Through conferences, research, and engagement, WRI is leading the way in promoting the view that the world’s 4 billion poor people are an untapped source of innovation and economic growth.
WRI’s research—led by Dr. Allen Hammond, WRI’s vice president for innovation, and WRI Board member and University of Michigan Business School Professor, C. K. Prahalad—has been instrumental in advancing the case in favor of the market potential of the world’s poor. Hammond and Prahalad spelled out the case in “Selling to the Poor,” an article that appeared in the May/June 2004 issue of Foreign Policy magazine. In August, Prahalad also released Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid, published by Wharton School which was favorably reviewed by the Economist, Financial Times, and other publications.
To further explore these issues, WRI hosted an international conference in San Francisco in mid-December 2004 focusing on “Eradicating Poverty Through Profit: Making Business Work for the Poor.” (http://povertyprofit.wri.org)
A growing body of evidence, compiled by WRI and others, indicates that the poor represent the largest untapped consumer market in the world. Business engagement with the poor serves two critical purposes: it is a source of growth for business, and a means for the poor to end economic isolation and expand opportunities. In just 18 countries, this bottom of the pyramid (BOP) market amounts to $1.7 trillion, roughly equivalent to the annual gross domestic product of Germany; worldwide, it is significantly larger.
WRI and its partners are documenting how businesses can tap these new opportunities using specific case studies of successful models in many sectors of the economy and several regions. In India, for example, small-scale farmers traditionally have had limited access to price trends and are thus at a disadvantage when dealing with traders. ITC, one of India’s leading private corporations, initiated an “e-Choupal” effort that places computers with Internet access in rural farming villages. The farmers can use the computer to access daily closing prices at local, government-mandated marketplaces. The e-Choupal system gives farmers more control over the choices they make, a higher profit margin on their crops, and access to information that improves their productivity. (http://www.digitaldividend.org/case/case_echoupal.htm)
WRI has worked to help Microsoft understand the needs of low-income markets in developing countries. Microsoft has subsequently released a lowcost, local language version of Windows in half a dozen countries and has tested new, affordable on-line services in four additional countries.
