Enterprise Brief: Tii Ki Komi Cassava Commercial Growers (TCCG)
Published: 05 July 2016
Tii Ki Komi Cassava Commercial Growers produces cassava and processes it into chips, flour and peels of high quality. While improving the socio-economic conditions of the population, the enterprise contributes to sustainable agriculture. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Unique Quality Product Enterprise
Published: 05 July 2016
Unique Quality Product Enterprise represents the first business in Ghana that adds value to Fonio, a neglected, indigenous and nutritious cereal crop that grows well on unfertilised marginal land. The company mobilises and supports rural women to cultivate Fonio, processes and markets the products. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: YICE Uganda
Published: 05 July 2016
YICEUganda provides rural smallholder farmers in Uganda with flexible farm loans, inputs and training services to reduce hunger and poverty. With its network of local farm agents, YICEUganda facilitates farmers’ access to bundled agricultural services at various levels of the farming value chain. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Ziweto Enterprise
Published: 05 July 2016
Ziweto Enterprise provides rural livestock smallholders with access to veterinary advice and other animal health products and services. Through a franchising model, Ziweto enables entrepreneurs to establish agro-veterinary shops, improving the livelihood of underserved communities in rural Malawi. Read more
SDGs:
Agriculture: Re-thinking an old industry
Published: 16 June 2016 Carolin Ehrensperger
Agriculture still plays an essential role in the economy, and particular for employment on the African continent. Mozambique is no exception. In 2011, the agricultural sector contributed to almost one-third of the country’s GDP and provided a living for 80% of the working population. Read more
SDGs:
A perspective from India
Published: 10 May 2016 Allison Robertshaw
This past month, it was India’s turn, as SEED hosted an event around investment in the low-carbon, green SME sector. Whilst it’s fair to say that every region and country has its own challenges, it remains surprising how similar the discussion is and how clearly certain interventions are necessary in order to make the green SME space both more resilient and scalable. Read more
SDGs:
9 SEED winners ready to raise funds at Pretoria Investor Forum
Published: 03 March 2016
SEED and the Inclusive Business Accelerator have launched Deal Ready Programme to support selected SEED winners in the capturing of investment finance. Read more
SDGs:
Social Enterprise in Latin America - A frontier market on the cusp of going mainstream
Published: 24 February 2016 Allison Robertshaw
Last week I had the pleasure of attending New Ventures’ Foro Latinoamericano de Inversion Impacto in Merida, Mexico. It was an inspiring few days unpicking the latest developments in social entrepreneurship in the region and proved an interesting opportunity to compare to recent developments in Africa where I attended SEED’s African Symposium just a few months ago. Read more
SDGs:
Launch of the SAG-SEED Starter Months in Mauritius
Published: 22 February 2016
Want to become an eco-entrepreneur? Apply now for the SAG-SEED Starter, the three challenges are: Sustainable Agriculture, Manufacturing and Tourism Read more
SDGs:
Launch of the SAG-SEED Starter Months in South Africa
Published: 09 February 2016
The Switch Africa Green-SEED Starter Months invite entries from teams who develop green and inclusive business solutions to one of the key social and environmental challenges in South Africa. Read more
SDGs:
SEED Awards 2016 - Apply by 31 March 2016!
Published: 26 January 2016
SEED has opened the Call for Applications for the 2016 Switch Africa Green-SEED Awards, SEED Africa Awards and SEED Gender Equality Awards. Read more
Financing for the ‘Missing Middle’ in South Africa
Published: 12 January 2016 Jana Rudnik, Mirko Zürker
Financing! 20k-200k USD is needed for the ‘missing middle’ is one of ten critical aspects that SEED emphasises as crucial for the growth of SMMEs. Read more
SDGs:
Tools, Tools, Tools – the SEED Training of Trainers (TOT) in South Africa created a sound support base for green, inclusive SMEs
Published: 18 December 2015 Jana Rudnik, Magdalena Kloibhofer
As part of its extensive programme that has been built around an annual awards scheme promoting social and environmental entrepreneurship in developing countries, SEED developed a unique toolkit that addresses these key issues and lays out guidelines how to strategically integrate the imperatives of sustainability into businesses. Read more
SDGs:
The climate negotiations in Paris - What does it mean for the green SME community?
Published: 25 November 2015 Allison Robertshaw
In just five days, politicians, policy makers, NGOs, businesses, entrepreneurs and activists will head to Paris, for the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP), to see whether the world can hammer together an agreement to move the world away from catastrophic climate change before time runs out. Will they be successful? Read more
SDGs:
Has our obsession with scale blinded us as to the real way to have impact?
Published: 18 November 2015 Allison Robertshaw
When I was in Nairobi a few weeks ago, our team at SEED brought together more than 500 people at our 2015 SEED Africa Symposium to discuss the latest developments in social and environmental entrepreneurship. Read more
SDGs:
Turning coffee into a profitable business for smallholders: Critical Success Factors for 2009 SEED Winner Kolcafé
Published: 27 October 2015 Jamie Kyles
Coffee has been the backbone of the agriculture-based economy of Tanzania for the last 100 years providing employment for an estimated 2 million people directly or indirectly, according to the Tanzania Coffee Research Institute (TaCRI). However, low productivity is making it difficult for farmers to retain their livelihoods. Read more
SDGs:
Shaping Sustainable Development Policies to Scale the Impacts of Eco-entrepreneurship
Published: 20 October 2015 Amélie Heuër
A few weeks ago I was in Nairobi where we (SEED) held our annual SEED Africa Symposium. The event was the biggest one yet, with over 500 representatives from government agencies, the private sector, civil society organisations and academic institutions from 34 countries; all gathering to build bridges for impact. Read more
SDGs:
Celebrating 10 Years of SEED Awards (2005-2015)
Published: 22 September 2015
Ten years ago, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) in New York, 5 enterprises received the first SEED Awards. They were chosen, from a pool of over 260 entries from 66 countries, for their potential to advance sustainable development in their communities and contribute to the UN's Millennium Development Goals. Read more
Plates from Fallen Leaves, Bricks from Plastic Waste and Sight Saving Mobile Apps – Green Innovation Highlighted at 2015 SEED Awards
Published: 09 September 2015
27 eco-inclusive enterprises are recognized at the 2015 SEED Africa Symposium. Read more
SDGs:
Case Study: Claire Reid Reel Gardening
Published: 07 September 2015
Reel Gardening addresses food insecurity among low-income household and children by offering bio-degradable paper strips embedded with organic seeds that can be used by all to produce a wide range vegetables and herbs. Read more
SDGs:
Case Study: Muliru Farmers
Published: 07 September 2015
Muliru Farmers establishes sustainably-farmed supplies of medicinal plants and raises awareness about forest management which reduces the pressure on Kenya’s last remaining rainforest. Read more
SDGs:
Case Study: IMAI Farming Cooperative
Published: 07 September 2015
IMAI reduces food waste and creates income opportunities by producing and marketing vegetable atchar pickle made from surplus horticultural produce. Read more
SDGs:
Case Study: Tambul Leaf Plates
Published: 07 September 2015
Tambul Leaf Plates has generated employment or additional income for 3,000 rural community members while reducing pollution from plastic and polystyrene foam plates by over 100 tonnes. Read more
SDGs:
Enterprise Brief: Masole Ammele
Published: 06 September 2015
Masole Ammele breeds and grows fish through permaculture techniques in ponds managed by local communities. Each village responsible for a pond receives training on organic fish breeding and generates income from selling the fish, while the enterprise earns a commission. Read more
SDGs:
Building Inclusive Value Chains
Published: 27 August 2015 Carolin Ehrensperger, Mareike Grytz
How can people living at the base-of-the-pyramid (BoP) be integrated into global value chains and improve their livelihood on a long-term perspective? One answer clearly is: by fostering Inclusive Business Models (IBM). Read more
SDGs:
