The project Espacio Inclusivo facilitates vocational trainings for young people in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Photo: BASF

We want to contribute to a world that offers a sustainable future with a better quality of life for all and have anchored this in our corporate purpose: “We create chemistry for a sustainable future.” Innovations from the chemical industry play a key role, as they provide decisive contributions to a sustainable future with a growing world population. With our corporate program Starting Ventures, we want to empower people whose basic needs have not been met to help them improve their income potential and quality of life. We thereby contribute toward achieving the broader development goals of the United Nations.

Some progress has been made: More than one billion people have lifted themselves out of extreme poverty since 1990. In spite of this remarkable success, still more than four billion people – the majority of the world’s population – live on a low income. By 2050, this fastestgrowing population segment is expected to strive for improved employment in order to be able to afford better living and hygiene conditions as well as better access to food and nutrition, both for themselves and their children. 

Fighting poverty, ensuring food security and a safe water supply, as well as energy and climate change – these are some of the targets of the 17 extensive and comprehensive UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). BASF has actively participated in working groups on the development of the SDGs.

As a globally operating company, BASF sees its innovations contributing to a sustainable future on crucial issues such as food; clean water and sanitation; renewable energy; employment and economic growth; innovation and infrastructure; sustainable urban development; responsible production and consumption; climate protection; and international cooperation.

The role of the corporate sector

All sectors of society play a role in alleviating these issues, but the corporate sector has a number of ways to influence and empower people at the base of the pyramid in a positive manner. Companies can create opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship as well as access to affordable products and services that meet basic needs. 

Low-income populations across the world hold an immense amount of potential for businesses. By integrating them into their value chains as suppliers, distributors, and customers, companies can not only create a positive impact on their lives, but also find new sources for innovation and growth in new markets. 

As a globally operating chemical company, BASF is well positioned to fulfill this role. Our broad market access and diverse and widespread portfolio help support our efforts to initiate positive change. Close cooperation with civil society, the public sector, and partners along our value chain have been key to fostering success. 

For example, our Food Fortification initiative has enabled us to successfully reduce vitamin A deficiency – one of the most frequently occurring forms of malnutrition – for millions of people in developing countries. Such projects have provided a rich learning experience and helped us to move forward.

What we do

Starting Ventures is a group-wide program that focuses on creating opportunities within the company to develop business solutions that empower people with low incomes to achieve a better quality of life. The means to empower ment encompass, for example, skills for improved income opportunities and access to products providing affordable nutrition, hygiene, and housing. Starting Ventures focuses on new business models and cross-sector partnerships in order to access growing low-income markets. The program also acknowledges higher entry barriers such as consumer awareness, financial capabilities, and inadequate infrastructure.

Starting Ventures provides resources to our business units to pursue new means of entrepreneurship. Furthermore, the program facilitates the sharing of experiences and expertise across our entire organization.

The pilot phase for Starting Ventures was successfully launched in 2016. The project proposals from various business units were selected by the central corporate steering committee (see infobox) to reflect the diversity of our customer industries and our global market access. The selected projects received financial support through an internal corporate fund.

The project example, Espacio Inclusivo, comes from the automotive industry in South America and builds on earlier successes in Chile and has expanded to targeting unemployed young people in Argentina and Uruguay. In these countries, people with low-income family backgrounds often have limited opportunities to learn technical and other skills relevant for formal employment. At the same time, our customers in the automotive repainting and repair industry face shortages in skilled labor. Through Espacio Inclusivo, BASF has therefore started to facilitate vocational trainings for unemployed young people, empowering the graduates to find jobs with our customers. Earlier successes in Chile have shown that graduates earned at least 55 percent more than the minimum wage.

The big picture

In the context of global business today, we work to fulfill the needs and expectations of our stakeholders – and to take them into account as they change. Our role today exists under an understanding that integrates several new developments, among them the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and, more recently, the Sustainable Development Goals.

For BASF, Starting Ventures is the way to include people in the economy for mutual benefit, thereby not only contributing to our long-term success, but also uplifting those working with us along the way. The marriage of these goals will consequently reinforce one another and enable us to continuously scale-up our activities: the higher the contribution to our long-term success, the greater our positive impact on society.

For more information about BASF Starting Ventures program, please visit: www.basf.com/en/starting-ventures