Blog

Sharing experiences and insights from promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development.

We also feature guest articles from SEED Partners and other leading voices in the field of entrepreneurship for sustainable development and regularly share selected external blog articles as reading recommendations. The views expressed by individual authors on this blog do not necessarily represent the views of SEED. SEED is not responsible for and disclaims any and all liability for the content of articles written by contributors to the blog and for that posted as curated blog articles. Are you interested in writing a guest article for the SEED Blog? Contact us via info@seed.uno.

Joining forces for eco-inclusive Climate Action at COP24

Published: 19 December 2018Authors: Maggie Sloan
As global leaders joined together in Katowice to determine the future of our planet, our SEED team was present at COP24 to demand that Climate Action takes the lead of SEED-supported small and growing enterprises. Read more
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Your Eco-Inclusive Gift Inspiration INSIDE!

Published: 11 December 2018Authors: 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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Small business is the heart of the green economy

Published: 03 December 2018Authors: Maggie Sloan, Marion Müller vom Berge, Sonya Ong
SEED's guest blog for the Green Economy Coalition in the lead up to the Ministerial Conference of PAGE (Partnership for Action on Green Economy) in Cape Town, South Africa, and the Green Economy Coalition's Global Meeting in January 2019. Read more
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ASA-fellow shares first highlights from supporting SEED in Malawi

Published: 25 October 2018Authors: Insa Jülich, Maggie Sloan
ASA-fellow Insa Jülich shares her experiences supporting SEED in Malawi. Read more

World Environmental Health Day 2018: Promoting Sustainable Food Production through Eco-Inclusive Entrepreneurship

Published: 26 September 2018Authors: Sonya Ong, Zaina Batool
Given the increasing importance of the provision of food sustainably and safely, this year’s World Environmental Health Day is centred around the theme “Global Food Safety and Sustainability”. Read more
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ASA-Program Intern shares her entrepreneurship ride and invites you to join in

Published: 30 August 2018Authors: 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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Seizing opportunities of eco-inclusive enterprises for a green and inclusive waste sector in South Africa

Published: 25 July 2018Authors: 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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Supporting pioneering community businesses on their pathway towards a sustainable future

Published: 25 July 2018Authors: Christine Meyer, Insa Jülich
Dakeni is a small, very rural village near Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal - around 300 people live in the village. Arriving in the area, we see local women taking care of a large plant nursery. A lot of the men are working in the distant cities. Read more
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Momentum builds to shorten innovation cycles for eco-inclusive entrepreneurship

Published: 19 June 2018Authors: Christine Meyer, Maggie Sloan
Momentum has been building to replicate the success of eco-inclusive business models across countries, regions and the globe. A full programme of Replicator Workshops has kept us busy at SEED over the past few months. Since April, we have held eight SEED Replicator Connect Workshops across South Africa and two in Malawi with inspiring groups of highly motivated entrepreneurs. Read more
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Beating plastic pollution with business innovation on World Environment Day 2018

Published: 04 June 2018Authors: Maggie Sloan, Sonya Ong
At SEED, we celebrate and support innovative enterprises around the globe who integrate social and environmental objectives into their business models. On World Environment Day, we would like to give a shout out to enterprises who #BeatPlasticPollution everyday through their innovative products and eco-inclusive value chains. Read more
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Small and growing eco-inclusive solar enterprises fighting energy poverty on ground

Published: 21 March 2018Authors: Yasmin Waljee OBE
There are nearly 1.1 billion people without access to energy in the world. These are in communities that have no chance of getting access to national grids and even when they do: in low-income countries in remote rural communities, it is pretty unreliable. Read more
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SEED Celebrates a Female-Led Enterprise on International Women’s Day

Published: 08 March 2018Authors: Maggie Sloan, Sonya Ong
As we celebrate the achievements of women today, we present the female-led Unique Quality Product Enterprise as part of our launch of the SEED Case Study Series 2018. The new case study series that emanated from the SWITCH Africa Green project "Promoting Eco-Entrepreneurship in Africa", implemented by SEED, showcases how innoative eco-inclusive start-up enterprises in Africa shape sustainable development on the ground. Read more
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Celebrating Female Entrepreneurship on International Women’s Day 2018

Published: 08 March 2018Authors: Amar Munnolimath, Zaina Batool
At SEED, we embrace the potential of female entrepreneurs and are committed to empowering women. We not only offer equal-opportunity employment and encourage flexible working arrangements to assist families, but also take data-driven action globally to support women entrepreneurs working towards a greener economy and to accelerate female empowerment, including through our past SEED Gender Equality Award scheme. Read more
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Transform, Innovate, GoSustainable

Published: 28 November 2017Authors: Julia Rohe-Frydrych, Regina Treutwein
Coming up with new ideas is essential for the success of a business. Innovative enterprises are pro-active in solving problems, for instance, in reaching new customers or to refining their value proposition. An often unexplored opportunity for innovation is to integrate social and environmental dimensions into a company's business model.

  Read more
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Help yourself to an ‘Aha’ moment: Organisational Development for eco-inclusive enterprises

Published: 17 October 2017Authors: Kay Eunkyung Kang
My exciting journey with SEED started back in February 2016. As soon as I joined the team, I knew I was in for a whole lot of surprises. Before joining SEED, I had worked at a few Korean companies and governmental affiliations as well as international organisations... Read more
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Three Great Insights for Building a Great Eco Enterprise: Lessons Learnt from UNLEASH LAB 2017, Denmark

Published: 04 October 2017Authors: Jackson Nyarko
Some participants from our SEED Starter and SEED Replicator Programmes joined the UNLEASH Innovation Lab 2017* in Denmark, where they had the opportunity to work on their business ideas in order to create scalable solutions to the Sustainable Development Goals. Read more
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“Bra be da”, Waste for Cash and Outgrower Schemes

Published: 21 September 2017Authors: Ebenezer Kumi
In Ghana, MSMEs contribute as much as 70% of GDP and 85% of the manufacturing sector employment, and such impacts could be higher if we explored non-traditional ways of expanding eco-inclusive businesses—enterprises that integrate social environmental and economic goals into their business models. Read more
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The 4 types of people who can help you grow your business using the SEED Relationship Mapping tool

Published: 18 September 2017Authors: Kay Eunkyung Kang, Sonya Ong
Growing a business can be a tricky and intimidating process. Business owners are overwhelmed with different aspects to focus on. Should we invest in better customer experience, partnerships, staff wellbeing, or procuring more equipment? Read more
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A perfect match: How replication partnerships can effectively meet local challenges

Published: 25 August 2017Authors: Benita Rose, Christine Meyer
Within the last couple of months, we have facilitated over 15 Replicator Connect Workshops in Uganda, Kenya, South Africa and Ghana. Time to pause, reflect what replication can achieve and take a closer look at our matches. Read more
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No Overthinking—Replicate to multiply impacts of Clean Cookstove Enterprises

Published: 28 July 2017Authors: Ebenezer Kumi
At SEED, we have been working with a number of successful Clean Cookstove enterprises: Nishant Bioenergy, WANA Solutions, Awamu, 5 Star Stoves and Greenway Grameen Infra, to explore pathways in expanding their reach and impact beyond their locality, region or country. Read more
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Toolification: My personal journey in shaping the way we do business support at SEED

Published: 24 July 2017Authors: Mirko Zürker
My journey with SEED and providing one-on-one business support for eco-inclusive enterprises started in 2009. Read more
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How Burkinabe entrepreneurs are shaping a greener future

Published: 10 March 2017Authors: Damien N. Somé
Have you ever heard of Burkina Faso’s “Green Brigade”? Picture teams of dozens of women regularly cleaning the streets of Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou at dawn! Many urban dwellers in the country’s capital have testified for the positive contribution of the green brigade to the cleanliness of the city. Read more
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Imagine and Replicate

Published: 15 February 2017Authors: Ebenezer Kumi
Imagine thousands of low-income women farmers whose lands are degraded and infertile because of overuse. How can they continue farming to provide for their children and families? Read more
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Soil: Appreciate what's beneath your feet

Published: 19 January 2017Authors: Amar Munnolimath, Elizabeth Mamo
Soil gives life and opportunities. Having land with “good” soil can mean the difference between thriving plants and those struggling to stay alive. Read more
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