Enterprise Brief: Solanterns: Replacing 1 Million Kerosene Lanterns with 1 Million Solar Lanterns
Published: 29 August 2010
Solanterns offers smoke-free, brighter solar lanterns at a lower cost than kerosene lamps; thus, health risks, and fire and environmental hazards are reduced, and investments opportunities are created for microentrepreneurs. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: SolSource
Published: 29 August 2010
The SolSource is an affordable and high-performing solar concentrator designed for the 2.5 billion people globally who rely on harmful solid fuels for their daily energy needs. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: The Shea Economic Empowerment Program (SEEP)
Published: 29 August 2010
The initiative seeks to empower shea butter producers economically by restructuring the Shea Butter supply chain, building capacity among producers and improving production quality to facilitate access to local and international Shea Butter markets. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Village Cereal Aggregation Centres (VCAC)
Published: 29 August 2010
Village Cereal Aggregation Centres (VCACs) introduce post-harvest technologies and support farmers to engage in safe near-farm cereal storage, in order to increase food security and their capacity to trade competitively. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Amatola Wild Trout Fishery
Published: 24 August 2010
Amatola Wild Trout is the first community-owned and -managed recreational fishery in South Africa. It introduces economic and social development into the Amatolas through the development of an eco tourism attraction. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Backpack Farm Agriculture Program
Published: 24 August 2010
The Backpack Farm Agriculture Program is an agri-based social enterprise operating in Kenya since 2007. The core of the program is an all-in-one canvas backpack with the eco-friendly agritech and training program supporting smallholder farmers. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Biofuel Production in Promoting Sustainable Land Management
Published: 24 August 2010
The Tema Cooperative Sunflowers Association (TCSA) is a multi-integrated model for rehabilitation of degraded community lands through the cultivation and processing of sunflower into oil and biodiesel. The biodiesel is used to power tractors, machines and lanterns and the cake from the sunflower oil is used for feeding and fertilizing. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Bosque Humedo Biodiverso
Published: 24 August 2010
“Bosque Humedo Biodiverso” is a business initiative headed by a local NGO that uses fruit and pulp as ingredients for the local cosmetics and food industries. The use of non-timber products will reduce deforestation of tropical forests and local families will benefit from collecting value-added goods. This helps develop alternative income sources and promotes the sustainable management of local biodiversity. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Claire Reid Reel Gardening
Published: 24 August 2010
Reel Gardening is a simple, cost effective and convenient means of growing vegetables, herbs, and flowers from seed. Reel Gardening enables and empowers communities to implement their own sustainable food projects throughout South Africa through a user-friendly and educational medium which can contribute to alleviating food shortages and promote self-sustaining communities. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Commercialization of Prosopis Juliflora Products from Affected Areas
Published: 24 August 2010
The initiative creates alternative incomes for pastoral communities by manufacturing Prosopis products and helping to generate markets for them. At the same time, the initiative contributes to controlling the spread of this invasive species, thus helping to conserve biodiversity. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: DeCo! - Decentralized Composting for Sustainable Farming and Development
Published: 24 August 2010
DeCo! offers a composting service to smallholder farmers in Northern Ghana. DeCo! follows a low-tech approach and aims for scalability. The plants are run by highly educated local managers and DeCo! offers parttime work for local people during the off-farming season. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: EcoPost - Fencing Posts from Recycled Post-Consumer Waste Plastic
Published: 24 August 2010
GBS Ltd. recycles waste plastic into durable and environmentally-friendly fencing posts. The opportunity was born out of the huge demand for environmentally-friendly and sustainable fencing posts and the abundance of post-consumer waste plastic littering the environment. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Efficient Charcoal Production and Smoke Recycling
Published: 24 August 2010
The Modern Carbonization Programme initiated by Enterprise Multiservices (EMS) is an initiative to improve the wood-energy channel in Rwanda. The partnership aims at introducing modern carbonization and waste recovery technologies as well as more efficient energy supply equipment, such as improved stoves. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Flower of Hope
Published: 24 August 2010
Flower of Hope sets up an innovative production system that offers resourcepoor women land, inputs and professional training as well as market access to become self-employed agricultural entrepreneurs. Relying on environmentally friendly cultivation methods, the initiative produces premium hibiscus for export and domestic herbal tea markets. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Food & Trees for Africa
Published: 24 August 2010
Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA) is a social enterprise that is implementing sustainable natural resource management and food security programmes. FTFA has distributed over 3.6 million trees and facilitated the creation of over 2500 organic food gardens for the poorest in South Africa. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative
Published: 24 August 2010
Ghana Bamboo Bikes aims at taking advantage of the abundant raw bamboo materials in Ghana to manufacture high quality bamboo bikes suitable for export markets and for the road conditions in Ghana and affordable to the poor. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: G-lish: Income Generation, Re-Generation, Next Generation
Published: 24 August 2010
G-lish produces baskets from plastic and cloth scraps using traditional Bolgatanga weaving techniques to promote sustainable development in impoverished rural communities. Basket sales are coupled with tree planting and youth development activities to create a culture of environmental conservation. Read more
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Enterprise Profile: High-value Syrup from 'Prekese' Fruits for Community Livelihood Empowerment
Published: 24 August 2010
Relying on local raw materials, this initiative promotes the sustainable cultivation and harvesting of Prekese fruits in rural communities, allowing income to be generated over the whole life cycle of the tree. Read more
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2005 SEED Winner Blue Ventures is one of the 12 finalist in the BBC World Challenge
Published: 23 July 2010
Through an annual award, the World Challenge has identified, for the past six years, projects or small businesses from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level. Read more
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Scale-up and replication for Social and Environmental Enterprises
Published: 21 June 2010
As part of the research agenda, SEED has published a new paper, exploring how the international development community approaches scale-up and replication. Read more
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Coming to a Supermarket Near You
Published: 26 May 2010
From only a vision and informal association of diverse partners, the SRI Global Marketing Partnership (System of Rice Intensification), one of the 2005 SEED award winners, has become the catalyst for an international enterprise spanning several countries and exporting many tons of certified organic and fair trade rice grown by small farm families. SRI-produced specialty rice is now available in retail stores. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Almodo
Published: 24 August 2009
ALMODO, established in 2005, is a sustainable solid waste management system suitable for lower income urban areas. It collects, centralises and ecologically recovers waste and transforms it into products useful for the local community. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Bio-cultural Community Protocols
Published: 24 August 2009
Natural Justice is working with communities to develop bio-cultural community protocols. These help communities assert their rights to manage their natural resources and regulate access to their traditional knowledge according to their values and customary laws. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Carbon bank and village development project
Published: 24 August 2009
Since 2005 the Carbon Bank and Village Development Project (VDP) has encouraged, supported and enhanced community-based indigenous forestry through carbon offsets. The initiative enables successful climate change adaptation, local socio-economic development, and biodiversity conservation in rural Thailand. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Eco-Amazon Piabas of Rio Negro
Published: 24 August 2009
The project aims to safeguard traditional ornamental fisheries in the Amazon in a sustainable way by stimulating a niche market. Through a socially and environmentally responsible fishery cooperative and traders, the initiative introduces a fair trade system for rural communities. Read more
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