Greetings from Delhi, where tomorrow I will attend the Emerging Markets, Emerging Models conference convened by the Monitor Group. If you have not yet heard of Monitor’s eponymous report, I urge you to take the time to read it. Staff writer Allen Hammond agrees, calling it “a must read!“
Why is it a must read – and why is there a whole conference about it? First and foremost, credit goes to Monitor and its Inclusive Markets group. Led by Ashish Karamchandani, they’ve done a thorough job investigating more than 300 market-based approaches to poverty alleviation around the world, most of them based here in India. With such a large sample size at their disposal, the Inclusive Markets team then turned its attention to pattern recognition and actionable next steps – just the approach you would expect from a top-flight consulting firm.
The result is a thorough but easy to read report breaking down “bottom of the pyramid” myths and confirming some key truths about working with low-income consumers and producers.
Tomorrow’s conference – which continues on Tuesday – will convene the report’s authors and subject matter to discuss the latest trends in market-based approaches to poverty here in India. It should be less academic and less political than most conferences, which I’m looking forward to. Monitor didn’t publish much information about the event on it’s web site; I’ll do my best to capture the spirit and proceedings tomorrow and Tuesday and report back here.
Finally, if you’ll be at tomorrow’s event, be sure to seek me out!
