Enterprise Brief: Production and Distribution of Pressurized Biogas in Gas Cylinders
Published: 29 August 2010
The initiative Compressed Biogas proposes to build large biogas plants that will continuously produce biogas from urban, domestic and industrial wastes. The biogas produced will be stored under pressure in gas cylinders for easy distribution to urban and periurban customers as alternative to charcoal and firewood. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Reclaiming Livelihoods – Mooi River Waste Reclaiming
Published: 29 August 2010
Reclaiming Livelihoods is an initiative of former informal waste pickers. Before founding the initiative, waste pickers worked as individuals in the town of Mooi River. With the assistance of the NGO groundWork, the waste pickers of Mooi River organised themselves into a formal group and now work together. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Resentse Sinqobile Trust Trading as Zondi BuyBack Initiative
Published: 29 August 2010
The non-profit initiative Resentse Sinqobile Trust (Zondi Buy Back Centre) was initiated in 2004 by the City of Johannesburg through financial support from the Danish government to educate the community about waste management. The initiative contributes to environmental and climate protection by reusing recyclable materials from waste and offers income to unemployed citizens. Read more
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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: 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: 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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SEED Annual Report 2010
Published: 23 August 2010
The SEED Annual Report 2010 covers SEED’s progress and developments in 2010, as well as information on the SEED Award Winners and SEED Gold Winners from 2009: how SEED helps its winners to establish scale up; and tools developed by SEED for social and environmental entrepreneurs. Read more
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SEED Executive Director launches the 2010 SEED awards at the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Bamako, Mali
Published: 25 June 2010
Helen Marquard, SEED's Executive Director has joined the 12thsession of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Bamako, Mali (20-25 June). During a UNEP-hosted event on the green economy at AMCEN, she launched the 2010 Awards for entrepreneurship in sustainable development. Read more
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Interview with Achim Steiner
Published: 13 November 2009
Achim Steiner the Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, the host of the SEED Initiative, talks here about the importance of the Green Economy and why supporting small-scale social and environmental entrepreneurs is of global interest. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Innovative oyster, fish and algae aqua-farming
Published: 24 August 2009
Since 2006, the tropical multi-species aqua-farm has contributed to food security by providing sustainable supplies of organic oysters, milkfish and tilapia. More recently, they also cultivate micro-algae as livestock feed for fish. The initiative furthermore creates a local source of income and employment. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Integrated Plastics Recovery and Recycling project
Published: 24 August 2009
The initiative, established in 2009, is unique as it recycles dirty plastic containers (polythenes) using a novel technique and converts them into plastic poles. The poles are then used as fences or as other construction materials within the building sector. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: Lighting Sri Lanka’s Future
Published: 24 August 2009
In the next 5 years, the partnership aims to convert 20,000 kerosene lanterns into solar-powered LED lighting systems. These can be used by children to study at night and aid night fishermen. The initiative employs between 5 – 10 staff. Read more
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Enterprise Brief: MakaaZingira
Published: 24 August 2009
MakaaZingira Enterprise has, since 2009, trained rural farmers to produce sustainable charcoal from fast-growing shrubs. It offers farmers an alternative to using lump wood charcoal and provides a long term solution to habitat loss. Read more
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