BDS+ Special Focus 3: BDS Providers & Challenges in the eco-system
Published: 27 September 2019 Linde Wolters, Sonya Ong
BDS providers provide crucial help eco-inclusive, micro, small, and medium enterprises to overcome day to day challenges around fundraising, direction or finding talent. Are you a BDS provider? Read on to find out if you share similar challenges with others. Read more
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BDS+ Special Focus 1: SEED Tools & Enterprises’ Triple Bottom Line
Published: 13 September 2019 Linde Wolters
Are you a business coach or do you work for an incubator or business support organisation in Asia or Africa? Here are three reasons to focus on the social and environmental impact of the start-ups you work with. Read more
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BDS+ Training of Trainers: Special Focus
Published: 11 September 2019 Linde Wolters, Sonya Ong
BDS providers offer valuable support for SMEs, often behind the scenes. In this five-part special focus blog series, we caught up with a number of BDS providers from Ghana, Indonesia, India, Thailand, and Uganda. Read more
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Coffee helps protect Uganda's endangered mountain gorillas
Deutsche Welle Source: Deutsche Welle
Gorilla Conservation Coffee is featured in this story by Deutsche Welle focusing on how coffee offers a more sustainable living for poor communities in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Read more
SEED & Climate Smart Enterprises
Published: 11 August 2019
At SEED, the enterprises that we support pioneer business models based on environmental sustainability and the creation of responsible products, services and value chains. Read more
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Designing policy instruments to benefit green and social enterprises in Southern Africa
Published: 07 June 2019 Camilla Shearman
Last month we launched our SEED Policy Prototyping Programme, a series of Policy Labs in South Africa and Malawi. Bringing together policymakers and enterprise support organisations, we explored the policy challenges facing local social & green enterprises. Using hands-on SEED 'prototyping' tools, we then develop the first concrete solutions to these challenges. Read more
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Services SETA ECDi shares outcomes of BDS Standard presentation
Source: Services SETA ECDi
Dr Tsiliso Tamasane – Services SETA and Mr Div de Villiers – SEED SA, presented the draft Discussion Paper on “Improving the Quality of Business Advisory Services (BAS) in South Africa” at the Annual SEED South Africa Symposium on 03 April 2019. The Discussion Paper was jointly issued by the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD), SEDA, SEED and the Services SETA ECDi. Read more
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Cool clean tech to tackle climate change
Source: Green Times
As showcased during the SEED South Africa Symposium 2019, South African entrepreneurs are taking climate change seriously: Water filters made from macadamia nut shells, a mobile solar-powered kiosk for charging phones in off-grid areas, vegetable growing systems using recycled plastic bags, and a machine that turns any type of waste into energy (gas) or diesel. Read more
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Policy pathways for eco-inclusive enterprise support in South Africa | Policy Landscape Paper
Published: 01 April 2019 Camilla Shearman, Christine Meyer, Maggie Sloan
The transition to a green, inclusive, and climate-smart South Africa requires collaborative efforts from the public sector, civil society, and private sector. As small and growing enterprises are an essential driver of growth, particularly in emerging economies, cross-sector partnerships to co-create an enabling environment for enterprises with inclusive and climate-smart business models are critical.
This policy landscape paper provides a snapshot of the ecosystem in which eco-inclusive, climate-smart small and growing enterprises operate. By identifying areas where further support is needed, this paper is connected to the SEED Policy Prototyping Programme, in which stakeholders across sectors collaborate to co-create policy instruments designed to build a more enabling ecosystem for eco-inclusive entrepreneurs. Read more
This policy landscape paper provides a snapshot of the ecosystem in which eco-inclusive, climate-smart small and growing enterprises operate. By identifying areas where further support is needed, this paper is connected to the SEED Policy Prototyping Programme, in which stakeholders across sectors collaborate to co-create policy instruments designed to build a more enabling ecosystem for eco-inclusive entrepreneurs. Read more
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Policy pathways for eco-inclusive enterprise support in Malawi | Policy Landscape Paper
Published: 01 April 2019 Benita Rose, Christine Meyer
The transition to a green, inclusive, and climate-smart Malawi requires collaborative efforts from the public sector, civil society, and the private sector. Micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) are important drivers of growth in Malawi, particularly in emerging economies, andmaking cross-sector partnerships are critical to co-creatinge an enabling environment for enterprises with inclusive and climate-smart business models.
This input paper provides a snapshot of the ecosystem in which eco-inclusive small and growing enterprises operate. By identifying areas where further support is needed, this paper serves as an input to the SEED Policy Prototyping Programme, in which stakeholders across sectors collaborate to co-create policy instruments designed to build a more enabling ecosystem for eco-inclusive entrepreneurs. Read more
This input paper provides a snapshot of the ecosystem in which eco-inclusive small and growing enterprises operate. By identifying areas where further support is needed, this paper serves as an input to the SEED Policy Prototyping Programme, in which stakeholders across sectors collaborate to co-create policy instruments designed to build a more enabling ecosystem for eco-inclusive entrepreneurs. Read more
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SEED-supported enterprises applauded as green economy innovators at PAGE
Published: 15 January 2019
The 2019 PAGE Ministerial Conference drew attention to "Advancing Inclusive and Sustainable Economies" on 10 and 11 January 2019. By participating in the conference in Cape Town, South Africa, SEED highlighted the importance of supporting small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) to realising and strengthening inclusive and green economies. Read more
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Eco-inclusive enterprises get a stake in green economy agendas during GEC discussions
Published: 14 January 2019
SEED backed smaller eco-inclusive enterprises to #GetAStake in the Green Economy transition during action-oriented discussions at the Green Economy Coalition Global Meeting 2019. Read more
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Wildchain: A Non-profit Conservation Innovation Lab | Climate Finance, Thailand 2018
Published: 20 December 2018 Kathrin Kirsch, Marlena Kiefl
Wildchain brings people together to protect our planet’s endangered species and ecosystem by creating shared value between social entertainment and real-world impact. Wildchain lets people digitally adopt and raise some of earth’s rarest species within a digital sanctuary they can call home. Users are passively contributing to conservation and reforestation projects solely by participating in this entertainment ecosystem. Users may also actively allocate where their donations go on a fully transparent kickstarter-like platform which will represent the impact they have created. Read more
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SEED exhibits innovation in Climate Action at COP24
Published: 19 December 2018
This year at COP24 in Katowice, SEED showcased the success stories of SEED-supported enterprises across sectors and urged stakeholders from private, public and social sectors to acknowledge and bolster the transformative role of entrepreneurship in combatting climate change and furthering sustainable development. Read more
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Green Products for Health and Sanitation: Replicator Workbook
Published: 18 December 2018
This Green Products for Health and Sanitation: Replicator Workbook preview provides insights and tools to entrepreneurs seeking to start-up an enterprise that explores converting organic material into health and daily sanitation products. Our SEED Replicator Workbooks were developed to guide entrepreneurs through the process of transferring a proven successful business model to another geographic location using hands-on SEED tools and business model insights. Read more
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Collaborative Business Models for Smallholder Farming: Replicator Workbook
Published: 18 December 2018
This Collaborative Business Models for Smallholder Farming: Replicator Workbook preview provides insights and tools to entrepreneurs seeking to start-up an enterprise that improves livelihoods of individual smallholder farmers together. Our SEED Replicator Workbooks were developed to guide entrepreneurs through the process of transferring a proven successful business model to another geographic location using hands-on SEED tools and business model insights. Read more
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Agricultural Product Processing: Replicator Workbook
Published: 18 December 2018
This Agricultural Product Processing: Replicator Workbook preview provides insights and tools to entrepreneurs seeking to start-up an enterprise that converts local natural raw materials into value-added products. Our SEED Replicator Workbooks were developed to guide entrepreneurs through the process of transferring a proven successful business model to another geographic location using hands-on SEED tools and business model insights. Read more
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Last Mile Distribution Enterprises: Replicator Workbook
Published: 18 December 2018
This Last Mile Distribution Enterprises: Replicator Workbook preview provides insights and tools to entrepreneurs seeking to start-up an enterprise that tackles market inaccessibility in remote areas by spreading benefits of solar power through last mile distribution. Our SEED Replicator Workbooks were developed to guide entrepreneurs through the process of transferring a proven successful business model to another geographic location using hands-on SEED tools and business model insights. Read more
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Your Eco-Inclusive Gift Inspiration INSIDE!
Published: 11 December 2018 Sonya Ong
In this gift-giving holiday season, whether you are simply looking for stocking fillers or after something meaningful for a special someone, why not multiply the impact of your giving with gifts from eco-inclusive enterprises? Read more
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ASA-Program Intern shares her entrepreneurship ride and invites you to join in
Published: 30 August 2018 Maggie Sloan, Regina Christina Andoh
Regina Christina Andoh, ASA-Program intern at SEED, shares her adventures in entrepreneurship and motivation for joining SEED in Germany and South Africa. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: EcoAct Tanzania
Published: 20 August 2018
EcoAct Tanzania uses energy efficient & environmentally friendly plastic extrusion to upcycle plastic waste into durable & affordable plastic timbers for construction. The enterprise mitigates climate change not only by reducing plastic pollution, but also by reducing wood dependence and deforestation. Read more
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Seizing opportunities of eco-inclusive enterprises for a green and inclusive waste sector in South Africa
Published: 25 July 2018 Christine Meyer, Insa Jülich
Do you recycle? – Good. But do you know what happens to your waste when it has been collected? Read more
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SEED Uganda Dialogue Forum 2018
Published: 19 July 2018
The SEED National Dialogue Forum 2018 in Kampala was a continuation of ongoing conversations in Uganda about the role of the private sector and climate-smart enterprises in driving the transition to a socially inclusive and green economy. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Khainza Energy Limited
Published: 05 July 2018
Khainza Energy produces high-quality methane from organic waste obtained from farms and households and distributes it in affordable, recyclable cylinders along with cooking appliances. Khainza Energy incorporates local women, farmers, and youth along its distribution channels, creating value for consumers as well as local communities. Read more
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SEED side-event at UN High-Level Political Forum 2018
Published: 05 July 2018
During the UN High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, SEED held a side event co-organised by the governments of South Africa and Germany, in partnership with UN Environment, UNDP, IUCN on 16th July 2018. Read more
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