party certification
• Supporting the monitoring of partnership activities
Companies and NGOs have discovered several reasons to partner:
• Creating business value and environmental benefits. A business-NGO partnership can result in measurable business and environmental benefits such as
reduced costs, reduced risk, new market development, and enhanced brand value
along with reduced environmental impacts in the company’s product line, operations, or supply chain.
• Raising the bar on environmental performance. Innovations arising from partnerships can create competitive advantage for a business as well as establish a new
standard of environmental excellence for others to build on.
• Leveraging skills and perspectives not available in the organization. Partnering
with an NGO can help a company address issues that it may not have the expertise, skills, or resources to manage on its own. NGOs also provide a valuable
outside perspective. For the NGO, a partnership can provide a testing ground for
the effectiveness of its approach to an issue.
• Building respect and credibility. When a partnership between a trusted NGO and
a well-known company delivers tangible results, it improves the image and credibility of both organizations.
• Providing independent validation. NGO participation can provide independent
“third-party” validation of a company’s claim of environmental and social benefits from a project.
• Helping achieve a long-term vision. While most leading companies and organizations have long-term goals and visions, they often are preoccupied with shortterm priorities in their day-to-day operations. A partnership project designed to
7 Innovation and the Quest to Feed the World