Publication database

The devastating impacts of climate change, rising inequalities within and across countries, increasing fragility and global health emergencies demand a rethinking of socio-economic practices and systems that follow the economic growth paradigm. The world faces profound economic, environmental, and social challenges, as the international community comes to realize that the basic requirements and consumption needs of an ever-growing population cannot be sustainably met by simply maximizing economic output.

In this podcast series, Alissa Stein invites to discuss concepts of economic transformation currently hotly debated. The podcast provides different perspectives from renown experts and practitioners around the world.

The report “Catalysing Change 2022” tells the story of the movement over the last two years and highlights the seven lessons of growing “catalytic networks”. This report is written for those who are looking to organise collectively for change, in particular, those who are seeking to exchange a competitive mindset for a collaborative one. It is designed to support leaders from all sectors – NGOs, non-profit organisations, social enterprises, businesses, government agencies, media and civil society – to work together to accelerate progress on the SDGs.

This report takes stock of the increasingly pluralistic landscape of agricultural small- and medium-sized enterprise (agri-SME) finance in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, with the aim to establish a new perspective on the market overall - sizing and segmenting the market in new ways, reflecting on the rapidly accelerating imperative around climate, and identifying new priorities for action.

This study from the O-Farms program, implemented by Bopinc and Village Capital and supported by the IKEA Foundation, shares key insights on the untapped potential of circular agribusiness to reduce food losses and create jobs in Uganda. It finds that the most promising opportunities for circular agribusiness lie in by-products from horticulture - especially fruit - and the production of cereals, grains, dairy and fish.

This white paper presents an overview of the waste sector in East Africa with a focus on waste-to-value startups. The findings highlights gaps, opportunities, and potential solutions that could accelerate the growth of the ecosystem.

This snapshot report details how prioritising green and social enterprises delivers triple returns - economic, social and environmental – in both short and long terms. It analyses the status quo, gaps and potentials of green and social enterprises as well as the SME support landscape in different areas and locations. Building on in-depth SEED-conducted interviews with enterprises and enterprise support providers, green recovery contributions and support opportunities were identified to improve the existing support offers for green and social enterprises in a green recovery context.

Conexsus supports small farmers associations and cooperatives that work under a income-generating model that preserves standing forest and other biomes. It focuses on three lines of action: business model, market access, and impact finance.

There is a strong need for increased adoption of sustainable agricultural practices to bring the food from farm to fork while addressing three major challenges: feeding a growing population, providing a livelihood for farmers, and environmental protection. This is where decentralised renewable energy (DRE) technologies must play a key role. Moreover, as innovation in DRE-powered agricultural equipment and appliances steam ahead, their technical and commercial viability will improve further. Based on best practices from the 15 case studies, this publication makes recommendations for public and private stakeholders.