Kampala, Thursday 13^th October 2022 – Since 2010, SEED has been supporting the growth of eco-inclusive micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Uganda, promoting locally-led private sector contributions to green growth and job creation. Hosted by adelphi, SEED has worked with over 100 enterprises and start-up teams and provided toolified enterprise support training to more than 55 Business Development Support providers.

As one of the first countries to mainstream the SDGs in its development agenda, Uganda outlines the transition to a green and inclusive economy in the Uganda Green Growth Development Strategy and Third National Development Plan 2020-2025, with a focus on investment in agriculture, natural capital management, green cities, transport, and energy. The SEED Uganda Hub, hosted by Finding XY, was established in 2019 to increase collaboration with local partners and enterprises and to bring new innovations to the engagement.

In celebration of SEED’s 20-year anniversary, a cocktail event was held at Protea Skyz Hotel in Kampala, highlighting SEED activities globally and particularly in Uganda. SEED-supported enterprises pitched their business models and showcased their eco-inclusive products, including:

• EcoPlastile, SEED Low Carbon Award Winner 2019, which works with youth and women to collect and process waste plastics into durable Ecopoles, plastic lumbers and Ecofloor tiles that substitute wooden timbers and unsanitary dirty floors. The products are low cost and durable and help to eliminate plastic pollution and sanitary issues.
• Peec Energy, SEED Low Carbon Award Winner 2021, which offers remote monitoring and metering for solar mini-grids and pay-as-you-go solar home systems. It provides PAYG meters to local mini-grid developers to allow them to sell energy in off-grid locations and to remotely monitor their utility assets and collect bill payments via a central software.
• Akaboxi, SEED Low Carbon Award Runner-up 2021, which provides credit scoring, proper bookkeeping, and training in climate change, finance, and smart agriculture. It offers a market for farmer’s products, affordable insurance and improved agricultural inputs.
• Gorilla Conservation Coffee, SAG-SEED Award Winner 2017, which pays a premium price to enable marginalised small-holder coffee farmers living in remote sub-counties bordering Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to improve their lives, which keeps them from resorting to damaging the forest through activities like poaching and removing resources like wood. This in turn helps protect the gorillas and their habitat. GCCoffee also provides training and capacity building to farmers to improve sustainable agriculture practices.

SEED has granted awards to 40+ Ugandan enterprises who have gone on to benefit from the SEED Catalyser and SEED Accelerator programmes. The SEED programmes offered business development support and SEED grants to innovative Ugandan businesses, who are the backbone of the Ugandan economy. SEED also organised ecosystem workshops such as the Training of Trainers and Practitioner Labs for Climate Finance and Policy Prototyping to engage key stakeholders in enterprise support. The Policy Labs, which are currently underway, focus on supporting the National Planning Authority in developing green finance solutions together with key stakeholders, for the new Uganda Green Finance Strategy.

Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Founder and CEO Gorilla Conservation Coffee: "We are very grateful to SAG SEED for our first award for Gorilla Conservation Coffee in 2017 that enabled us to develop a solid business plan at such a crucial stage of the social enterprise.”

According to Eddie Sembatya, SEED Hub Coordinator in Uganda, “Finding XY has collaborated with SEED for the last 5 years supporting capacity building programs of eco inclusive enterprises. SEED tools and Labs give a structured approach to delivering business development services and policy formulation.”

SEED Programme Specialist, Sonya Ong, highlights how “SEED has been supporting eco-inclusive enterprises in Uganda since 2010, and we are able to come this far - to celebrate 20 years - thanks to the support, partnership and trust of our partners and donors. We hope to continue our partnership and collaboration in supporting eco-inclusive enterprises in Uganda in the next 20 years and beyond.”

Watch the event celebration in video here.