The Suppliers Development Programme (SDP) is a UNDP strategy aimed at protecting jobs, boosting local economies, and strengthening the resilience of vulnerable communities. By supporting micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, as well as producers’ associations, the programme fosters the development of internal capacities, enhances productivity, and facilitates integration into value chains and productive ecosystems.

In this way, the SDP contributes to an inclusive economic recovery, generating employment, strengthening livelihoods, and reducing dependence on external assistance mechanisms. By promoting the economic autonomy of enterprises and their surroundings, it enables thousands of people to access food, healthcare, education, and basic services through their own means, fostering a recovery with dignity, sustainability, and inclusion.

A structured process adapted to each company’s reality 

The SDP provides direct support at the premises of each participating micro and small enterprise, association, or community initiative, over an approximate period of seven months. The methodology, designed to respond to vulnerable contexts, unfolds in six sequential phases that combine proximity, analysis, and action:

  1. Identification and registration of participating enterprises, prioritizing those with growth potential and commitment to their community.
  2. Participatory diagnostic of capacities, processes, and challenges, taking into account both internal factors and the economic and climate environment.
  3. Client–supplier interaction, to identify gaps, strengthen business relationships, and align expectations.
  4. Design of personalized action plans, tailored to the reality of each productive unit and the opportunities of the local market.
  5. Implementation of improvements with technical support, aimed at optimizing processes, diversifying products, and expanding market reach.
  6. Measurement of results and definition of a roadmap to consolidate progress and ensure long-term sustainability.

An approach focused on business practices, inclusion, and early recovery

The SDP works with micro and small enterprises, associations, and community-based businesses that, in many cases, operate in vulnerable conditions were strengthening capacities and expanding opportunities is essential.

Its purpose is to provide a pathway for early recovery that enables local economies to reactivate and livelihoods to
be restored in an autonomous and sustainable way.

To achieve this, the programme adapts its content and methodologies to the type and maturity level of each
productive unit, organizing the strengthening process around five pillars of business management: finance,
marketing, operations, strategy, and human talent.

Throughout the process, the principles of economic, social, and environmental sustainability are incorporated, together with gender equality and inclusion approaches.

Each enterprise designs, through participatory methods, its own “dream map”—a roadmap that guides improvements and ensures that every action contributes both to internal strengthening and to the well-being and resilience of the community.

Territorial and multisectoral application

The SDP has been implemented across multiple sectors and value chains, from primary production to industrial transformation, marketing, and services, with a particular focus on strategic areas such as agrifood, footwear, and textiles.

Thanks to its flexible and context-sensitive approach, the programme adapts to both urban and rural environments. This adaptability allows it to respond to immediate needs for income and employment, while also laying solid foundations for medium- and long-term economic recovery.

Across the country, the SDP has demonstrated that strengthening micro and small enterprises, associations, and community-based businesses in times of vulnerability not only boosts local production and trade, but also safeguards livelihoods, reduces reliance on assistance, and promotes recovery with dignity.

Scales of implementation

The Suppliers Development Programme is implemented flexibly and adapted to different productive environments, with a focus on micro and small enterprises, associations, and community-based businesses, providing them with tools to rebuild and sustain their livelihoods: