Across the region, smaller businesses are a key source of employment, growth, and income. Many of these businesses, however, lack the skills necessary to realize this potential and take advantage of newly liberalized markets.
The Sustainable Value Chain (SVC) area aims to improve the performance of smaller businesses by strengthening firm-level skills and sector-level linkages. Specific program offerings include the following:
- Value Chains: Linking Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to large firms by integrating and strengthening value chains to promote income generating activities.
- Business Edge: Providing MSMEs with access to coustomized management training to improve performance and help raise their productivity, profitability and competitiveness.
- SME Toolkit: Facilitating on-line learning and knowledge sharing of business management practices for MSMWs to improve performance & facilitate access to markets and finance.
For more information, download the complete “Sustainable Supplier and Sector Development" brochure (PDF in
English,
Spanish and
Portuguese).
| COUNTRY | PROJECT | DESCRIPTION |
| Bolivia | Wood Sector Supply Chain Improvement Project [pdf] | Broadening access to finance for small businesses in the wood sector by improving their efficiency and financial transparency. |
| Brazil | Bertin Sustainable Supply Chain [pdf] | Supporting beef suppliers to meet a new sustainable development model in the Amazon region. |
| Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua | Strengthening the Value Chain for Sustainable Coffee in Central America and the Southern Mexican Region [pdf] | Strengthening the sustainable coffee supply chain and increasing international market access for over 8,000 producers. |
| Haiti | Business Edge [pdf] | A branded training program for SME managers. All trainings are adapted to meet local market needs and are given by licensed local training partners and certified trainers. |
| Mexico & Nicaragua | Carbon Coffee [pdf] | Developing and testing a carbon monitoring methodology for coffee farms that can be attached to existing certification schemes. |
| Nicaragua | Strengthening the Wood Value Chain [pdf] | Strengthening the sustainable wood supply chain and increasing international market access for local timber producers and manufacturers. |
| Uruguay | Small Milk Producers Supplier Development – CONAPROLE [pdf] | Increasing the income for small milk producers in the Conaprole supply chain by improving milk productivity and quality. |
| Regional | SME Toolkit [pdf] | A web based tool which offers MSMEs free access to on-line learning of best business management practices; providing courses, business forms, news items and how-to articles
(LAC regional site www.spanish.smetoolkit.org). |
