SEED Awards

Monday, 14 March 2011

February was the month in which many SEED Award winners received their awards and prizes at ceremonies in their home countries. The SEED Initiative is a global partnership that supports innovative grass-roots entrepreneurships demonstrating a strong integration of social and environmental benefits into their business model.

SEED’s role is to empower small-scale businesses that show potential, and enable them to increase their contribution to their local communities, whilst promoting sustainable management of resources and alleviating poverty.

We were very proud to see that six out of the 30 international winners were South African! Here are the fantastic small businesses that embody the dontbeapassenger ethos by making a significant difference to our communities and the environment:

• Amatola Wild Trout Fishery: based in East London. This is South Africa’s first recreational fly-fishery that’s owned and managed by a local community, bringing high-end tourism into a rural area and contributing to local job creation and skills development.

• Claire Reid Reel Gardening: this small business supplies pre-fertilised seed strips that encase seeds at the optimal depth and distance apart, with planting instructions in seven different languages. This makes subsistence gardening easy and accessible to anyone.

• Food & Trees for Africa: this organisation has thrived since its inception in 1990, and now facilitates a number of projects to do with climate change adaptation; food security, forestry and non-timers forest products.

• IziWasha: two social enterprises and a private company developed a handheld device that facilitates washing without the need for electricity or a home water supply. This makes the washing process remarkably easier for low-income communities and significantly reduces water and electricity wastage.

• Reclaiming Livelihoods – Mooi River Waste Reclaiming: this Pietermaritzburg-based project employs local people to recycle waste, creating a formalised workforce and providing shelter, protective clothing and technical equipment. This is an attractive opportunity to people in the area and it’s been very impactful in terms of job creation.

• Resentse Sinqobile Trust Trading as Zondi BuyBack Initiative aka Collect a Can: this buyback centre recycles and reshapes household waste, particularly tin cans and plastic. Over the years the initiative has impressed with its contributions to natural resource protection, litter reduction, job creation and education.

If you’re looking to help out this year, why not contact one of these great ventures and get involved or make or a donation?

SEED was founded by the United Nations Environmental Programme (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.