Business Incubator and Accelerator for Mountains and Islands

Mountains and islands are home to approximately 1.3 billion people and make up 30 percent of the earth's surface area. Mountain and island communities are among the worst hit by climate change, suffering from high rates of poverty and struggling to cope with natural disasters.

The “Business Incubator and Accelerator (BIA) for Mountains and Islands” aims to increase mountain and island communities’ resilience by supporting innovative entrepreneurship in agricultural and textile value chains through the provision of a combination of grants, technical assistance and capacity development.

The BIA is designed as a dynamic framework, adapting its approach to align with diverse local environments, to meet beneficiaries’ needs, and to leverage strategic collaborations with international and local partners, bridging high-level advocacy with grassroots implementation.

Key facts

107 producer organizations incubated (over 350 customized coaching sessions delivered)
53 grants awarded to producer organizations (up to USD 50 000 per grant)
53 acceleration programmes awarded (duration of 9 to 12 months)
Over 37 000 farmers and producers engaged in the Incubation phase
Over 20 000 farmers engaged in the Acceleration phase: of whom 50 percent women and 29 percent youth

Where we work

2 producer organizations incubated
More than 20 farmers/producers supported

6 producer organizations incubated
More than 500 farmers/producers supported

10 producer organizations incubated
5 grants awarded
More than 9000 farmers/producers supported

9 producer organizations incubated
6 grants awarded
More than 3800 farmers/producers supported

14 producer organizations incubated
4 grants awarded
More than 300 farmers/producers supported

4 producer organizations incubated
4 grants awarded
More than 200 farmers/producers supported

4 producer organizations incubated
1 grant awarded
More than 2000 farmers/producers supported

20 producer organizations incubated
6 grants awarded
More than 400 farmers/producers supported

13 producer organizations incubated
6 grants awarded
More than 1200 farmers/producers supported

12 producer organizations incubated
4 grants awarded
More than 1200 farmers/producers supported

30 producer organizations incubated
6 grants awarded
More than 3500 farmers/producers supported

8 producer organizations incubated
4 grants awarded
More than 250 farmers/producers supported

10 producer organizations incubated
6 grants awarded
More than 1200 farmers/producers supported

BIA Programme contribution to:

Land management:

Restoration measures to increase carbon stock: 30 747 hectares
Soil regeneration interventions: 33 629 hectares
Reduction of the use of pesticides: 29 068 hectares
Soil erosion prevention measures: 35 158 hectares
Sustainable food production management: 44 174 hectares

Market advancement:

75 percent of grantees expanded their market by increasing or developing new value-added products
47 percent of grantees established connections with new markets
27 percent of grantees implemented new marketing strategies
63 percent of grantees launched advertising campaigns to promote their products

Socio-Economic achievements:

Grantees have reported an average production volume increase of 36 percent
The subset of for-profit grantees have reported an average annual turnover increase of 72 percent
83 percent of grantees implementing measures to strengthen women's participation in decision-making

Acceleration

Acceleration assistance, primarily conducted in the field, addresses specific needs identified by each beneficiary during the incubation phase, such as:

Tailored assistance for implementing business and commercial development strategies, facilitating access to markets. The assistance includes, but is not limited to:

assessment of the business and its development strategy mapping;
designing and structuring the value chain by identifying key actors, associated costs and areas for improvement to guide the business commercialization strategy;
sales, distribution, logistics, product development and diversification;
streamlining financial practices to become bankable and profitable;
defining measurable key performance indicators (KPIs) for impact and commercial goals; and/or
providing support for market access, including:
- country-specific market plans;
- profiling potential buyers;
- mapping out potential products;
- showcasing opportunities;
- identifying local events and networks that would benefit marketing capacities;
  accessing distribution networks; and/or
- guiding through distribution negotiations on a need-to-need basis.

Tailored assistance to strengthen and expand Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS), Internal Control Systems (ICS) and Third-Party Certification processes for organic practices. Following an assessment with surveys, interviews and on-field visits, the assistance is mainly developed for: strengthening existing PGSs, developing new PGSs and accessing organic certification schemes.

Assistance is provided to beneficiaries to help improve production and processing practices while enhancing livelihoods through on-field assessments, tailored technical consulting, and training. BIA beneficiaries receive visits and guidance from agroforestry and agroecology experts to identify areas of improvement, integrating agroecological practices and fostering international networking opportunities.

Coffee and cacao producer organizations participate in processes that include tasting and organoleptic analysis of their products to further assess their market potential. Interested beneficiaries can also adopt Slow Food methodologies and connect with networks, such as the Slow Food Coffee Coalition.

Support is given to ensure the protection of mountain environments by linking cultural heritage and traditional design with ethical, contemporary fashion. The assistance is implemented within the framework of the Fashion for Fragile Ecosystems initiative.

The initiative brings together artisans from remote regions of the world with international fashion brands to create lasting change through equal exchange of skills, traditional knowledge and cultural heritage. Each collection is presented to the international market and produced by the partnering fashion brand. The intellectual property rights are then granted free of charge to the artisans, allowing the continued production and sales of the garments through their own channels.

Tailored assistance is provided to improve sustainable organic agriculture, local gastronomy and short sustainable tourism itineraries. This involves capacity development in Participatory Guarantee Systems, product development and value addition, within the framework of the existing SPC’s Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom).