ComMark: Making markets work for the poor

The ComMark Trust is a non-profit Southern African pro-poor regional development organisation. Our core business is to alleviate poverty by increasing the participation and returns of economically poor communities through agribusiness, manufacturing and services sector activities. ComMark addresses regulatory, policy, productivity, institutional and business service constraints to make markets work for poor people – whether as workers, entrepreneurs or consumers. All of our programmes respond to Millennium Development Goals 1, 3 and 8: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger, Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women, and Develop a Global Partnership for Development.

The Road to Economic Development This is new content
In project: Eastern Cape Red Meat Project
The Road to Economic Development

A partnership with the ComMark Trust took what could have been basic “tick-the-box” corporate social investment (CSI) and made it real development for real people in Mt. Frere, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

WBHO Construction won the bid to build a road in the Alfred Nzo District of the Eastern Cape. They approached ComMark because they were looking for a way to make CSI deliver returns to the community through specific economic development initiatives.


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Project and partner news

Maseru Food Gardens Shield 3639 Households from Rising Food Prices
In project: Lesotho Textiles & Apparel Project
ComMark is committed to addressing food security in worker communities in and around Maseru, Lesotho. Through the Food Gardens Project, initiated by ComMark and co-funded with Catholic Relief Services in Lesotho, we leverage and add value to the labour-intensive clothing and textile training programmes that we have sponsored in Maseru over the past five years. With ComMark partner, ALAFA, the project is targeting 5,000 poor households in urban and peri-urban areas. Thus far, 3639 households are included in the project.
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Second Crop of Organic Cotton Harvested in South Africa
Second Crop of Organic Cotton Harvested in South Africa
South Africa’s second commercial-scale certified organic cotton crop has just been harvested at three commercial farmer field trial sites in Limpopo and one in the Marble Hall area in Mpumalanga. Eleven small-scale farmers in the Nonakeng area also participated in the field trials this year. This second harvest of organically grown cotton in South Africa puts us a step closer to our goal.
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The ComMark Approach is People-Centered, Farmer-Centered
In project: Eastern Cape Red Meat Project
The ComMark Approach is People-Centered, Farmer-Centered
Dr. Xolile Ngetu will look you straight in the eye and tell you, “It is what people have been wanting all these years.” He says that if ComMark could have been around 50 years ago development in the Eastern Cape would be in a different place now.
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The Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight AIDS (ALAFA) wins Drivers of Change Business Award
In project: Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight AIDS (ALAFA)
The Southern African Trust and Mail & Guardian’s Drivers of Change Award recognises individuals or organisations in the southern Africa region that are making a real impact, especially in developing effective public policies and strategies to overcome poverty. It is awarded in three categories: civil society, government, and business.
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SADC Private Standards Workshop
SADC Private Standards Workshop
Over the past 20 years, an increasing trend towards the concentration and globalisation of the food retail sector has become apparent. The occurrence of several highly publicised food scares and the requirement that producers take responsibility for the safety of their products have created an incentive for the development of private standards, resulting in an increase in the number and type of these standards. The result is that all exporters to these markets are currently required to comply with a plethora of official import requirements as well as private standards.
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Confronting Climate Change
In project: Measuring and Mitigating the Carbon Footprint of the South African Fruit and Wine Sector
Confronting Climate Change
South Africa’s fruit and wine exporters on 7 July 2008 launched an innovative research programme to measure the carbon footprint of the industry. The project will also establish how the South African industry measures up, in terms of its carbon emissions, internationally. As part of the initiative, the process will enable the sector to formulate a carbon reduction plan with effective mitigation and adaptation strategies to meet the challenge of climate change.
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2008 Africa Regional Conference: The Business of Organic - Integrating the Cotton and Textile Supply Chain
In project: Organic Cotton Farming in South Africa: business case development and demonstration pilots
Africa is a major production area of organic ingredients for apparel, food, home and beauty products as well as the location of many high quality manufacturers of textile, apparel, home, food, and beauty products. Brands and retailers including Aveda, Coop Switzerland, Marks & Spencer, Nordstrom and Woolworth's South Africa are offering their customers a growing variety of certified organic and fair trade products from Africa.
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ALAFA chosen to present its Lesotho HIV Workplace Programme at the XVII International AIDS Conference
In project: Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight AIDS (ALAFA)
The Apparel Lesotho Alliance to Fight Aids (ALAFA) was researched and implemented by ComMark with seed funding from DFID. Within two years of implementation, the programme covers 75% of the 46,000 textile and apparel workforce in Lesotho with its education and prevention programme and 50% of workers currently have access to medical monitoring and treatment with ARVs.
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Giving development a face

This series of reports is the result of an assessment of a sample of our projects in the following programme areas: agri-business, regional standards, labour-intensive manufacturing, regulation and policy support and co-ordination.

Assisting the Mariveni Emerging Farmer Project to become EurepGap compliant
2008
Assisting the Mariveni Emerging Farmer Project to become EurepGap compliant
Achieving and demonstrating that private standards are being met is a costly exercise for developing country farmers. However, without this investment they have no choice but to sell their product locally. To help Southern African farmers lower these costs and access export markets, DFID launched a project with ComMark in 2006. ComMark has been able to provide the Letsitele project with technical assistance and support to raise the standards of food safety management.
Eastern Cape Red Meat Project
2008
Eastern Cape Red Meat Project
An analysis of the livestock sub-sector confirmed that most communal farmers keep cattle for a variety of reasons, which often do not include their potential for a steady financial income. The main objective of this programme is to increase the income of communal cattle farmers by assisting them to realise higher prices for their cattle – through information around grading, classification, market systems and abattoir procedures, and the facilitation of access to formal markets.
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ComMark reports

Working Paper 2-2008: Mozambican Air Transport Liberalisation Report a discussion document
Velia, M., van Bastern, C. and Dykes, A., 2008
Working Paper 2-2008: Mozambican Air Transport Liberalisation Report a discussion document
In this report, the meaning of liberalisation in the air transport sector is discussed and the difference between deregulation and liberalisation is highlighted. Liberalisation entails a progressive opening up of a market with state control enacted over the process, while some amount of regulation may be required to ensure that market forces operate effectively and that some rules are followed in the process of air transport.
An initial baseline survey for the Alfred Nzo livestock improvement project
Madolo, M., ComMark, 2008
An initial baseline survey for the Alfred Nzo livestock improvement project
This baseline survey was motivated by a three-year joint venture entered between WBHO Ltd and ComMark to expand our current Eastern Cape Red Meat project to the area of Alfred Nzo district municipality, where WBHO is constructing a road between Mt Frere and Matatiele. The aim of the survey is to provide an empirical foundation for ComMark to make strategic decisions around the allocation of project resources and the design of project components.
HIV/AIDS in the South African agricultural sector: Towards the development of a long term intervention
Inglelozi Management Solutions, 2008
HIV/AIDS in the South African agricultural sector: Towards the development of a long term intervention
This report contains the results of preliminary research into HIV/AIDS in the agricultural sector, with particular reference to the situation in South Africa. It covers both secondary desktop research and interviews with roleplayers. (For a list of interviews, please see Appendix A). It is intended as input for a workshop aimed at developing a practical strategy and action plan for addressing HIV/AIDS in the agricultural sector in South Africa.
Accelerating shared growth: Making markets work for the poor in South Africa
Commissioned by ComMark and written by CDE, 2006
Accelerating shared growth: Making markets work for the poor in South Africa
To introduce a wider audience to the development approach known as 'making markets work for the poor', this publication examines the principles of the MMW4P concept and illustrates them through a range of local and international case studies that provide practical examples.

Other reports

Towards collective business action and cross-sector collaboration in responsible competitiveness clusters in southern Africa
Hamann, R., Kambalame, D., de Cleene, S. and Ndlovu, N., 2008
Towards collective business action and cross-sector collaboration in responsible competitiveness clusters in southern Africa
Responsible competitiveness clusters are cross-sector collaboration initiatives focused on identifying and acting upon synergies between sustainable development and economic competitiveness objectives. Through three Southern African case studies, this paper investigates the incentives, opportunities and challenges encountered in the emergence of such clusters. The third case study, which makes extensive reference to ComMark’s work in this area, discusses options for enhancing the competitiveness of the Lesotho textile sector.
Insights from international cases
Tanburn, J., 2005
Insights from international cases
This paper is an edited version of "Making Markets Work for the Poor - Insights from International Cases" prepared for the Centre for Development and Enterprise as part of the Commark project in South Africa. The paper provides a number of examples where markets and private sector providers play a role in service provision. In this context, 'markets' is to some extent a code-word for all of the systems within which poor people live.
Poverty, profits, and poverty reduction
DAIdeas, 2004
Poverty, profits, and poverty reduction
For every business, the one item that never leaves the agenda is the search for the next big growth opportunity. Yet how often do large, multinational corporations look to the developing world for that prospect? And how often do the poor in developing countries look to multinationals for products and services to improve their lives? Perhaps surprisingly, the answer is more and more often.