Is Hybrid Value Chain another word for “Base of the Pyramid”?
Ashoka is aware of the need to strike a balance between involving large businesses to provide essential goods and services to low-income populations and strengthening local economies. The Hybrid Value Chain program is only one component of the larger Full Economic Citizenship initiative that seeks to support the development of new opportunities for low-income individuals not only as consumers, but also as producers and wealth creators. We do not claim that all goods and services should be delivered to low-income populations through Hybrid Value Chains. In fact, the HVC model is most appropriate for markets that: • truly have the potential to improve people’s lives (so far Ashoka’s FEC initiative has made the choice to focus primarily on affordable housing, health, and agriculture) • face systemic barriers to effectively serve low-income populations such as customer financing and market linkages in the case of irrigation technology for small farmers, or customer awareness/ new market cr
