ISEA, gaining ground on how Financial Institutions could become Catalysts for WEE in AVCs

In commemoration of the International Women’s Month, ISEA hosted a roundtable discussion (RTD) entitled, “Exploring Benchmarks for Transformative Agricultural Value Chain Financing:  A Round Table Discussion on Financial Institutions as Catalysts for Women’s Economic Empowerment” last March 13, 2018 at the Asian Institute of Management, Makati City, Philippines. 

The said RTD explored how financial institutions (FIs) could become catalysts for empowering women small scale producers, who are usually unrecognized, underpaid or even invisible, in agricultural value chains. 

17 FIs came and provided their feedback on the Benchmarks for Transformational Partnerships and Women’s Economic Empowerment in Agricultural Value Chains (BTP WEE in AVCs). Among the participants were Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI), and CARD-MRI.  

The participants expressed openness in pursuing a more in-depth dialogue on the BTP-WEE in AVCs and were particularly interested in the Scorecard that ISEA is developing to measure the extent to which FIs are adhering to the benchmarks. 

The BTP WEE in AVCs was evolved from a study of best practice cases of social enterprises and inclusive businesses that have engaged women and men small producers in their value chain interventions in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand and have demonstrated positive impact on women’s empowerment. It is a set of aspirational standards to raise the bar on how enterprises and other stakeholders in AVCs could sustainably transform the lives of small-scale producers, especially women, their households and their communities. It is a pathway to sustainability that is meant as guideposts among enterprises and other stakeholders in AVCs aspiring to make a meaningful contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The RTD was made possible with the support from and partnership with Change Fusion, Oxfam, and the Embassy of Sweden in Bangkok, Thailand. 

To check out the briefer on the BTP WEE in AVCs in this link:

http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/empowering-grassroots-women-through-transformational-partnerships-in-agricultur-620354