SEED Participates in GO4SDGs High level launch in Asia and the Pacific
Published: 22 April 2021
This session presented best practices and initiatives of circular economy models among MSMEs in the Asia and Pacific region, with discussions highlighting policy and finance instruments that support enterprises.
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Last Forest, a SEED Story from India
Published: 29 March 2021
New SEED case study from 2014 Low Carbon Award Winner Last Forest, an enterprise in India that increases the demand for organic agricultural production and offers indigenous communities a sustainable source of income. Read more
SDGs:
SEED joins the World Sustainable Development Summit on mainstreaming climate finance solutions in SMEs
Published: 29 March 2021
Climate Finance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is a key component for addressing India’s climate action and sustainable development agendas. Read more
COVID-19 Recovery & Small Enterprises: A SEED-GEC Global Policy Roundtable
Published: 23 March 2021
In January 2021, SEED and the Green Economy Coalition held an online, interactive roundtable gathering small enterprise networks, policy practitioners, NGOs and think tanks to exchange knowledge and share interventions on how to ensure that our Green Recovery efforts are impacting small businesses. Read more
SEED and PAGE Collaborate to Fuel Eco-Inclusive Enterprises in a Green Transition
Published: 09 March 2021
SEED and PAGE, the Partnership for Action on Green Economy, are uniting to amplify the impact of eco-inclusive enterprises. Read more
Call for Applications: SEED Awards 2021 offers support, visibility and funding up to €15,000 for social and environmental SMEs
Published: 01 February 2021
Up to 48 prize packages will be awarded to innovative and promising locally led enterprises in social and environmental sectors from emerging economies. This year, in its 14th cycle, two award categories are offered. Read more
SEED Covid-19 Resilience Workshops and Grants (SEED Alumni Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe)
Published: 28 January 2021
During a 2-day workshop in each of the three target countries (Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe), SEED will provide you with the most relevant tools to work on your enterprise resilience. Read more
Translating Climate Finance into Climate Action on the Ground: Leveraging the Potential of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises
Published: 12 January 2021 Jonas Restle-Steinert, Kathrin Kirsch, Luis Ebert, Maggie Sloan, Tobias Hausotter
Read the report to learn more about how SMEs in emerging economies help their local communities adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change, and how this community engagement paves the way for providing secure livelihoods and a more sustainable future for all. Read more
SDGs:
Shop Sustainably with SEED Supported Enterprises
Published: 11 January 2021
To better support small businesses when you're looking for a unique gift for your friend or family member, we encourage you to shop from our gift guide of eco-inclusive SEED supported enterprises! From home decor to handbags, from fair-trade products to face masks, there’s something in it for everyone! Read more
SEED during COVID-19: Our programmes reimagined for the virtual format
Published: 16 December 2020 Amanda Panella, Linde Wolters
When COVID-19 hit, SEED and its supported enterprises were affected like the rest of the world. Our programmes - designed for peer-learning and networking - had to quickly adjust to this new global reality and move to a virtual environment. In an effort to both support affected enterprises and be able to keep our programmes running. Read more
Building a Vibrant Social Enterprise Ecosystem through Partnerships | Ghana, Policy 2020
Published: 16 December 2020 Amanda Panella, Camilla Shearman
Insights from discussions at the SEED Practitioner Labs for Policy Prototyping pointed to three specific topics that should feature in future ecosystem efforts: integration of social enterprises into corporate value chains, support through networking, and e-commerce arrangements to bring social enterprise products and services to markets. Read more
SDGs:
Supporting MSMEs for Ghana’s transition to a Circular Economy: Solutions from SEED’s Policy Lab
Published: 09 December 2020 Amanda Panella, Camilla Shearman
While eco-inclusive enterprises drive the transition to a circular economy, they often face significant constraints to build and scale their businesses. Mr. Boachie highlighted that eco-inclusive MSMEs often face specific challenges based on perceived higher-than-normal risks, and a unique need for longer-term financing. Read more
Shop sustainably this holiday season with SEED: A gift guide from our eco-inclusive enterprises
Published: 03 December 2020
The holidays are approaching and like many others around the world, SEED is searching for a way to send gifts and joy to our loved ones from a safe social distance. Read more
Best practices to follow for online workshops: Learnings from SEED virtual trainings during pandemic times
Published: 30 November 2020 Amar Munnolimath, Elena Eckhardt, Nithin Ramu
Workshops are an important format for business development services (BDS) providers to deliver support services to eco-inclusive enterprises. However, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and related measures, such as lockdowns and curfews, BDS providers have had to adjust and reconceptualise the workshop experience. Read more
Supporting MSMEs in the supply chain to reduce emissions by adopting energy efficiency measures | Climate Finance, India 2020
Published: 24 November 2020 Kathrin Kirsch, Nithin Ramu
The financing solution developed by Mahindra & Mahindra aims to incentivise MSMEs in the supply chain to take up energy efficiency. It comprises a benchmarking of energy saving technology, a central repository of suppliers of energy-saving technology, template policy documents to be signed between supplier and OEMs, financing through carbon markets and adopting Techno-commercial energy efficiency technologies in Geographical cluster by OEM anchor led approach. Read more
SDGs:
P.ACT: Leveling the field for equitable partnerships
Saida Benhayoune Source: iBAN
While hybrid partnerships come with their challenges, enterprises and large organisations alike agree that partnerships are key to leveraging the innovation and agility of social enterprises in order to solve the world’s inequalities. P.ACT from SEED and MIT D-Lab levels the playing field for more equitable partnerships. Read more
How Dieudonne Agudah gets low income urban households in Accra access to affordable bio digester toilets with WASHKing
Thomas Jakel Source: AfricaX
Meet Dieudonne Kwame Agudah, the founder of WASHKing, a social enterprise working to supply bio-digester toilets to low-income urban households in Ghana with the aim of ending open defecation and at the same time focussing on giving employment to young people while equipping them with transferable skills. Read more
NINJA COVID-19 Response and Recovery Business Challenge Winner: EcoPlastile Ltd
Published: 26 October 2020
EcoPlastile Ltd, an eco-inclusive enterprise working with youth and women to collect and process waste plastics into low-cost, durable timber substitutes, has been declared a winner for Next Innovation with Japan (NINJA) Business Innovation Challenge in response to COVID-19. Read more
Waste4Change: Stimulating Markets for Waste Credit via Enterprise Resource Planning Platform | Climate Finance, Indonesia 2020
Published: 20 October 2020 Net Pornlumon Nirachatsuwan
This innovative finance mechanism distributes waste credit to waste collectors and recycling managers by creating an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform that finances the waste collection and recycling activities which offsets the consumers waste production. Read more
SDGs:
SEED Participates in GGKP Webinar - Rebuilding Better: New materials and systems for resource efficient SMEs
Published: 08 October 2020
On 29 September 2020, SEED’s Executive Director Lewis Akenji joined a panel of experts to talk innovations in sustainable materials across sectors. In this webinar, hosted by GGKP, a platform for green practitioners, multiple SEED supported enterprises were showcased. Read more
Enterprise Resilience: Six Critical Factors to Protecting Your Start-Up’s Future
Published: 24 September 2020
To better understand what resilience means for MSMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic, SEED interviewed 30 eco-inclusive enterprises. Unsurprisingly, MSMEs have been strongly affected by the economic shock of the pandemic. From these interviews, SEED has outlined the six critical factors for protecting the future of your enterprise. Read more
Green Recovery Ecosystem Builder Programme: Making SME support programmes green, fair and recovery proof
Published: 10 September 2020
SMEs make up a significant portion of ASEAN economies and communities. Despite being impacted negatively by the pandemic, they are also key in driving local green and inclusive growth. The new Green Recovery Ecosystem Builder Programme is tailored for participants who lead programmes or departments and are responsible for the successful implementation of enterprise support services. Read more
Mapping Enterprise Resilience to COVID-19
Published: 07 September 2020 Elena Eckhardt, Linde Wolters, Mirko Zürker, Supapim Wannopas
Resilience is an indispensable tool to help MSMEs prepare for the unknown, especially now when COVID-19 induced curfews and lockdowns expose MSMEs to new vulnerabilities. With fewer resources and access to information than larger companies, MSMEs in emerging markets have experienced severe disruptions to their businesses, with around 42% worldwide facing potential failure within six months.
This report demonstrates how MSMEs, particularly eco-inclusive enterprises, are weathering the COVID-19 pandemic and how governments and intermediaries can lend support. In this report we outline six essential resilience factors and good practices that SEED’s eco-inclusive enterprises have employed in emerging markets. Our SEED enterprises serve as an excellent example of how other enterprises can incorporate resilience into their business models in the face of the pandemic and to become more adaptable for future shocks. Read more
This report demonstrates how MSMEs, particularly eco-inclusive enterprises, are weathering the COVID-19 pandemic and how governments and intermediaries can lend support. In this report we outline six essential resilience factors and good practices that SEED’s eco-inclusive enterprises have employed in emerging markets. Our SEED enterprises serve as an excellent example of how other enterprises can incorporate resilience into their business models in the face of the pandemic and to become more adaptable for future shocks. Read more
Eco-Inclusive Enterprises: Accelerating Southern Africa’s Green and Inclusive Economies
Published: 02 September 2020
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) provide 50% of jobs, contribute to over 35% of the GDP in emerging economies, and overall make up 90% of registered firms across the world. They are especially impactful in emerging economies as they work toward inclusive growth and equality for marginalised populations. At SEED, we focus on growing eco-inclusive enterprises which in turn contribute socially, economically, and environmentally to empowering the 5.2 billion people at the bottom of the pyramid worldwide.
This report examines the yearly impact of 80 of our eco-inclusive enterprises in three of our SEED countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. These locally embedded enterprises, 51% of which are women-led, demonstrate that driving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can indeed be profitable and with a success rate of 82.5% still in business, they show long-lasting impact in each of their communities and sectors. Read more
This report examines the yearly impact of 80 of our eco-inclusive enterprises in three of our SEED countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. These locally embedded enterprises, 51% of which are women-led, demonstrate that driving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can indeed be profitable and with a success rate of 82.5% still in business, they show long-lasting impact in each of their communities and sectors. Read more
SDGs:
UN High-Level Political Forum 2020 - Eco-Inclusive Enterprises and COVID-19
Published: 05 August 2020
As momentum builds for post-pandemic recovery, eco-inclusive enterprises around the world offer inspiring examples of inspiring solutions. Learn about their response and vision for a green recovery with Frontier Markets (India), Farmerline (Ghana), Amazóniko (Colombia), Gorilla Conservation Coffee (Uganda), Kibébé (Malawi) and EcoPlastile (Uganda). Read more
