SEED: Supporting Entrepreneurship – The Sustainable Way

What might eco-inclusive business models be? How about the sustainable harvesting and processing of soap nuts, a fruit rich in saponin that can be used to manufacture eco-friendly alternatives to petrochemical detergents?

Meet the 2021 SEED Low Carbon Award winner BubbleNut Wash from India – who is doing just that: they develop and produce eco-friendly detergents using soap nuts. With their innovative business idea, they also empower local indigenous women growing and harvesting these nuts, alleviate poverty and help to protect forests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Small and growing eco-inclusive enterprises in the adaptation space offer solutions that are often more agile, innovative and entrepreneurial than those by larger corporations. Against this background, adelphi – through SEED – supports such enterprises in Botswana, Malawi, and Zambia to increase the resilience of local communities.

Filling the Gap of the Missing Middle

Many micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in developing and emerging economies bring forward innovative business models that show great potential for mitigating climate change and adapting to its effects. But their innovations lack recognition and scale. Also, many of these enterprises are both too big for micro credit schemes and too small and risky for banks and private equity firms. This is where the project “SEED - Financing and capacity building for micro and small climate-smart enterprises” steps in.

The project strengthens the capacities and capabilities of socially inclusive and climate-friendly MSMEs by providing short-term advice on their business development in innovative face-to-face and online formats, and by bringing them together with potential partners and sponsors. 

In addition, the project promotes favourable financial and political conditions for climate-smart MSMEs. To this end, SEED works with service providers and financiers to integrate the needs of inclusive and climate-friendly SMEs into funding and financial instruments. Thus, the project helps small and growing climate-smart enterprises to bridge the missing middle finance gap.

The project is financed by the International Climate Initiative of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV).

Building on the success of previous and ongoing SEED activities, this project leverages existing toolkits, methodologies and approaches. It supports over 200 entrepreneurs in 

• replicating and scaling green business models, 
• creating and maintaining direct and indirect jobs, 
• generating positive environmental impacts such as waste reduction and reduced CO2 emissions.

The SEED Story

In 2002, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) founded SEED within the framework of the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. Since 2006, adelphi has been supporting SEED as an implementing partner and has been responsible for carrying out multiple programme components. In 2013, adelphi took on the project sponsorship and implements all activities within the SEED programme. Full responsibility for the SEED programme and its further development lies with the SEED Board consisting of representatives of SEED Partner institutions and experts in sustainable development. Besides adelphi as the hosting partner and the three founding partners, SEED is supported by another eleven organisations, among them NGOs, governments, private companies and intergovernmental organisations.