Abstract
This chapter focuses on prior research that examines the expressed needs and interests of the poor, as well as scholarly literature on effective poverty reduction. It suggest that business investments at the base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) to be designed in such a way that they contribute to reducing poverty in a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable manner. Corporations must be intentional about building sustainable assets through their BoP investments if they truly want their involvement to result in poverty reduction. At the BoP, there are numerous social conditions that might warrant company investment, though it is more difficult to argue that such investments directly improve profit, as do those in the value chain. BoP researchers have suggested three different sets of guidelines for companies to use in determining whether their BoP efforts are good for the poor. Efforts to promote these BoP business principles are modelled through some companies participating in the fair-trade movement.
