Hystra

💡 How can we tackle #malnutrition in the #Sahel region through viable commercial solutions in partnership with #localbusinesses? Learnings and future opportunities From 2018 to 2023, together with French NGO GRET and a consortium of partners, the Hystra team co-led the design and implementation of the Meriem project, a 5-year effort to develop commercial solutions to prevent malnutrition in urban areas of the Sahel region, supported jointly by the Agence Française de Développement and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In the capital and secondary cities of Burkina Faso 🇧🇫, Niger 🇳🇪 and Mali 🇲🇱, our team worked with businesses among the regional and national leaders to get everyday food products on the market that are: - Formulated to deliver specific nutritional benefits targeted at infants from 6-24 months of age, and women of reproductive age - Priced so that low and medium-income populations are able to purchase them often enough to make a significant difference to their nutritional intake 🚀 The Meriem project supported these businesses every step of the way from product design to marketing plan through production and brand strategy. Several members of the Hystra team were posted in the Sahel for periods ranging from a few weeks to over a year. The Meriem team's work resulted in half a dozen affordable fortified products launched for pilots or at scale. ✅ Despite challenging working conditions due to regional political instability, the COVID pandemic and the impact of the Ukraine war on global supply chains, two of these products are still on the market in Burkina Faso and Niger. From our successes and failures, we have formalized our learnings on the development, production, sale and marketing of locally fortified foods, with the objective to help drive local food markets towards better nutrition at less cost, in the Sahel and beyond. 💬 Link to the publications below! Please reach out if you would like to discuss some of the opportunities further. Jeanne Charbit Adrien Darodes Robin Bonsey Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath François Lepicard Clémence Boulle (Martinaud) Eloïse Orange Curis Mirrdyn DENIZEAU

🎓 Inspiring the next generation of graduates We are grateful to have been able to share some of our key insights on bringing social innovations to scale, drawing from +15 years of working with impact businesses around the world. Thank you to the Sustainable Business Association from Sciences Po for the invitation! ➡ Keep an eye out on our LinkedIn page for the upcoming launch of our insight series on this topic!

💡 How can #multinationals build an #inclusivebusiness strategy: from experimentation to scale 📆 Join us this Thursday 17th October (11:00 - 12:30 CET) for an online session hosted by the Impact Acceleration Group, an Impact Europe program, where Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath and Sophie Faujour will explore the key success factors that enable large corporations to launch, and later scale, an inclusive business, building on key lessons we've gathered during 15 years of working with large companies. Thibaud LEFORT from Sanofi and Valérie Mazon from Danone Communities will join us to share their experience. The discussion will include practical tips on how to build a convincing business case toward different types of internal stakeholders, as well as mechanisms that can protect an inclusive business from leadership changes and budget cuts. Link to join in the comments below!

Fresh news from the energy sector, where Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath launched the Last Mile Distribution Benchmark with the Global Distributors Collective (GDC)! Available here: https://lnkd.in/euT2Cfmq

🚀 Join us at these upcoming events in October! ☀ In Nairobi Oct 8-10, at the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum Expo with the Global Distributors Collective (GDC), for the launch of a benchmark tool of 23 KPIs that can make or break the success of last-mile distributors. With Russell Lyseight, Karène ANGELO, Brave Mhonie, Geoffrey Manley and Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath, we will explore a few of the most important KPIs for LMDs working in the energy access sector, and provide practical tips on how to use them. 🏥 In Ingelheim Oct 9-10, at the Making More Health Summit, to discuss how to identify new and better ways to improve health for underserved communities. 💊 In Berlin Oct 13-15, at the World Health Summit, to discuss how to solve supply chain challenges and improve access to medicine. François Lepicard will facilitate a side-event gathering entrepreneurs to discuss operational challenges and ways to overcome them. 🌍 Online Oct 17, at Impact Europe, to discuss how large corporations can launch and scale an inclusive business. Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath and Sophie Faujour will explore success factors and provide practical tips on how to build a convincing business case toward different types of internal stakeholders, as well as mechanisms that can protect an inclusive business from leadership changes and budget cuts. Link to the webinar in comments below! #GOGFSE24 #MakingMoreHealth #WorldHealthSummit #ImpactEurope #LastMileDistribution #HealthInnovation #InclusiveBusiness

🚀 Benchmarking Performance at the Last Mile: new report coming soon! Join Hystra and the Global Distributors Collective (GDC) at #GOGFSE for the launch of a new benchmarking tool designed to support #lastmile distributors (LMDs) in evaluating and improving their #performance, informed by data from 100+ LMDs worldwide. In this session, we will explore a few of the most important Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for LMDs working in the energy access sector, and provide practical tips on how to use these KPIs. We look forward to a lively discussion between: - Karène ANGELO, COO of HERi Madagascar - Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath, Managing Director at Hystra - Russell Lyseight, Head of the Global Distributors Collective (GDC) - Geoffrey Manley, Director, Head of Energy Access & Efficiency at British International Investment - Brave Mhonie, General Manager of SunnyMoney Malawi/ SolarAid Malawi Tue Oct 08, 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM - Nairobi, Global Off-Grid Solar Forum and Expo See you there!

🚀 She-Leads Impact Fund: Bridging the Last-Mile Gap and Empowering Rural Women and Communities 🚀 Did you know that over 3.7 billion people around the world survive on less than $6.85 a day, most of whom live in underserved rural areas across Asia and Africa? These communities struggle to access essential goods and services such as clean water, electricity, healthcare, and financial support. Due to the lack of efficient distribution networks in these regions, they often pay more for inferior products compared to urban areas. For women, the challenges are even greater—cultural barriers, fewer formal job opportunities, and limited mobility to urban areas leave them especially vulnerable to this access gap. ⭐  That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce the She-Leads Impact Fund (SLIF)—an initiative co-led by Frontier Innovations Foundation (FIF) and Hystra, aimed at transforming last-mile distribution networks. Our goal is to provide rural communities with access to life-changing products and services while empowering local women as leaders and change agents! 🙌 🔑  Leveraging the proven technology, processes, and business model of last-mile pioneer Frontier Markets, SLIF will provide in-depth support to 3 last-mile distributors over 3 years through technology transfer, funding, and training. This support will enable them to deepen their impact by diversifying the goods and services they offer, improving efficiency, and accelerating their path to sustainability, helping them scale faster and reach more communities. More specifically, SLIF looks to: ✅  Help the supported last-mile distributors boost their annual sales by $10M+ each. ✅ Double the income of 9,000+ local agents, with a strong focus on empowering women. ✅  Attracting $6M+ in additional investments to help scale these efforts. 💡  The future of rural communities—and the women within them—depends on better access to essential goods, services, and economic opportunities. We’re actively seeking partners, funders, and connectors who share this vision to help expand our reach. 📩  Interested in making a lasting impact? Let’s connect! #EmpowerWomen #LastMileDistribution #SocialImpact #Sustainability #ImpactInvestment #RuralDevelopment #GenderEquality #SheLeadsImpact Frontier Markets Frontier Innovations Foundation Hystra Ajaita S. Mehdi Rizvi Amrit Mohan Anurag Gangwar Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath

#GOGFSE24 is around the corner.... Looking forward to being there with the Global Distributors Collective (GDC) to introduce the first last mile distribution benchmark ever! Join Russell Lyseight and Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath to discover 23 Key Performance Indicators that can make or break last mile distribution models, with great panelists Geoffrey Manley from British International Investment, Karène ANGELO from HERi Madagascar and Brave Mhonie from SolarAid!

#Lastmile access to beneficial goods and services has been a longstanding fight of ours. We're super thrilled to partner with one of the few profitable last-mile distribution companies out there, Frontier Markets, to help other organizations that leverage last-mile networks get closer to profitability and further their (gender) impact via the #SheLeadsImpactFund. Read on for more!

#GOGFSE24 is around the corner.... Looking forward to being there with the Global Distributors Collective (GDC) to introduce the first last mile distribution benchmark ever! Join Russell Lyseight and Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath to discover 23 Key Performance Indicators that can make or break last mile distribution models, with great panelists Geoffrey Manley from British International Investment, Karène ANGELO from HERi Madagascar and Brave Mhonie from SolarAid!