Sustainable Agriculture

Hunger eradication, adequate nutrition and food security depend on the adoption of sustainable agriculture solutions with clear social and environmental targets. SEED-supported enterprises deliver entrepreneurial solutions to improve the agricultural sector’s resource efficiency and crop yields while ensuring that communities are able to adapt to climate change. Exemplary SEED-supported enterprises cultivate indigenous and nutritious crops, manufacture environmentally friendly fertilisers, deliver real-time market insights and training services using accessible technology and more.

Achieving Smart Agriculture Potential through Efficient Data Connectivity and Management

Published: 07 January 2021Authors: Linde Wolters, Sonya Ong, Supapim Wannopas
Through the SEED Practitioner Labs for Policy Prototyping Thailand 2020, ListenField presented its policy solution through providing agronomic insight for sustainable and profitable farming. Read more
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Achieving Smart Agriculture Potential through Efficient Data Connectivity and Management | Thailand, Policy 2020

Published: 07 January 2021Authors: Sonya Ong, Supapim Wannopas
Download SEED's Thailand 2020 Policy Brief from the Practitioner Labs for Policy Prototyping to read about ListenField's contributions to achieving smart agriculture potential through data connectivity and management.  Read more

SEED Green SME Finance Training

Published: 23 October 2020
Facilitating access to finance for agricultural green SMEs in Malawi

Register by: 3rd November Read more
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Equity Crowdfunding Platform for Green MSME Financing | Climate Finance, Indonesia 2020

Published: 20 October 2020Authors: Maggie Sloan
The Equity Crowdfunding Platform for Green MSME Financing solution, developed by Perkumpulan Untuk Peningkatan Usaha Kecil (PUPUK) builds on existing efforts to use public capital to spur MSME growth. This solution will: (a) Attract private investors by offering a pipeline of bankable MSMEs in a one-stop-shop for MSME financing. (b) Aggregate green MSMEs through partner business development service providers (or intermediaries), where finance is released to MSMEs in aggregate working with the specific BDS provider who has delivered cleaner production and green business advisory to the specific MSMEs integrated into the platform. Read more
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Enterprise Resilience: Six Critical Factors to Protecting Your Start-Up’s Future

Published: 24 September 2020
To better understand what resilience means for MSMEs during the COVID-19 pandemic, SEED interviewed 30 eco-inclusive enterprises. Unsurprisingly, MSMEs have been strongly affected by the economic shock of the pandemic. From these interviews, SEED has outlined the six critical factors for protecting the future of your enterprise. Read more

Eco-Inclusive Enterprises: Accelerating Southern Africa’s Green and Inclusive Economies

Published: 02 September 2020
Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) provide 50% of jobs, contribute to over 35% of the GDP in emerging economies, and overall make up 90% of registered firms across the world. They are especially impactful in emerging economies as they work toward inclusive growth and equality for marginalised populations. At SEED, we focus on growing eco-inclusive enterprises which in turn contribute socially, economically, and environmentally to empowering the 5.2 billion people at the bottom of the pyramid worldwide.

This report examines the yearly impact of 80 of our eco-inclusive enterprises in three of our SEED countries: Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. These locally embedded enterprises, 51% of which are women-led, demonstrate that driving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can indeed be profitable and with a success rate of 82.5% still in business, they show long-lasting impact in each of their communities and sectors. Read more
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Eco-Inclusive Enterprises: Forerunners in Advancing the SDGs | SEED SDG Impact Snapshot

Published: 15 July 2020Authors: Linde Wolters, Mirko Zürker, Net Pornlumon Nirachatsuwan
As governments respond to the wide-ranging problems resulting from the COVID-19 crisis, it’s worth thinking about how we may take this opportunity to shift towards a green economy. Because the way we recover from this crisis will impact our fight against climate change and our progress towards achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

A green recovery calls for investments in solutions that provide social, environmental and economic benefits to people, especially those in vulnerable and marginalised communities. SEED-supported eco-inclusive enterprises and other Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) already promote green-technologies while including low-income people in their value chain.

The SEED Impact Snapshot helps to reveal the versatility of the impact of eco-inclusive enterprises. It also helps to clarify where there is the biggest potential for their SDG contributions and how policymakers may help unlock that potential further. Read more
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Climate-Smart Innovation In Agricultural Production And Distribution: Replicator Workbook

Published: 07 July 2020
Smallholder and subsistence farmers are likely to suffer from rising temperatures and extreme weather events; while on the other hand, agriculture itself is a relevant driver of impacts on the climate. This shows how crucial it is to develop climate-smart ways of production and distribution in agriculture and which important role eco-inclusive enterprises play in contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Climate-resilient farming methods, sustainable value chains, and innovative products and methods bring innovation to the agricultural sector. Contribute to climate-smart agriculture by replicating an eco-inclusive enterprise providing innovations in production and distribution. Get inspired by various proven business models and take the first steps towards agricultural innovations in your own community! Read more
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Filling the Missing Middle Financing Gap | Scoping Paper, India 2020

Published: 16 June 2020Authors: Kathrin Kirsch, Marlena Kiefl
This scoping paper provides the basis for the implementation of the collaborative, multi-step process of the SEED Practitioner Labs Climate Finance in India in 2020. India’s vibrant landscape of MSMEs presents an opportunity for diversified socio-economic growth. In light of climate change, climate-smart enterprises – offering products and services for climate change adaptation and/or mitigation – are well-positioned to absorb global climate finance flows to create environmental, social and economic impacts in line with India’s climate action objectives. However, climate-smart MSMEs cannot fulfill their full potential as they lack appropriate access to finance to grow and scale their operations resulting in a missing-middle-financing gap. Read more
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Digital Innovations: Data-Driven Eco-inclusive Enterprises

Published: 25 May 2020Authors: Khawla Rammali, Sonya Ong
The use of and access to data allows enterprises to make better and faster decisions. Data can help reveal patterns and trends in human behaviour of relevance inside and outside the sectors enterprises operate in. Read about why ListenField embraces digital innovation and how it has helped them scale-up their impact. Read more
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Digital Innovation for Eco-Inclusive Enterprises

Published: 30 March 2020Authors: Khawla Rammali, Linde Wolters, Sonya Ong
Digital innovation is a great way to accelerate social, environmental and economic transformation, for enterprises to tackle challenges such as climate change, food security, gender equality, and scale-up solutions more quickly through technology. Read more
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Digital Innovations by Eco-Inclusive Enterprises: In the Agriculture Sector

Published: 30 March 2020Authors: Khawla Rammali, Sonya Ong
Digital innovations can bring significant benefits to stakeholders in the agriculture sector. Take rural farmers who face challenges including a lack of access to information on markets, need advice on productivity gains, and struggle with obtaining credit and low levels of financial inclusion. Read more
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SEED Congratulates Seven Malawi Enterprises on their Latest Success

Published: 28 February 2020
Seven of our SEED Malawi eco-inclusive enterprises - Chonona, Green Impact Technologies, Green Ventures, Honey Products, Hortinet, Inte Waste and Ziweto – were recently able to raise funds that will help them scale-up and achieve their full growth potential. Read more
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Seed Award Winner Gorilla Conservation Wins the St Andrews Prize for the Environment 2020

Authors: Source: THE ST ANDREWS PRIZE
Celebrating its 22nd award in 2020, the Prize is an environmental initiative by the University of St Andrews in Scotland. The award recognises significant contributions to environmental issues and concerns with a focus on sustainability, conservation, biodiversity and community development. Read more
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Bottom-up Solutions to the Climate Emergency: Three Innovative, Eco-Inclusive Enterprises Take a Local Approach

Authors: Linde Wolters / Marlena Kiefl / Khawla Rammali Source: Next Billion
The threat of climate change exacerbates already existing inequalities, and increases the urgency of the need for resilient communities. But building this resilience presents a complex challenge: How can the world’s most marginalized communities effectively pursue growth, work toward the Sustainable Development Goals and overcome climate-related crises – while involving the rural households, women and youth who are most affected by climate change? Read more
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SEED Low Carbon Award Finalist Ecozen Solutions Ranked as the 14th Fastest Growing Company in India.

Authors: Source: Economic Times
In any great story, a few memorable characters always stand out, and so it is too with India. The Economic Times and Statista are on the cusp of launching the inaugural edition of India’s Growth Champions 2020, an ambitious initiative that aims to highlight true accelerators of the Indian economy. Read more
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SEED India Hub Launch at the World Sustainable Development Summit 2020

Authors: TERI Source: TERI
Rainer Agster, Director of Operations at SEED, was present during WSDS 2020 to launch the SEED India hub and to introduce two eco-inclusive enterprises (Aikya Organics & Daily Dump) that are developing solutions for the challenges of climate change. Read more
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SEED Low Carbon Award 2019 finalist Stonesoup featured on 'the better India'

Authors: Charu Chowdhary Source: The better India
SEED Low Carbon Award 2019 finalist Stonesoup featured on 'the better India' to share their knowledge on terrace gardening. Stonesoupe provides home composting kits and other eco-friendly products that enable people to reduce their household waste and grow their own food. Read more
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Farmer Friendly Finance: Unlocking Financing for Climate-Smart Agriculture Through a Community-Based Youth Farming Approach | Climate Finance, Ghana 2019

Published: 14 January 2020Authors: Marlena Kiefl
Farmer Friendly Finance (FFF) offers climate finance solutions to farmers, and especially young graduates, who want to set up a farming business as aspiring farmerpreneurs in the context of climate-smart agriculture. FFF bundles services to de-risk farmerpreneurs, offers access to finance and cooperates with rural communities to provide land to farmerpreneurs with the aim to address the challenge of climate change and youth migration which Ghana’s agriculture sector is facing. Read more
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Microinsurance Without Borders Effective Delivery of Microinsurance for SMEs in the Agricultural Sector | Climate Finance, Ghana 2019

Published: 14 January 2020Authors: Kathrin Kirsch, Marlena Kiefl
Microinsurance without Borders aims to strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers towards external shocks, focusing on value chains that are strongly affected by climate change. It comprises a comprehensive solution that fits the needs of smallholder farmers by combining a mobile-enabled insurance with technical assistance for climate-resilient agriculture, as well as financial literacy training for smallholder farmers to foster a financially inclusive and climate-resilient agricultural sector in Ghana and fill the insurance gap for smallholder farmers Read more
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Agriculture Insurance and Climate-Related Risk Assessment: Stimulating Climate-Smart Agriculture Markets | Policy, Malawi 2019

Published: 13 November 2019Authors: Alina Weiss, Maggie Sloan, Marlena Kiefl
The policy instrument for stimulating markets for climate-smart agriculture value chains, combining agriculture insurance and climate-related risk assessment, will build decentralised capacity-building networks (supported by public and financial sector partners). This instrument aims to raise awareness and reduce the climate-related vulnerabilities of smallholder farmers and agribusinesses by developing and delivering risk management and adaptation solutions which are catered to these enterprises and the localised enterprise ecosystems in which they operate. Read more
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Looking Beyond the Known: Changing Mindsets through Design-Led Entrepreneurial Solutions

Published: 31 October 2019Authors: Maggie Sloan
Ms Kasturi, Founder of Daily Dump (SEED Low Carbon Award Winner 2018), was welcomed as keynote speaker during the BEYOND THE KNOWN: Practitioners’ Exchange to Discover New Ways to Promote Entrepreneurship & Support MSME Development from 15-16th October at the GIZ Representation in Berlin. Read more
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Meet the SEED Awards 2019 Winners & Finalists

Published: 24 October 2019
Tackling poverty and climate change, generating employment opportunities and contributing to economic development, this year’s 14 SEED Award winners were selected from over nine hundred applicants and were recognised for solutions to major local and global challenges. Read more
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The SEED Awards 2019 highlight the contribution of green and social enterprises to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals

Published: 24 October 2019
Lilongwe, Malawi, Berlin, Germany, 24 October 2019 - Tackling poverty and climate change, generating employment opportunities and contributing to economic development, this year’s 14 SEED Award winners were selected from over 900 applicants and were recognised for solutions to major local and global challenges. Read more
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Cooperative-to-Cooperative Platform: Expanding networks for community-led business development | Policy, Malawi 2019

Published: 21 October 2019Authors: Alina Weiss, Maggie Sloan, Marlena Kiefl
The cooperative-to-cooperative platform for climate-smart agriculture is a digital platform offering combined performance indexing, knowledge sharing, and matchmaking between cooperative unions and cooperatives across Malawi. The platform supports the further coordination of cooperatives and public sector initiatives in Malawi. Read more
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