Who are we?
SNV is a Dutch social enterprise with 40 years on the ground experience in Latin America, dedicated to eliminating poverty and inequality in emerging markets across the globe. At SNV, it is not enough to "think different". We believe that innovation is the ability to understand how to transform ideas into actions, and catalyse actions into sustainable and scalable solutions. We provide a unique blend of integrated services and solutions that are tailor-made to the specific needs of each of our clients, utilising the four main ‘pillars’ of work upon which our activities are based, namely Consulting, Knowledge Institute, Social Investment and Programmes.
Useful Links: About SNV, SNV Worldwide
How do we work?
SNV helps public and private organisations to succeed and scale by unlocking and harnessing their true potential for transformative social change. SNV adds value through a powerful blend of strategic and thematic solutions. We do this through a range of Strategic Offerings – covering Organisational Effectiveness, Scalability and Impact Assessment, Innovative Solutions, Change Management, as well as Stakeholder and Shareholder Management – and Core Practices – which include Market-Based Solutions, Public Sector Innovation, Blended Capital Solutions, and Education for Employment.
Useful Links: How We Work
Where do we work?
Globally, SNV has presence in 40 developing countries counting on the expertise of more than 1,500 professionals. In Latin America, SNV has more than four decades of on-the-ground experience. We have offices in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Peru, Honduras, and Nicaragua, while we also carry out activities in Guatemala and Panama.
Useful Links: Where We Work
Who are our partners?
From early 2006, SNV and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development have engaged in a strategic partnership to contribute to sustainable poverty reduction, through job creation and the delivery of products and services through the involvement of the private sector in Inclusive Business activities. In addition, SNV has strategic alliances with the Inter-American Development Bank through its Multilateral Investment Fund; The Monitor Institute; INCAE Business School; the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University; the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise at the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University; Pacific University, Peru; University of Loja, Ecuador; and Aalborg University, Denmark.
Useful Links: Inclusive Business, Inclusive Business blog
Who are our clients?
We work with a range of leading private businesses, public governmental authorities (at national, regional and local levels), and social sector clients from around Latin America and beyond.
Useful Links: Our Clients
Who are our beneficiaries?
SNV works with and supports a range of beneficiary groups belonging to the Base of the Pyramid (BoP) – see definition below. These include small producers’ associations, individual producers, consumers and consumer groups, micro- and small-enterprises providing services or products to businesses, across the agribusiness, biofuels, tourism and forestry sectors. We also facilitate access to vocational training and formal recognition of skills on the labour market for young people, adults, women and men with little or no formal education.
Useful Links: Real Stories
What is the BoP?
The Base of the Pyramid is the largest, poorest socio-economic population group in society with a per capita income of less than USD 2 per day. In Latin America there are 360 million people living in this category. SNV recognises the low-income segment’s massive potential, as producers, service providers and consumers – see question on beneficiaries, above. SNV boasts extensive experience of connecting leading companies with the Base of the Pyramid and developing their business strategies – with 70 thriving Inclusive Businesses in Latin America testament to the model’s success.
Useful Links: Inclusive Business
What sectors do we work in?
SNV designs and implements projects, develops know-how, and adds value to clients in the following sectors: Agribusiness, tourism, forestry, renewable energy (including biofuels), low-cost housing, consumer products, vocational education, and financial services.
Useful Links: Sectors
What initiatives do we champion?
SNV’s strategic choices reflect the priority we give to the topics of access to markets, public policy, access to finance, and alliances between key stakeholders. The link-ups between public and private actors, as well as small producers and private enterprises, are crucial in promoting the development of tourism, biofuels, forestry and agribusiness in the countries where we operate. We also contribute to the creation of an appropriate legal framework for the promotion of Inclusive Business initiatives in the abovementioned sectors. In the education sector, Inclusive Business projects ensure that small producers involved are part of vocational education programmes. In addition, to match supply with demand in the sectors in which we work, SNV offers technical vocational training to provide the necessary training and skills to access the formal labour market.
Useful Links: Sectors, Inclusive Business, Inclusive Public Policy
What are our products?
SNV offers a complete package of tools and services for planning, measuring and evaluating the results and impact of social investment. Products include development interventions, public programmes, Inclusive Business and Inclusive Public Policy methodologies. In addition, in order to ensure that our clients and partners efficiently and effectively plan and measure the results of their work, we have developed a set of services and tools within an integrated approach to results-focused planning and measurement.
Useful Links: Inclusive Business, Inclusive Public Policy, Measuring Results, Measuring Impact
What is an Inclusive Business?
Inclusive Business is an entrepreneurial initiative which contributes towards poverty reduction by including low-income communities within the value chain – as consumers, providers, or distributors – while not losing sight of the ultimate goal of business: generating profit.
Useful Links: Inclusive Business, Inclusive Business blog
What is Inclusive Public Policy?
Inclusive Public Policy is an SNV product designed to help public and private sector actors to focus on and coordinate sector-specific and territorial objectives for poverty reduction and social inclusion. Establishing a framework of laws and policies creates an enabling environment for increased access to quality basic services and increased production, income, and employment opportunities for the low-income sector.
Useful Links: Inclusive Public Policy
How do we strengthen the capacities of the low-income sector?
SNV advances innovative solutions focused on lasting, transformative social change that empowers stakeholders to play a sustained leadership role in decisions affecting their livelihoods. In addition, we develop vocational and technical training initiatives to increase job opportunities for the low-income sector. Our approach – through technical assistance – involves identifying opportunities for job creation, improved income and access to basic services for the low-income segments excluded from economic processes, building capacity alongside local players committed to achieving this impact, and undertaking advocacy activities at local, national and international levels. Enhancing the access to and quality of vocational education programmes is an additional critical area of activity, mitigating underemployment and unemployment across Latin America.
Useful Links: Case Studies
How do we support the growth of business, while achieving social impact?
Working with the private sector through the Inclusive Business initiative, SNV develops company strategies to expand their networks of local producers, while meeting the needs of the vast number of small producers and Base of the Pyramid (BoP) consumers. Helping to cut costs, organise supply chains, and helping develop new products - while ensuring a stable and higher quality supply of raw materials for their products and produce, and facilitating access to new, untapped markets - all ensure the continued success of the Inclusive Business model.
Useful Links: Measuring Impact, Sectors
How does SNV make a difference?
SNV engages the private sector in directly sourcing products and services from low-income communities. Furthermore, we provide the poor with the appropriate skills, knowledge and financial resources to take advantage of economic opportunities and entrepreneurial initiatives. Our policy development interventions also make use of legislative instruments aimed at promoting a favourable climate for economic inclusion, as both a sound business practice and a poverty reduction strategy. More than 70 Inclusive Businesses across the region, together benefiting more than 500,000 low-income families, is testament to the model’s continued success.
Useful Links: Inclusive Business, Inclusive Public Policy, Sectors
What do the media say about us?
In the printed press, SNV can boast column inches in a variety of national and local newspapers in each of the Latin American countries where we work. We have also appeared in prestigious regional magazines such as America Economía, Estrategia y Negocios, Summa, In (LAN Chile), and Revista Ozono – which featured the various SNV Inclusive Business initiatives, as well as our vocational and technical training programmes. We have also featured in various news stories circulated on the web, including a special report on Inclusive Business and a focus on SNV in Central America by the Development Executive Group website.
SNV has also been featured in broadcast media over the past year, including CNN, various national TV and radio stations, as well as special productions such as the five-part BBC documentary series ‘The Other America’. In Peru, our activities in sustainable tourism have featured on the well-known ‘Haciendo Peru’ (‘Making Peru’), while in Ecuador our Inclusive Business projects were featured on the popular current affairs programme ‘Bien informado en Ecuador’ (‘Well informed in Ecuador’).
Useful Links: SNV in the Media
How can I get in touch?
If you would like to arrange to speak with one of our expert advisors, or find out more about SNV and our work, please write to us at latinamerica@snvworld.org
You can also sign up for our quarterly newsletter by emailing us at newsletter@snvworld.org or follow us on twitter.com/SNV_LA where we bring you the latest news, views and events from around the Latin American region.