Keep searching
Refine this search
Start a new search
Keyword search Region Country Sector
Enterprise for Pro-poor Growth / Enter-Growth
Location: South Asia | Sri Lanka
Sector: Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
Dates: Starts 01/07/2005 | Completion 30/09/2009
Partners: Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)
Enterprise for Pro-poor Growth, or Enter-Growth for short, is a project of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), and the Ministry of Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion. Its goal was to contribute to pro-poor economic growth and quality employment for women and men, through an integrated programme for development of micro and small enterprises.
The project design was based on extensive consultations with provincial and district stakeholders from the Government, the private sector (micro and small enterprises in particular), and NGOs. It sought to address issues that relate to:
- the market access of micro and small enterprises;
- the policy and regulatory environment for micro and small enterprise growth; and
- enterprise culture.
The project's most basic assumption was that none of the constraints in these areas could be addressed without dialogue with and between the stakeholders in the districts, and that they needed to take the lead in finding and implementing solutions. Enter-Growth's role was that of a facilitator in this process.
What made Enter-Growth different, and an appropriate subject for an ILO case study, was that a major aspect of Enter-Growth’s success was that it facilitated systemic changes in the markets that poor people interact with, which in turn led to wider and more sustainable impact. For example, the sustainable increase in production and incomes enjoyed by the Dairy Farmers in Kurunegala happened because of changes to systems and institutions within the market. To do this, Enter-Growth followed a market development approach, initially more intuitively, and then as the project progressed, more methodically.
Contact detailsGemunu Wijesena, Project ManagerE: