# S E E DA S 14 Making growth sustainable: co-creating solutions through social and green entrepreneurship
SEED Initiative promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners
2 | SEED AFRICA SYMPOSIUM 2014
Table of Contents Foreword..................................................................................................................................................................3 About the SEED Initiative .......................................................................................................................................4 About the SEED Africa Symposium 2014...............................................................................................................6 Symposium Highlights............................................................................................................................................6 Programme..............................................................................................................................................................8 Speakers................................................................................................................................................................13 The 2014 SEED Awards........................................................................................................................................14 The SEED Support................................................................................................................................................22 Stay connected.....................................................................................................................................................23
Jambo and Karibu to the SEED Africa Symposium 2014! “Making growth sustainable: co-creating solutions through social and green entrepreneurship” is the theme of the 2014 SEED Africa Symposium which on 10 and 11 September will bring to Nairobi over 250 entrepreneurs and business people, policy makers, and representatives from civil society and support institutions from across Africa and beyond. Here they will be able to share their knowledge and experience, explore partnerships, and develop solutions to stimulate the growth of social and green entrepreneurship in Africa. Our aim is to make the event truly a ‘symposium’, with differently themed interactive sessions around innovative business models and collaborations that can drive the change to sustainable development. One of the highlights of the Symposium will be the SEED Awards Ceremony. This year over 40 start-up social and environmental enterprises will be recognised and celebrated for their innovation, their promise, and their commitment to making a sustainable difference at the local level. These 2014 SEED Winners will receive their certificates from Ibrahim Thiaw, the UNEP Deputy Executive Director, on behalf of the SEED Partners. The SEED partnership, founded by UNEP, UNDP and IUCN, brings together major institutions, donors, corporate, and non-governmental entities. Many will be represented at the Symposium, including our Corporate Partner Hisense which is continuing its generous support for the event. We are most grateful to all the Symposium Partners and Supporters for their generous support. They come from a range of sectors, from corporations through to mainstream development organisations. All are looking to find ways of enriching the potential of the green economy and have a great deal to offer. So, the stage is set. We now eagerly look to all the players to piece together concrete ideas about how small and micro-enterprises can join with larger businesses and policy makers to enhance the green economy.
Helen Marquard Executive Director, SEED
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About the SEED Initiative
Promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
SEED’s multi-level approach:
Social and environmental entrepreneurship, also known as eco-entrepreneurship, is pivotal for sustainable development and poverty reduction.
Grassroots
To accelerate its growth, SEED helps small grassroots enterprises in developing countries to enhance their social, environmental, and economic benefits. SEED also provides a bridge between entrepreneurs and policy makers, sharing experience and contributing to the framework for the green economy.
Eco-enterprises embrace the added values of social improvement and wise resource management which engenders resilience and adaptability in their communities. By the end of 2014, SEED will have worked alongside nearly 180 start-up eco-enterprises across the developing world, with a particular focus on Africa. In addition to funding needs, SEED provides tailored support in terms of skills, knowledge and tools to scale up.
Institutional SEED Awards Supporting enterprises SEED Support
Research & Policy
Local business intermediary organisations play a vital role in the development of local enterprises and in helping Promoting an enabling to bring about an enabling environment for enterprises environment promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development to flourish. By working with such organisations, SEED Green Business strengthens the direct support to eco-enterprises, Development Founding Partners Service multiplies the use of the SEED approach beyond SEED Winners, and simultaneously develops in-country capacity.
SEED Initiative
SEED Initiative
Policy
SEED was founded by the UN Environment Programme, UN Development Programme, and International Union for Through empirical research, SEED has looked at critical Conservation of Nature, and now has range of major development success factors for social and environmental small and promoting entrepreneurship forasustainable partners. micro-enterprises, and more recently has focused on studying how these start-ups grow, the barriers they face, and their economic, social and environmental impact. Founding Partners These insights are shared with national and international policy and decision makers and institutions, including at high level events.
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SEED’s achievements
• SEED has awarded a number of 175 SEED Winners between 2005 and 2014 • A total value of grants of about US$
1MILLION
have been issued
• SEED is active in more than 40 different countries • SEED has organized a number of 5 SEED Symposia on Social and Green Entrepreneurship in Africa between 2010 and 2014 • A number of 1337 enterprises have participated in 2009-2012 SEED Research • SEED has published a number of 10 research reports and policy insights between 2008 and 2014
SEED Initiative promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners
SEED Initiative
SEED Initiative
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
SEED Initiative SEED Initiative
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners
SEED Initiative
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
SEED Initiative SEED Initiative
Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners Founding Partners
Founding Partners
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Founding Partners
SEED Initiative
Founding Partners
Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
SEED Initiative SEED Initiative
Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
SEED Initiative promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners
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Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners Founding Partners
Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners
Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
SEED Initiative
SEED Initiative SEED Initiative SEED Initiative SEED Initiative SEED Initiative Founding Partners
SEED Initiative SEED Initiative
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
SEED Initiative
Founding Partners
Founding Partners
Founding Partners
SEED Initiative
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
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Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
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Founding Partners
Founding Partners
promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development Founding Partners
Founding Partners
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The SEED Africa Symposium 2014
Overview
Explore. Enable. Engage
The SEED Africa Symposium is a special forum for entrepreneurs, business people, policy makers, representatives from civil society and from business and development support institutions to share their knowledge and experience, explore partnerships, and develop solutions to particular problems. The SEED Symposia are part of SEED’s efforts to foster the Green Economy at the grassroots and to encourage the growth of socioenvironmental entrepreneurship in Africa. This is the fifth SEED Symposium since 2011, each of which has been held in South Africa or Kenya.
Explore: Acquire insights into innovative micro and small sustainable enterprises and inclusive business models. Explore how collaboration and co-creation between social and green entrepreneurs, businesses, and enabling institutions can generate significant impact.
This year’s theme: “Making growth sustainable: co-creating solutions through social and green entrepreneurship This year the event will focus on the nexus between small social and green enterprises and larger businesses, how to strengthen collaboration between them, and how to engage policy makers to put supportive frameworks in place, particularly in the African context. The questions which keynote speakers, high-level panelists, and workshop sessions will explore centre around: What are the innovative small, micro and medium sized enterprises (SMMEs) that drive the change to sustainable development? How can linkages between social and green enterprises and businesses be strengthened for greater innovation and impact? What barriers do they face and how can their growth in Africa be fostered?
Enable: Take part in a number of interactive sessions to discuss barriers enterprises face in scaling up and replicating sustainable business models. Exchange with innovators, experts, and policy makers to create solutions for a more supportive ecosystem. Engage: Develop new relationships with representatives from social and green enterprises, multinational corporations, government, financial institutions, impact investors, international development organisations, and civil society.
Symposium Highlights International Awards Ceremony Sep 10, 17.15-18.30 During the International Awards Ceremony we will celebrate the 41 winners of the 2014 SEED Awards. These are innovative start-up enterprises in developing countries and emerging economies which have integrated social and environmental benefits into their business models. Winners will receive certificates recognising their achievements and promise in one of the following categories: Low Carbon Awards, Gender Equality Awards, Africa Awards, and South Africa Awards.
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Co-Creation Workshop for Inclusive Business
Parallel Sessions
Sep 10, 08.30-13.30 (Hosted by GIZ)
The parallel sessions offer a variety of interactive formats and workshops:
A workshop organised by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) for representatives from corporations and start-ups working at the Base of the Pyramid. In this session, around 25 business leaders from small and large organisations present their social and green innovations and explore how they can work together to create greater impact. In interactive working groups, senior managers and entrepreneurs from various sectors and African countries will be given the opportunity to pitch their ventures and explore collaboration opportunities and new business ideas.
Netfloor Experience the evolution of our Netfloor – a novel way of networking and connecting to the people around you: entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers, representatives from civil society and from capacity building organisations. Participants are invited to join this networking session throughout the 1.5 days of the event to connect with other people and initiate partnerships.
Business models and collaborations that can drive change Parallel Sessions 1 I Sep 11, 11.15-12.30 During the morning sessions we would like to invite you to explore innovative micro and small social and green enterprises and successful examples of collaborations with corporations and support institutions.
Co-creating solutions for an effective ecosystem Parallel Sessions 2 I Sep 11, 14.15-16.00 During the afternoon sessions we would like to invite you to discuss solutions for a more supportive ecosystem for social and green entrepreneurship. Solutions and recommendations identified in these workshops will be shared in the closing plenary session.
UN Women Business Hub Launch Expo The Symposium’s Expo provides the opportunity to meet more than 50 innovative social and green enterprises, as well as a number of support institutions in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship. The Expo will run in parallel to the Symposium throughout the 1.5 days. It will convene the 2014 SEED Winners, and further sustainable business ventures from the Innovation Against Poverty Programme (Sida) and UNDP Small Grants Programme.
Sep 11, 11.15-12.30 (Hosted by UN Women)
UN Women will launch the EmpowerWomen.org Business Hub at the SEED Africa Symposium. This Business Hub is a global online ecosystem for collectives of women entrepreneurs, companies with demonstrated action for gender equality, and other business partners to learn from each other and realise economic and social benefits.
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Programme Making growth sustainable: Co-creating solutions through social and green entrepreneurship Moderator: Rainer Agster – SEED
10 September 2014 - Setting the scene 08.00
Registration for workshop participants
09.00 – 12.30
SEED Winner workshop By invitation only An exclusive workshop for the 2014 SEED Winners. In this workshop, the SEED Winners coming from all over the world get to know each other, share experiences and learnings on how to grow their venture, and explore new collaborations.
15.00 – 15.20
Opening and introduction Speaker: Helen Marquard, Executive Director – SEED
15.20 – 15.40
Keynote address Speaker: Prof Judi Wakhungu, Cabinet Secretary – Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, Government of Kenya (tbc)
15.40 – 16.45
High-level plenary panel Entrepreneurial solutions for green and inclusive growth
Hosted by SEED 08.30 – 12.30
Co-creation workshop for Inclusive Business By invitation only
Panel discussion and Q&A. How are small scale social and green enterprises contributing to Green and Inclusive Growth? What are opportunities existing in Africa and in which sectors? What are the barriers to the scale and spread of these innovative entrepreneurial solutions?
A workshop for representatives from corporations and start-ups working at the Base of the Pyramid. In this workshop, business leaders from small and large organisations present their social and green innovations and explore how they can work together on delivering greater impact.
Speakers: • Christine Musisi, Regional Director Africa – UN Women • Ibrahim Thiaw, UNEP Deputy Executive Director and Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations • Lorna Rutto, CEO – Ecopost (SEED Winner Kenya 2010) • Manu Chandaria, CEO – Comcrafts • Rishi Khubchandani, General Manager – GroFin Kenya
Hosted by GIZ 09.00 – 12.30
Workshop on opportunities offered by ICT in growing your business Seperate registration required A workshop for representatives from social and green enterprises, start-ups, and civil-society organisations. The workshop organised by UN Women and Intel aims to encourage enhanced understanding and motivation for using ICT to further business development and growth. Hosted by UN Women and Intel
14.00
Registration and coffee
Moderator: Rainer Agster – SEED 16.45 – 17.15
Break and refreshments
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17.15 – 18.30
SEED International Awards Ceremony Celebrating the winners of the 2014 SEED Awards: innovative start-up enterprises that offer sustainable and scalable solutions to social and environmental challenges. Welcome remarks: • Ibrahim Thiaw, UNEP Deputy Executive Director and Assistant-Secretary-General of the United Nations Address: • Keith Perreira, Export Manager – Hisense South Africa SEED Awards and insights from a past winner: • Evans Wadongo, Executive Director – Sustainable Development For All-Kenya (S.D.F.A-Kenya) (SEED Winner Kenya 2011) • Helen Marquard, Executive Director – SEED Award presentation to the 2014 SEED Winners: • Winners of the Low Carbon Awards • Winners of the Gender Equality Awards • Winners of the Africa Awards • Winners of the South Africa Awards Moderator: Rainer Agster – SEED
18.30 – 21.00
Networking reception and get-together with the 2014 SEED Winners Following the Award Ceremony, the SEED Winners present their innovative products and services during the networking reception.
With the environment at their heart, these innovative enterprises create economic opportunities for communities that are often located close to natural resources, but are nonetheless deprived of sustainable livelihoods and social facilities. Speaking as Chairman of the SEED Board, we are impressed by the entrepreneurial spirit and the commitment these new SEED Winners bring to their communities. They can count on our support to help them to scale up and replicate, and so to inspire others to follow suit. Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General IUCN
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11 September 2014 – Exploring best-practices and co-creating solutions 9.00 – 9.15
Welcoming and introduction Speaker: Friedo Sielemann, German Deputy Ambassador – Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kenya
10.15 – 12.30
Parallel sessions I Business models and collaborations that can drive change
9.15 – 9.35
Keynote address Speaker: Bob Collymore, CEO – Safaricom
9.35 – 10.45
High-level plenary panel
During the morning sessions we invite you to explore innovative micro and small social and green enterprises and successful examples of collaborations with corporations and support institutions.
Building linkages for innovative, inclusive, and sustainable entrepreneurship
See on the right for further details about these first parallel sessions
Panel discussion and Q&A. What does it take to build a sustainable business model with social and green impact? What are innovative partnerships to foster these enterprises? What is needed to enable successful collaborations to emerge and flourish?
12.30 – 13.30
Networking lunch
13.30 – 14.15
Enterprise pitches
14.15 – 16.00
Parallel sessions II
Speakers: • Daniel Omosa, CEO – The Wrigley Company (EA) Ltd. (Mars Inc.) • Helen Marquard, Executive Director – SEED • James Mwangi, CEO – Equity Bank • Nadia Lamhandaz, Policy Officer – European Commission – EuropeAid Unit Climate Change, Environment, Natural Resources • Ruth Coleman, Executive Director Rwanda Office – Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers Moderator: Naysán Sahba, Director, Division of Communications & Public Information (DCPI) of UNEP
10.45 – 11.15
Coffee break
Co-creating solutions for an effective ecosystem During these afternoon sessions we invite you to jointly create solutions for a more supportive ecosystem for social and green entrepreneurship. Solutions and recommendations identified in these workshops will be shared in the closing plenary session. See on page 12 for further details about these second parallel sessions 16.00 – 16.30
Coffee break
16.30 – 17.15
Synthesis and outlook
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Parallel sessions I A new generation of business models: insights into the Nutrient Value Chain
Hosted by Ashoka
Panel discussion and Q&A. In this session, the Nutrient Value Chain serves as a role model to explore how entrepreneurial and social innovations can create change at the ecosystem level. What opportunities do Ashoka and social entrepreneurs see along the Nutrient Value Chain? What are examples of innovative business models and successful strategic alliances in this field? Speakers: • Cheryl Joan Jones, Kenya Country Manager – Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) • Florence Wambugu, Founder – Africa Harvest • John Logan, Country Director – TechnoServe Kenya • Nelson Kariuki, Founder – Rutuba Moderator: Agostine Ndung’u, Venture Program Manager – Ashoka East Africa Unleashing opportunities at the Base of the Pyramid through partnerships between social entrepreneurs and corporations
Hosted by giz
Panel discussion and Q&A. How can linkages between social entrepreneurs and corporations be strengthened for greater innovation and impact at the Base of the Pyramid? Which collaborations are interesting and for whom? How to build effective partnerships? The discussion will draw on the outcomes from the “Co-creation Workshop for Inclusive Business” taking place on Day 1. Speakers: • Allison Voss, Associate – i-dev International • Andy Narracott, Deputy CEO – Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) • Lisiane Harten, Manager Business Unit Private Sector Cooperation – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH • Makhegu Mabunda, Good Business Journey (Sustainability) Analyst – Woolworths South Africa Moderator: Mirko Zürker, Senior Project Manager – SEED Spotlight on Gender - Empowering women: Return to families, businesses and societies
Hosted by UN Women
Panel discussion and Q&A. What are the benefits of promoting gender equality and empowering women to businesses and societies? What can companies do to address gender issues in their organisations and in their communities? What can companies and other partners do to support collectives of women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses? Speakers: • Adil El Youssefi, Managing Director – Airtel Kenya • Christine Musisi, Regional Director – UN Women Eastern and Southern Africa Region • Hellen Gichohi, Managing Director – Equity Group Foundation • Katherine Lucey, Chief Executive Officer – Solar Sister • Wanjiru Gathira, Chair – Uwezo Fund Moderator: Anna Fälth, Manager Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic Empowerement – UN Women In this session, UN Women will launch the EmpowerWomen.org Business Hub - a global online ecosystem for collectives of women entrepreneurs, companies with demonstrated action for gender equality, and other business partners to learn from each other and realize economic and social benefits.
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Parallel sessions II Accelerating green pioneers to achieve scale
Hosted by Hivos/VC4A/GrowthAfrica/ImpactAmplifier
Fireside chat between entrepreneurs, investors & sector accelerators followed by working groups. Entrepreneurs working on greener products and services are finding it hard to gain the necessary traction to achieve scale and create meaningful impact in their societies. What are the opportunities and challenges transformative entrepreneurs face? What can be done to overcome barriers to growth? What are strategies that can be applied in getting to scale? Speakers: • Ben White, Founder – Venture Capital for Africa (VC4A) • Johnni Kjelsgaard, Founder – Growth Africa • Maximilian Pichulik, Partner – Impact Amplifier Moderator: Leo Soldaat, Senior Advisor Financial Services and Green Entrepreneurship – Hivos Building ecosystems for sustainable entrepreneurship: successful approaches and lessons learnt
Hosted by SWITCHMed
Expert inputs followed by working groups. The session focuses on sharing knowledge and experiences between initiatives working on the creation of a supportive environment for sustainable entrepreneurship. What are the enablers of sustainable entrepreneurship? What policies and knowledge transfer are required, and how can access to finance be addressed? How can these initiatives build synergies between their activities and collaborate for bigger impact in the region? Speakers: • Caesar Mwangi, Africa Regional Director – GVEP International • Daniel Sorrosal, Policy and Advocacy Manager – FEBEA (European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks and Financiers) • Enrique de Villamore, Director – UNEP/MAP SCP/RAC (Sustainable Consumption and Production Regional Activity Centre) • Michael Janinhoff, Head of GIZ Responsible & Inclusive Business Hub MENA – Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Moderator: Burcu Tunçer, Team Leader – SWITCH-Med Networking Facility Spotlight on Impacts - How and what to measure
Hosted by SEED/Sida
Fishbowl discussion. This session explores the role of impact measurement in the development of a supporting ecosystem for social and green enterprises. Why is it important and what are the challenges in performing impact assessment? How can social, environmental and economic performance be tracked and measured? What are existing tools and approaches for social and green enterprises? Speakers: • Dennis Ochieng, Sales & Operations, Fresh Life Initiative – Sanergy • Dominikus Collenberg, Founder – Organic Africa • Pauline Githinji, ICT4ag Advisory Coordinator Africa – Root Capital • Virinder Sharma, Regional Climate Change Adviser – DFID Kenya & Somalia Moderators: • Carmen Lopez-Clavero, Program Manager, Private Sector Collaboration and ICT – Swedish Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) • Mirko Zürker, Senior Project Manager – SEED
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Speakers
Find the full list of speakers on our website at www.seedinit.org/symposium/speakers or scan this QR code to get there:
We are delighted to welcome many prominent speakers who will share their experience and ideas during the SEED Africa Symposium 2014. Here are just a few. Details of all the speakers are on the Symposium website.
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The 2014 SEED Awards The 2014 SEED Awards were launched in March 2014. The Winners represent the most innovative and promising social and environmental start-up enterprises. Since 2011 SEED has introduced special focus areas: • As in previous years, the 2014 SEED Awards placed a special focus on Africa which is reflected in an increased number of 28 Awards being made to enterprises in Ethiopia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. These Awards are largely supported by the European Union and the Government of Flanders. For the South Africa Awards, support is also provided by Hisense. • Reflecting the growing need to encourage ‘climate smart’ enterprises at the grassroots level, a further ten SEED Low Carbon Awards are being made to ecoenterprises that focus on mitigation and adaptation to climate change in Colombia, India, Tanzania, Uganda and Vietnam. These Awards are funded mainly by the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety. • This year, three SEED Gender Equality Awards are being given to enterprises that are women-led or owned and prioritise gender equality or women’s empowerment as a core objective. These Awards are largely supported by UN Women, the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) which promotes inclusive and sustainable industrial development. Additional support is given by the international law firm Hogan Lovells. • 41 particularly promising enterprises were selected out of 451 applications from 84 countries
Geographic coverage per region
Sectoral distribution Sector Agriculture / Forestry / Fisheries
Applications 125
Energy
61
Education
39
Waste
32
Health / Social Services
29
Biodiversity / Conservation
25
Information
18
Water / Sanitation
13
Other
105
Top submissions by country Country
Applications
Uganda
93
South Africa
63
Tanzania
61
India
31
Kenya
21
Ethopia
20
Nigeria
19
Colombia
19
Malawi
18
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2014 SEED International Jury The 2014 SEED Award Winners were selected by the independent SEED International Jury. SEED is extremely grateful to the jurors for their generous dedication of time, and the rigour with which they considered each of the candidates before making their final selection. The members of the jury are: Bert van Nieuwenhuizen: Chief Technical Advisor Africa Biogas Partnership Programme, SNV Kenya. Catalina Alvarez Morato: Deputy Chief of Party, Colombia Clean Energy Program, Colombia. Crispin Rapinet: Partner, Hogan Lovells, United Kingdom. David Sher: Investment Director, Low Carbon Enterprise Fund, United Kingdom. Douglas Kativu: Head of Global Reporting Initiative Focal Point South Africa. Edward Mungai: CEO, Climate Innovation Center, Kenya. Franรงois Bonnici: Director, Bertha Centre for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship, University of Cape Town, Graduate School of Business, South Africa.
Lucy Aviles: Independent Senior Advisor on Rural Development, Gender Mainstreaming and Social Impact Assessment, Bolivia / Germany. Patricio Sande: President, Scientific Research Association of Mozambique. Paul Laird: Corporate Partnerships Manager, Earthwatch, United Kingdom. Phillip Bohwasi: Executive Director, Zimbabwe Opportunities Industrialization Center, Zimbabwe. Rebecca Harrison: CEO, African Management Initiative, South Africa. Saphira Patel: Manager Operations and Evaluations, DSBA, South Africa. Sarah Timpson: Senior Adviser on Community-based Initiatives, UNDP, USA.
Gisele Yitamben: President, Association for the Support of Women Entrepreneurs, Cameroon.
Saul Levin: Head of Research and Policy Strategy, TIPS, South Africa.
Helmy Abouleish: Managing Director, SEKEM Holding, Egypt.
Scott Overdyke: Senior Program & Planning Manager, Root Capital, USA.
Ilyas Azzioui: Incubator Manager, National Center for Scientific and Technical Research, Morocco.
Seema Arora: Executive Director, CII-ITC Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development, India.
Jane Kisakye: Independent Senior Advisor on Environment Conservation and Community Development, Uganda.
Shrashtant Patara: Senior Vice President, Development Alternatives, India.
Jeff Felten: Managing Director Tanzania, Camco Clean Energy, Tanzania. Kieu Oanh Pham: Director, Centre for Social Initiatives Promotion (CSIP), Vietnam. Kofi Nketsie-Tabiri: Founder and Managing Director, Xpress Gas, Ghana. Leticia Greyling: Senior Lecturer, Rhodes Business School, South Africa.
Sosten Chiota: Regional Program Director, LEAD Southern Africa, Malawi. Tanya Lobel: Director, Actis, United Kingdom. Thais Corral: SEED Winner 2008; Director, Adapta Sertao, Brazil. Valerie Green: Director Climate and Energy Unit, National Business Initiative, South Africa.
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Meet the 2014 SEED Award Winners All the Winners will be exhibiting their products and services throughout the Symposium in the dedicated Expo area. They will welcome visitors!
The 2014 SEED Gender Equality Award winners (by country) are: Bangladesh JITA Social Business is an innovative rural distribution network, providing jobs and a regular income for women from low socio-economic communities across Bangladesh. Called Aparajitas - meaning “women who never accept defeat” – the women earn commissions selling a range of products from solar lamps to food and sanitary items on a door-to-door basis.
Nepal Women’s Off-season Vegetable Production Group is a women-led initiative growing and marketing organic vegetables in a climate where weather usually limits yearround production. The enterprise deploys agricultural techniques, notably poly-tunnels and greenhouses, to help improve food security and nutrition while empowering marginalised women through job creation.
Zimbabwe Precious Life Foundation’s Outgrower Project teaches bio-intensive, organic agricultural techniques to vulnerable women living at its shelter who then pass on their knowledge to the community. The enterprise empowers these women as teachers while working towards improved food security in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland South Region. Women farmers who benefit from the training donate labour or produce back as a form of payment for service.
The 2014 SEED Low Carbon Award winners (by country) are: Colombia Diseclar: Ecological design and production makes furniture, decks and pergolas from recycled plastic and agro-industrial waste, including sugar cane pulp, coffee and rice chaff, based on a method developed by the enterprise itself. Diseclar is working in co-operation with a university and a local government agency.
Fundación Huellas Verdes helps to protect communities at risk of landslides by planting tiva, at the same time as providing a carbon offset mechanism for enterprises and institutions. The grass, also known as vetiver, has great potential to store carbon in its roots and prevents erosion when planted on slopes at risk of landslides. Working closely with the affected communities the enterprise ensures maximum benefits for them.
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Proplanet transforms materials that are hard to recycle, such as long-life Tetra Paks, into food packaging, construction materials and paper fibre. It is the first enterprise in Colombia recycling Tetra Paks. Through intensive research on how to improve its recycling processes, Proplanet managed to increase the spectrum of recycled materials and expand its product range, considerably reducing the pressure on landfills in Colombia.
India Frontier Markets provides rural low-income families with affordable solar energy lanterns, torches, and home-lighting systems using a hub-and-spoke distribution model. The specific needs of rural low-income families are integrated into the business model through after-sales services and regular product use, needs assessments. Using solar energy products allows customers to reduce their energy expenses and to reduce the use of traditional polluting fuel sources such as kerosene. Last Forest Enterprises is a marketing platform promoting fair-trade principles, sustainable harvesting and biodiversity in India. The enterprise markets and sells 68 kinds of organic, forest-based or indigenous products such as handicrafts, garments, honey and timber products. Founded by a non-profit, the platform sells the sourced and branded products at its own retail sites or on e-commerce portals. Switch ON: ONergy overcomes the obstacle of last-mile distribution of solar-energy products by providing solutions such as solar micro-grids and lanterns to rural communities using a full-service distribution infrastructure based at Renewable Energy Centres. By partnering with national banks, microfinance institutions and credit co-operatives, the enterprise ensures off-grid village households can sustainably finance the products.
Tanzania L’s Solution promotes and sells solar powered lamps, chargers and cookstoves at village trade fairs and installs larger-scale devices such as solar water pumps and solar PV panels. By focusing on promotional activities the enterprise generates income and entrepreneurial opportunities for vendors, marketers and distributors, especially women. The products themselves reduce fuel consumption by 60 percent, reducing deforestation and reducing health risks from indoor air pollution.
Uganda Green Bio Energy is an enterprise distributing its own brand of Briketti charcoal briquettes, solar lamps and EcoStove outdoor cookstoves to low-income families in Uganda through its network of trained micro-entrepreneurs. Its long-burning briquettes are made of 100% recycled agricultural waste and its cookstoves have very low carbon emission rates. The enterprise regularly implements capacity building workshops for its network of micro-entrepreneurs, thus enabling them to generate higher incomes for their families.
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Green Heat is an enterprise installing and marketing biogas digesters that convert decaying organic material from latrines and agricultural waste into biogas fuel for cooking and heating. By using biogas digesters, urban and rural households, schools, prisons, hospitals and tourist lodges in Uganda reduce their dependence on firewood and charcoal, improve their waste management systems, and help reduce deforestation and greenhouse gas emission rates related to methane release.
Vietnam The Elegance Company showcases agricultural products and livestock, renewable energy technologies, and organic farming techniques through its zero-waste, multi-culture, multi-crop and closed loop system implemented on its model farm. Partnering with NGOs and research institutions the enterprise provides consultancy services for product incubation, sustainable farm design, and development of new technologies.
The 2014 SEED Africa Award winners (by country) are: Ethiopia Asrat & Helawi Engineering Partnership manufactures and sells clean cookstoves for private and institutional customers. Heated with electricity, biogas, or ethanol the stoves considerably reduce both fuel costs and health risks related to indoor air pollution. Local communities help produce the stoves while additional indirect jobs are created through a retail network.
Tanzania Arusha Women Entrepreneurs is an enterprise training and employing women in the production and marketing of aflatoxin-free peanut butter. Smallholder farmers supply the peanuts which are processed into peanut butter and sold in bulk to a large wholesaler as well as to supermarkets and kiosks, and through door-to-door sales. Gender quotas ensure women are able to hold leadership positions in the enterprise. Mesula – Meru Sustainable Land supports bio-intensive farming by providing Arusha smallholder farmers with technical advice on how to convert to organic farming. Smallholder farmers see increased crop yields and higher incomes. Mesula buys their organic produce and sells it, together with conserves made by a group of local women, at a farmer’s market and a local supermarket. Village Inc. Africa supports the creation of village companies in the Babati area of Tanzania. Communities structure their village like a business, thus giving them access to low interest loans to fund enterprises and projects. Profits are used to fund urgent social projects, such as sanitation. Villagers become shareholders once a village company meets a series of good governance and fiscal targets.
Uganda Appropriate Energy Saving Technologies works closely with local farmers in Uganda’s Teso District to provide households in the district with clean, sustainable cooking fuel. The farmers provide the enterprise with bio-waste which is used to manufacture the biomass briquettes. The enterprise then sells and distributes biomass charcoal briquettes and fuel-efficient cookstoves to local community groups.
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Bringing gas nearer to people has developed a strategy to reach underserved rural and peri-urban communities in the central region of Uganda with Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) as an alternative clean energy solution for cooking purposes. The enterprise is trialling a door-to-door gas delivery service and alternative payment schemes tailored to the needs of rural low income communities, such as pioneering pay-as-you-go LPG community kitchens. Budongo Women Bee Enterprise is a co-operative beekeeping enterprise producing honey and beeswax products. In mobilising women in the Masindi region to become beekeepers, the enterprise uses the honey business as a vehicle for community development, including promotion of sustainable land-use and climate change adaptation. Girls Agro Investment, implemented by KadAfrica, trains young rural women to manage and run smallholder agricultural businesses in passion fruit farming. The girls are given rent-free land and training for two and a half years, during which KadAfrica buys back their produce. Empowering the girls to continue farming at the end of their internship, the enterprise offers an economic alternative to rural exodus in Western Uganda. Kataara Women’s Poverty Alleviation Group runs an innovative small-scale enterprise selling handicrafts made with paper produced from elephant dung. The paper is used to make cards, menus, and notebooks that are sold to tourists. Women employed by the enterprise are also trained to construct energy-efficient cookstoves which are marketed locally. The group aims to not only alleviate regional poverty but also to conserve its environment for future generations. KingFire Briquettes is an urban recycling enterprise in Kampala which uses organic material otherwise considered waste to create biomass briquettes. Sourced from local materials, the briquettes offer an alternative energy source to firewood or charcoal and provide quality, affordable, sustainable fuel for heating and cooking. Southwestern Women Bean Growers Union works to rally together the existing smallholder sugar bean farming community in south western Uganda. Women can join the enterprise’s collective where they are trained in how to increase production and sales and receive social support and wide market access. Through multiple partnerships the enterprise also works to protect the local environment, replanting trees that have been cut to stake the beans. The Mobile Solar Computer Classroom is helping bridge the digital divide in Uganda by making computer skills accessible, affordable, and relevant to rural schools and community libraries in Uganda. The enterprise uses solar-powered computers – housed in modified SUV vehicles fitted with solar panels – to bring its technology to its trainees. A digital literacy curriculum is delivered to each participating venue over the course of two years. The Sustainable Mushroom Farming Initiative is a community enterprise which farms and sells organic oyster mushrooms in the Kanungu District of Uganda. Providing alternative livelihoods for disadvantaged women and indigenous Batwa people living adjacent to Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, the enterprise reduces pressure on the gorilla habitat, as fewer community members engage in illegal foraging for food in the National Park.
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Malawi Electricity4All sells and rents solar-battery kits and accessories at solar electricity kiosks in rural off-grid areas. Each kiosk serves up to 500 customers who can use mobile phones to process payments. By collaborating with international foundations and multinationals, the enterprise helps rural entrepreneurs power their private businesses, reduces energy expenditures, contributes to forest protection, and eliminates the use of toxic batteries. Honey Products Industries creates an agribusiness value-chain out of high-quality honey. By training young adults to operate business outlets via a franchise model and providing beekeeping equipment to smallholder farmers, the enterprise increases income generation and improves market access for rural communities in Malawi. Kumudzi Kuwale provides renewable energy solutions to off-grid communities by selling cookstoves, lamps and lanterns, by supplying electricity at village charging stations, and by installing larger-scale solar energy projects. The enterprise thus contributes to forest protection and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Powered by Nature has developed a clean-energy value chain providing quality-proven and affordable clean energy devices to rural households in Malawi. By partnering with community stakeholders the enterprise educates the general public about clean technologies and trains women to construct cookstoves and make biomass briquettes, so becoming clean energy entrepreneurs themselves.
Morocco Recycling for Environmental Recovery recycles plastic waste to produce secondary raw materials that are used in the lucrative plastics industry. Women waste workers are trained about the health and safety hazards and encouraged to join a co-operative to help regulate waste collection.
Mozambique Baobab Products Mozambique provides hundreds of women harvesters with a new source of seasonal income from the processing of fruits of the baobab tree. Harvesters are trained in processing techniques and are paid to supply seeds and pulp used to make baobab powder and other products for both national and international markets. Mozambikes engages in breaking the poverty cycle in Mozambique by selling locally-built custom-designed bikes at low prices. The enterprise enlists the private and public sector to buy and distribute branded bikes in remote communities for various marketing and employee initiatives. The bikes then act as ‘moving billboards’, while women are trained how to ride and maintain the bikes. Piratas do Pau Upcycling Centre employs and trains underprivileged youth in the design and production of modern furniture and other household products made from 90 per cent reclaimed materials. The enterprise reduces waste and teaches Mozambicans about the benefits of up-cycling.
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Pro-Sofala Verde uses bees and a reforestation project to show a rural Mozambican community how sustainable living can lead to social, economic and environmental benefits. Families are given bee hives and trained in good beekeeping and harvesting techniques. The high grade honey is sold back to the enterprise which processes and distributes it in small and affordable portions.
The 2014 SEED South Africa Award winners are: All Women Recycling turns discarded plastic bottles into unique gift boxes, called kliketyklikboxes, which are sold internationally. In the production of the gift boxes the enterprise employs young women, primarily previously unemployed single mothers. All Women Recycling also contributes to cleaner townships by strengthening environmental awareness, particularly in schools which as a result set up collection points for the plastic bottles. Botanica Natural Products has developed a method of extracting beneficial substances from Bulbine frutescens, a traditional medicinal plant, for the cosmetic industry. The plant is cultivated and processed organically in its indigenous location in rural Limpopo, and its commercial use provides employment opportunities in the marginalised area. The local community further benefits through an Access and Benefit Sharing agreement. greenABLE has found an innovative solution for recycling empty printer cartridges. The recycled plastic and metals are sold, generating a steady flow of income and employment opportunities for previously unemployed persons with disabilities. Jobs are being created in the enterprise’s recycling facility or as greenAGENTS who run their own home-based cartridge collection business and sell the collected cartridges back to the enterprise. Growing the Future promotes nutritious and organic food production and improves household food security by providing a three-step gardening programme for unemployed people. After receiving an innovative wicking-bed gardening starting kit, households complete a gardening training course and can acquire land for smallholder farms. Khoelife Organic Soap and Oils Co-operative is a women’s co-operative marketing organic soaps and oils. Through training and a micro-loan scheme its members are enabled to become independent entrepreneurs. Khoelife Manufacturing, the supplier of the organic soaps and oils, uses traditional labour-intensive methods, certified organic ingredients, and renewable energy in its production processes. Waste to Food recycles food waste from retailers and processes it into pre-compost using industrial technology, which is then converted to high-quality compost with an earthworm vermicomposting system operated under a franchise model. By offering an alternative to landfill disposal, Waste to Food decreases carbon emissions, strengthens soil structure, reduces chemical fertiliser input, and increases income generation for local communities.
Further details about all 2014 SEED Winners can be found on the SEED website at http://www.seedinit.org/awards/all/2014.html.
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The SEED Support Start, Catalyse, Accelerate, Replicate: Advancing Green Enterprises
SEED has almost a decade of experience in supporting social and environmental enterprises in different sectors and from different countries. The challenges most of these SMMEs face are a lack of technical and management knowledge, access to financing, and generally a difficult working environment. SEED provides a package of support which is tailored to the particular stage of development of a social and environmental enterprise (see Figure 1). Depending on the particular development stage of a social and environmental enterprise, SEED has developed a 4-tier support systematic. In each phase, the emphasis of the support is on the most relevant factors for growth. For example during the idea phase, self-help tools and capacity building feature prominently, while during the scale-up phase profiling, networking, and financing receive greater attention. The SEED Catalyser is the support package developed over the past years for the Winners of the SEED Awards.
Since the social and environmental enterprises SEED supports differ vastly as regards sectors, products, business models, and working environments, SEED does not roll out a one-size-fits-all programme to each. Rather, the SEED Support uses one-on-one advisory and mentoring services to provide capacity building and draws on an array of tools which, combined with networking, profiling, and financing, result in an individualised support package for every enterprise. The tailored package guides entrepreneurs through the identification of their situation, opportunities, challenges, and needs, and through a process of business planning, organisation development, and enterprise growth. The support elements offered are framed by the SEED Enterprise Blueprint (Figure 2) and geared by the SEED Toolbox which guides and empowers the individual enterprises to develop and scale-up their businesses. SEED Ent er pris e Blueprint Partners
Institutions
Customers
Relationships Community
Operations
Competitors
Value Proposition
environmental
Resources
social (incl. gender)
Triple Bottom Line economic
Funding & Financials
Figure 1: SEED Support packages in relation to stage of
Marketing
Risk management
development of a social and environmental enterprise Figure 2: SEED Enterprise Blueprint
Communication
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Stay connected Geared by this toolbox, SEED is able to provide a customised, high quality support package to each individual winner.
Do you want to keep up to date about what’s happening at the SEED Initiative? You can read our news through the following channels:
Given the large number of different Winner countries, SEED uses the SEED e-Support Platform to facilitate information exchange between SEED Award Winners and their advisors by providing a one-stop-shop for all aspects of the SEED Support. This online interface enables the Winners to work with their Advisors on the individual aspects of their business plan as well as to access guidance, background materials, and templates for the further advancement of their business.
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http://www.seedinit.org/symposium Figure 3: SEED e-Support Platform For any questions, please contact the SEED Team via the following email address symposium2014@seedinit.org.
The SEED Africa Symposium 2014 is organised by:
SEED Initiative promoting entrepreneurship for sustainable development
Founding Partners
Government of India Ministry of Environment & Forests