Green SMEs and their Success Factors for Scale-up and Replication
Published: 31 May 2022 Arab Hoballah, Mirko Zürker, Simon Mühlbauer
This report analyses small and medium-sized enterprises (hereby SMEs) with green business models and explores how selected enterprises scale and replicate their activities. Its main objective is to provide insights into the critical success factors for scaling and replication. It is intended for policymakers and intermediaries to draw direct insights from SMEs. It analyses the critical success factors for scale-up and replication of enterprise activities and highlights concrete recommendations to close existing gaps in order to maximise their contribution to the SDGs. Green SMEs can find inspiration through the case studies in the annex of this report. This report was prepared in collaboration with GO4SDGs. Read more
SDGs:
SEED organised and hosted the webinar "From Impact to Scale: Challenges & Successes Leading the Way to an Eco-Inclusive SME Action Agenda"
Published: 24 May 2022
On May 19, more than 130 participants from different parts of the world, from Africa to Asia, joined the virtual event that kicked off this year’s SEED 20 Years campaign. During the event, speakers shared the successes and learnings of the past 20 years working with or as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and looked forward to new ones together. Read more
Join our Webinar "From Impact to Scale: Challenges & Successes Leading the Way to an Eco-Inclusive SME Action Agenda"
Published: 11 May 2022
For SEED's 20th anniversary, we want to have a look together at achievements, emerging needs, gaps, barriers for the promotion of green, resource efficient and responsible eco-inclusive businesses in #SEED20Years period as well as looking forward to replicating success stories, further inducing innovations and scaling up for long lasting transformative impacts. Read more
Driving Green Recovery Pathways in South and Southeast Asia
Published: 06 May 2022 Amar Munnolimath, Christine Meyer, Jonas Restle-Steinert, Julia Rohe-Frydrych, Mirko Zürker, Net Pornlumon Nirachatsuwan, Supapim Wannopas
The purpose of this Driving Green Recovery Pathways in South and Southeast Asia: Insights from Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Intermediaries report is to showcase the importance of green and social MSMEs to drive Green Recovery and identify the supports that the intermediary and policy could provide. The insights in this report are derived from The Green Recovery Forum: Leveraging the contributions of MSMEs to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Read more
SDGs:
SEED and SMEs: Celebrating 20 years of promoting a sustainable future together
Published: 28 April 2022
Twenty years ago, SEED was launched by UNEP, UNDP and IUCN at the World Sustainable Development Summit in Johannesburg with the aim of promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development. Over the years, SEED has demonstrated, through numerous success stories from enterprises, that it makes good environmental, social, and economic sense to consider, support and enable SMEs to thrive. Read more
From Impact to Scale: Setting the Stage for a Future Eco-Inclusive SME Action Agenda
Published: 28 April 2022 Arab Hoballah, Mirko Zürker, Simon Mühlbauer
In honour of SEED’s 20th anniversary, this report aims to assess 2 decades of SEED’s work and takestock of what has been accomplished. Within 20 years, SEED has supported 2000 enterprises in 41 countries across 3 continents. These enterprises are the champions of the green transition. Working on the ground, they target the most severe impacts of climate change across 6 key sectors: biodiversity, green technologies, clean energy, sustainable agriculture, waste management and water, sanitation and health. Read more
SEED collaborates with adelphi and IKEA Foundation to unlock the potential of entrepreneurs in new Circular Economy Catalyst project
Published: 26 April 2022
adelphi and the IKEA Foundation, in collaboration with SEED, are working together to unlock the potential of circular economy entrepreneurship to design sustainable businesses and partnerships that foster inclusive and regenerative economies in India and Kenya. Read more
Enterprise Advocacy Workshops by SEED-CEPA (Malawi)
Published: 20 April 2022
SEED and CEPA Malawi are calling for applications from established green and social enterprises to apply for a new capacity building program, offering a structured framework within which participants will be empowered to engage in advocacy. Read more
SDGs:
Join the Regional Multi-Stakeholder Consultation for Stockholm+50
Published: 30 March 2022
This year commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm. It allows us to reflect on the 50 years of environmental action and set the vision for the next 50 years. Read more
Fostering the circular economy in India: Role of MSMEs
Published: 30 March 2022 Abdullah Mohammed Atiq, Amar Munnolimath, Mehar Kaur, Shweta Gautam
This policy brief looks at the role of MSMEs in catalysing the circular economy in India, and puts forward some recommendations and policy solution prototypes to support and unlock circular economy entrepreneurship. The recommendations and prototypes were developed as part of the SEED Practitioner Labs for Policy Prototyping in India, 2021. Read more
SDGs:
Komodo Water from Indonesia
Published: 21 March 2022
Komodo Water provides clean and affordable drinking water on the fresh water-scarce islands of the Komodo National Park in Indonesia. The enterprise is deeply embedded into the communities it works in, hires locally and heads the plastic-free island movement. Read more
SDGs:
Rahsa Nusantara from Indonesia
Published: 09 March 2022
Rahsa Nusantara started with wisdom from women on Java Island through ready-to-drink products, promoting female empowerment, local wisdom and a healthy lifestyle. Their products are made naturally from local ingredients and they recycle their organic waste. Read more
SDGs:
SEED Female Entrepreneurship Month
Published: 08 March 2022
SEED's Female Entrepreneurship Month aims to recognise the women who are working towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. SukkhaCitta, Like Mountains, Womenergy265 and Amaati Group are great examples of this. Read more
SDGs:
The Green Recovery Forum: Leveraging the contributions of MSMEs to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
Published: 07 March 2022 Mirko Zürker, Net Pornlumon Nirachatsuwan, Supapim Wannopas
The Green Recovery Forum: Leveraging the contributions of MSMEs to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals is a collaborative partnership between SEI, SEED, ANDE, and partners. The Forum highlights MSMEs potential and contribution to the Green Recovery, their need for support to build back economically while emphasising the MSMEs’ green and socially-inclusive approach in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Read more
SDGs:
Rethinking the Role of Business in Conservation: Why Small Local Enterprises are Key to Biodiversity and Climate Action
Published: 02 March 2022 Julia Rohe-Frydrych, Luis Ebert
SEED's Senior Advisor Julia Rohe-Frydrych and Enterprise Support Advisor Luis Ebert recently wrote an article that addresses the key role of small local enterprises in the struggle for biodiversity and climate action. Read more
SDGs:
Coalition for Innovation, Circularity and Entrepreneurship (CICE)
Published: 25 February 2022
The Coalition for Innovation, Circularity, and Entrepreneurship (CICE) will serve as a Voice of SMEs, while providing needed enabling services. Read more
AgriCentric Ventures from Ghana
Published: 21 February 2022
AgriCentric partners with both smallholder farmers and commercial scale farmers to buy their farm waste. The waste is processed into high value organic products: bio-char, bio-fertiliser, dietary supplement for livestock & fish, and bio-pesticides which are then sold back to farmers at cheap prices to enable them to engage in sustainable food production. Read more
SDGs:
SEED Market Study
Published: 09 February 2022 Elena Eckhardt, Jonas Restle-Steinert
Manifested through the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement, the international community has agreed to tackle prevalent economic, environmental, and social challenges, whereby the private sector and businesses can make a pivotal contribution. This report analyses the international market potential of end-consumer products offered by enterprises from the SEED network from a supply and demand perspective, as well as identifying possible avenues for support. Read more
Mycotech from Indonesia
Published: 08 February 2022
Mycotech’s team of young Indonesian entrepreneurs collaborates with designers to develop Mylea into end products using co-creative profit-sharing schemes. Beyond producing this innovative material; they aim to create more eco-consciousness in the fashion industry. Read more
SDGs:
SMEs as Key Drivers of Climate Change Adaptation in Southern Africa
Published: 05 January 2022 Luis Ebert
The report expands the still-nascent body of case study-based literature on adaptation entrepreneurship, and is thus suited for academia and practitioners active in this field. It is the first one to identify opportunities for successful adaptation entrepreneurship as well as barriers to growth and scale in the region. Read more
Deutsche Welle (DW) features Regenize for their initiative in promoting recycling
Source: Deutsche Welle (DW)
Chad Robertson and Nkazimlo Miti founded the startup Regenize in 2018 to promote recycling in the Cape Town suburb of Bridgetown and since then they have been collecting more than 2 tons of recyclable trash a month. Read more
SDGs:
Story of the beginning of Gorilla Conservation Coffee
Source: UN Environment Programme
Kalema-Zikusoka from Gorilla Conservation Coffee gets featured by the UN Environment Programme, speaking about her journey as a wildlife veterinarian to safeguard some of the world’s rarest primates, including endangered mountain gorillas. Read more
Forbes features SEED Award winning enterprises from Africa
David Vetter Source: Forbes
Five of our award-winning enterprises from Africa - Wuchi Wami, JVL-YKMA Recycling Plant (Jekora Ventures), Peec Energy, Regenize and ECOGEN MALAWI are featured in Forbes for their climate-friendly solutions to bring positive environmental, social and economic benefits in their communities. Read more
Meet The African Green Entrepreneurs Showing The West How It’s Done
Published: 14 December 2021
From solar smart meters to low-impact beekeeping, a new generation of African entrepreneurs are using their ingenuity to bring equitable, climate-friendly solutions to some of the most disadvantaged communities.
Forbes magazine spoke to five SEED Awards Winers across the African continent. Read more
Forbes magazine spoke to five SEED Awards Winers across the African continent. Read more
Prototyping and Replicating Policy Solutions in the area of Circular Economy
Published: 08 December 2021
SEED hosted the Regional Practitioner Labs for Policy Prototyping: Asia Chapter in collaboration with the GO4SDGs platform to showcase innovative, breakthrough policies and policy programmes in the area of circular economy. Read more
