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Working with the Private Sector to Eliminate Poverty

Selling fruit on a street corner; working on a farm; cleaning a high-rise office; selling basic medicines; operating a factory machine; repairing bicycles... The poorest people in our world are living in, and working in and sustaining a bustling, often unnoticed, private sector. Poor people sell their labour and goods, buy their food and other services in transactions that are predominantly private. As employees and business owners, every day they negotiate the threats and opportunities of their markets, however fragile the environment may be. Nine out of ten jobs in the developing world are in the private sector. The UK's Department for International Development (DFID) believes that improving the prospects of these millions of businesses is an essential route to eliminating poverty. For DFID, helping developing countries create the conditions which can nurture and sustain economic growth is a clear priority – and the development of the private sector is central to this.