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Social Enterprises

The Beginning

In 1978 BRAC was exploring sericulture as a way to engage poor, rural women in productive income generating activity, and soon learnt that the livelihoods of these women could not be sustained, unless the hand-spun silk they were creating could be successfully marketed. Thus Aarong was born – BRAC’s flagship social enterprise, set up to offer a fair return on the products created by these rural women whilst linking them to urban markets where demand was highest.Other BRAC social enterprises came into existence at various times in similar efforts to create economic space for the poor. Today we operate 18 enterprises in sectors ranging from retail to alternative energy, from livestock to printers and printing pack, from agriculture to health, making significant contribution in local economy development through creation of market linkages, entrepreneurs and employment opportunities. BRAC Enterprises’ efforts are not driven towards maximizing profit for the shareholders, but to benefit its stakeholders who are essentially the millions of deprived and disenfranchised poor of the country.

 

People, Planet then Profit
Upholding the benchmark of Social Entrepreneurship

Social enterprises are businesses with a social purpose and an element of environmental promotion and sustainability. The social purposes of the businesses derive from the ways in which they contribute to improving the lives of the poor. By developing enterprises, BRAC has pioneered a unique model of sustainable business that defines ‘Corporate Social Responsibility.’

As a social entrepreneur that does not pursue profit exclusively, BRAC looks for the triple bottom line to measure its businesses’ success at being socially responsible-

  • To serve the needs of poor people (PEOPLE)
  • Be environmentally friendly (PLANET)
  • To Generate Surplus for self-sustainability (PROFIT)

 

Social Enterprise – What It Means to Us

BRAC Social Enterprises run somewhere between a profit-seeking organization and a social organization dedicated to serving social objectives in a profitable manner. The surplus that BRAC Enterprises generate fuel their own sustainability and growth, and is then contributed toward BRAC’s development interventions and innovations.
BRAC social enterprises have evolved to support the organization's development programs and to enable BRAC to attain its vision and mission statements by –
a.   Ensuring sustainability of its development interventions through creating market linkages
b.   Creating job opportunities
c.   Generating surplus for BRAC to minimize donor dependency
 
The 2+2=5 Effect
Synergies between BRAC enterprises and development programs

BRAC development programs create opportunities to identify ‘gaps’ where social enterprises can increase the productivity of members’ assets, generate surplus for the organization, create job opportunities and a better quality of life for poor people and the communities they are from. The surpluses generated by the social enterprises make BRAC more self-sustaining, allows financing innovative pilots and help grow the business itself so that increasing numbers of poor people can become self-reliant. BRAC social enterprises therefore serve several functions to form an important part of its integrated approach to poverty alleviation.
 
 

See all BRAC social enterprises at a glance or view details below:

Agriculture & Food: BRAC Sericulture, BRAC Cold Storage, BRAC Tea Estates, BRAC Salt
Health: BRAC Sanitary Napkin & Delivery Kit
Livestock & Fisheries: BRAC Poultry, BRAC Poultry Rearing Farms, BRAC Fisheries, BRAC Dairy, BRAC Feed Mills, BRAC Artificial Insemination, BRAC Chicken
Green Enterprises: BRAC Solar, BRAC Nursery, BRAC Handmade Recycled Paper
Retail: Aarong
Printers and Printing Pack: BRAC Printers, BRAC Printing Pack


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