Social enterprise SNV Latin America and a leading national drugstore chain in Bolivia are jointly to develop a new type of drugstore catering specifically for low-income communities. The new arrangement means that consumers will have access to affordable and high-quality health products, while the company will have access to a sizeable new market. The ‘Bargain Drugstores’ are based on SNV’s so-called Inclusive Business model, which aims to contribute towards poverty alleviation by including low-income communities within the value chain of an enterprise, while at the same time maintaining a focus on creating profit.

SNV has also entered into an agreement with the Fundación Repsol YPF Ecuador, in which the Fundación will invest USD199,000 to develop Inclusive Businesses in those areas of the Amazonian provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana where petroleum company Repsol operates. The first phase of the project, which will try to identify those supply and value chains most favourable to the introduction of the Inclusive Business model, is currently under way. According to CERES News, the project will increase the income of some 2,500 families.