UPNET: Marketing the Urban Poors' Products and Services
UPNET is a project of Balay Iligan Inc. We are looking for partners interested to be part of this initiative. This project will support livelihood activities of the urban poor communities in Iligan. The LGU is giving us full support in this project through the City Agriculturists Office, the Cooperative Development and Livelihood Office and the HRO.
Intro
Poverty is best understood not simply as a lack of income, but more fundamentally as a lack of meaningful choices. Mahubul Haq, founder of UNDP’s Human Development Report, a series issued annually since 1990, explains: ‘The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people’s choices. In principle, these choices can be infinite and can change over time. People often value achievements that do not show up at all, or not immediately, in income or growth figures: greater access to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, more secure livelihoods, security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure hours, political and cultural freedoms and sense of participation in community activities.
Poverty is also multidimensional. At its core is the lack of opportunity—or, in the words of Indian economist Amartya Sen, the inability to choose a life ‘one has reason to value’. Causing this lack of opportunity are not only a lack of money or resources, but also a lack of the ability to use resources. Bad health, lack of knowledge and skills, social discrimination, exclusion and limited access to infrastructure can hinder people from converting resources into opportunities. Improving these can bolster both access to resources and the ability to transform resources into opportunities. Indeed, several case studies show that doing business with the urban poor can make them better off beyond merely generating added income.
Doing business with the urban poor brings them into the marketplace — a critical step on the path out of poverty.
Balay Iligan Inc., recognizing the need for the urban poor to improve the quality of their life, is undertaking a project that will assist them to actively participate in the marketplace whether they are selling their products or promoting their services. The urban poor communities are already recipients of various assistance from the local government and civil societies particularly in livelihood training. However, the urban poor is burdened with a lot of constraints to really take advantage of the opportunities that are extended to them. For the urban poor communities to effectively enter and compete in the marketplace, they need to overcome several constraints namely a:) Limited market information b). Restricted access to financial products/services and c) Inadequate knowledge and skills in running a business.
Objectives
1. Develop a producer, service provider and marketing network to promote urban poor products and services
2. Strengthen entrepreneurship capacity of the targeted urban communities through training, organizing and capacity building.
Broad Implementing Strategies
1. Leverage the Strength of the Urban Poor
• Involve the Urban Poor in market research
• Train the Urban Poor to be trainers
• Build local logistics networks
• Establish local Service Providers
• Co-create innovations with the Urban Poor
2. Combine Resources & Capabilities
• Acquire market information.
• Leverage existing community-based retailers.
• Promote training in needed skills.
• Make sales and provide services.
• Facilitate access to financial products and services.
3. Partner with the local businesses
• . Act as a ‘trusted broker’ in engaging business to meet opportunities at the community level.
Project Activities
1. Organizing
• Establish partnerships with associations and other micro level producers interested to join UPNET.
• Inventory existing urban poor enterprises, products/services and their production capacities.
• Set-up UPNET membership database of artisans such as plumbers, carpenters, etc for purposes of manpower pooling.
2. Product Review
• Conduct needs assessment for partner organizations particularly in areas of product development, design and packaging.
• Organize needed training in product design and development.
3. Formulate marketing plan for UPNET Products/Services
4. Promotion
• Launch the UPNET showroom as well an information hub.
• Launch Manpower Brokering Services
• Establish local partner outlets.
Intro
Poverty is best understood not simply as a lack of income, but more fundamentally as a lack of meaningful choices. Mahubul Haq, founder of UNDP’s Human Development Report, a series issued annually since 1990, explains: ‘The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people’s choices. In principle, these choices can be infinite and can change over time. People often value achievements that do not show up at all, or not immediately, in income or growth figures: greater access to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, more secure livelihoods, security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure hours, political and cultural freedoms and sense of participation in community activities.
Poverty is also multidimensional. At its core is the lack of opportunity—or, in the words of Indian economist Amartya Sen, the inability to choose a life ‘one has reason to value’. Causing this lack of opportunity are not only a lack of money or resources, but also a lack of the ability to use resources. Bad health, lack of knowledge and skills, social discrimination, exclusion and limited access to infrastructure can hinder people from converting resources into opportunities. Improving these can bolster both access to resources and the ability to transform resources into opportunities. Indeed, several case studies show that doing business with the urban poor can make them better off beyond merely generating added income.
Doing business with the urban poor brings them into the marketplace — a critical step on the path out of poverty.
Balay Iligan Inc., recognizing the need for the urban poor to improve the quality of their life, is undertaking a project that will assist them to actively participate in the marketplace whether they are selling their products or promoting their services. The urban poor communities are already recipients of various assistance from the local government and civil societies particularly in livelihood training. However, the urban poor is burdened with a lot of constraints to really take advantage of the opportunities that are extended to them. For the urban poor communities to effectively enter and compete in the marketplace, they need to overcome several constraints namely a:) Limited market information b). Restricted access to financial products/services and c) Inadequate knowledge and skills in running a business.
Objectives
1. Develop a producer, service provider and marketing network to promote urban poor products and services
2. Strengthen entrepreneurship capacity of the targeted urban communities through training, organizing and capacity building.
Broad Implementing Strategies
1. Leverage the Strength of the Urban Poor
• Involve the Urban Poor in market research
• Train the Urban Poor to be trainers
• Build local logistics networks
• Establish local Service Providers
• Co-create innovations with the Urban Poor
2. Combine Resources & Capabilities
• Acquire market information.
• Leverage existing community-based retailers.
• Promote training in needed skills.
• Make sales and provide services.
• Facilitate access to financial products and services.
3. Partner with the local businesses
• . Act as a ‘trusted broker’ in engaging business to meet opportunities at the community level.
Project Activities
1. Organizing
• Establish partnerships with associations and other micro level producers interested to join UPNET.
• Inventory existing urban poor enterprises, products/services and their production capacities.
• Set-up UPNET membership database of artisans such as plumbers, carpenters, etc for purposes of manpower pooling.
2. Product Review
• Conduct needs assessment for partner organizations particularly in areas of product development, design and packaging.
• Organize needed training in product design and development.
3. Formulate marketing plan for UPNET Products/Services
4. Promotion
• Launch the UPNET showroom as well an information hub.
• Launch Manpower Brokering Services
• Establish local partner outlets.
Comment
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Comment by Franklin Quijano on October 14, 2009 at 3:27pm
- Kudos, move on
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