Six Ghanaian enterprises promoting a green economy are among the 30 winners of the 2010 SEED Awards announced by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
They successfully competed against many hundreds of applications from 60 countries, with their innovative approach in solving local environmental problems while showing high potential to leave the start-up phase.
The Awards recognize inspiring social and environmental entrepreneurs whose businesses can help meet sustainable development challenges.
By helping entrepreneurs to scale-up their activities, the SEED Initiative aims to boost local economies and tackle poverty, while promoting the sustainable use of resources and ecosystems.
In addition to seeking innovative start-ups throughout the developing world, the 2010 SEED Awards had a special focus on Africa, placing particular emphasis on initiatives from South Africa, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, Rwanda and Senegal.
This focus was part of a larger project linked with UNEP’s Green Economy Initiative.
Project initiatives in Ghana include:“The Shea Economic Empowerment Program (SEEP)”, a community-based cooperative that seeks to improve the livelihoods of women Shea nut producers; “G-lish: Income Generation, Re-Generation, Next Generation”, an initiative of local NGOs is to provide value-added income for rural communities by crafting baskets from recycled materials; “High-value Syrup from 'Prekese' Fruits for Community Livelihood Empowerment”, the partners of this initiative strive to establish the sustainable cultivation and harvesting of Prekese fruits in rural communities, allowing income to be generated over the whole life cycle of the tree; and the “Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative”, a youth-led, non-profit enterprise committed to the economic empowerment of youth by taking advantage of the abundant bamboo raw materials in Ghana to manufacture and assemble high-quality bamboo bikes – suitable for the road conditions and terrain in Ghana and affordable to the poor.
Others are: “DeCo! - Decentralized Composting for Sustainable Farming and Development”, which benefits local farmers by producing organic fertiliser in decentralised composting plants following a low-tech approach; and “Biofuel Production in Promoting Sustainable Land Management”, a model for rehabilitating degraded community lands, producing food crop and utilising renewable energy through the cultivation and processing of sunflower plants into oil and biodiesel.
Constance Hybsier, Programme Manager for the SEED Initiative, told Luv Fm awardees receive a prize package individually-tailored for the businesses.
“Instead of only receiving a monetary prize, the winners are also profiled, nationally and internationally, they are directly connected to potential funders and partners, they receive support in developing a good business plan and they participate in a specifically designed workshop to advance their business skills. All with the aim to place their enterprise on sound business footing and to create an opportunity for them to grow”, she stated at an awards presentation ceremony in Accra, Ghana.
The Ghana Bamboo Bikes and a biofuel-powered vehicle attracted the attention of invitees to a mini exhibition at the awards ceremony.
The SEED Initiative was founded by the UNEP, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at the 2002 Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg.
Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh
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