Business

· "Waste Enterprisers" has developed innovative ways of reusing human waste with the aim of improving sanitation services for the poor and restructuring the economics of sanitation in developing countries. Drawing on technical support from local and international universities and working with the local municipality, the venture plans to turn faecal sludge into biodiesel, and to dry it and use it as boiler fuel. Wastewater is also being treated for use in ponds to allow fish farming which can provide additional income generation.  

· "Recycle Not A Waste Initiative - RECNOWA" trains and employs street youth from disadvantaged communities to clear their streets of plastic and other material waste and uses the creative talents of Ghanaian artisans to transform them into handmade designer products such as bags, jewelry, footwear, furniture and home décor that are ethically produced and eco-friendly. 

· "Man and Man Enterprise" and its business partners create employment by producing biomass-fuelled cooking stoves made from scrap metals, substituting for conventional charcoal-fuelled stoves that cause harmful emissions and health problems and contribute to deforestation. 

· "Bamboo substitute for timber: new livelihoods for rural communities in Ghana" This initiative works on the full bamboo value chain from reforestation to production and marketing of substitutes for timber products, creating alternative sources of income for rural communities. The approach further relieves pressure on forests by inter-cropping plantations with food crops to prevent forest clearance for agricultural production.  

· "Rural Transportation and Renewable Products Conversion Centres for Agro-residues" This initiative works to establish an innovative shared-infrastructure service for rural farmers, providing cargo bikes for the collection of crops as well as agro-residues which are converted to renewable energy sources such as biochar, charcoal and biofuels in a facility also set up by the initiative. 

Kenya :

· "Enhancing Grassroots Women's Economic and Social Empowerment in Kitui County, Kenya, through Sustainable Aloe Farming" is led by a community-based non-government organization partnering with a local university and the Ministry of Agriculture. It provides rural income and facilitates the rehabilitation of wasteland by producing aloe-based skin care products for the local market. 

· "Kisumu Innovation Center - Kenya" is a social business marketing recycled handicrafts products in cooperation with a local women's and orphans' self-help group and a nationwide marketing partner. Women and youth are trained to produce marketable objects from used tins and water hyacinth, which is invasive and is creating problems in the region.  

· "Organic Farm Inputs and Farm Produce" is led by a local enterprise which is supplying organic farmers with certified inputs and organic fertilizer while organizing sales opportunities.  

· "Watamu Community Solid Waste Management and Recycling Enterprises" serves as an example of successful cooperation between community organizations and the local marine tourism industry in creating a plastic recycling value chain. The results are cleaned-up beaches and new employment opportunities for women and youth.

· "Use solar, save lives" is an initiative led by a local NGO partnering with women's groups in which youth are trained in manufacturing solar-powered lanterns which are distributed to poor rural households and as result are improving the overall standard of living and education. The households which receive the lanterns are also assisted by the initiative to start environmentally-friendly income-generating activities financed from money previously spent on kerosene.  

· "Upscaling the silviculture-based enterprises of coastal communities in Kenya" This initiative supports community-based organizations and small-holder farmers in establishing mangrove-based operations, such as aquaculture, bee keeping, and ecotourism, linking mangrove preservation with the creation of alternative sources of income. 

· "Promoting bamboo as a craft and technology application with a view to conserving Taita Hills Forests" This is a local non-government organization which has joined forces with community organizations and the local government to support bamboo plantations and the marketing of bamboo and other non-timber forest products, relieving the pressure for cutting down forests by providing an alternative source of construction materials.  

Madagascar :

· "SEPALI - Community-based Silk Producers Association" is a local spin-off of an international non-government organization which provides technical and financial assistance to farmers and community-based enterprise groups introducing wild silk production and processing from silk moths raised on indigenous trees which can be intercropped with existing agricultural produce. 

Nigeria :

· "Sawdust Entrepreneurial Initiative Among Oko-baba Communities In Lagos, Nigeria" Local non-government organizations and a sawmillers' association introduced the recycling of waste sawdust into briquettes as a cheap and clean alternative fuel for stoves, They also provide technical assistance and micro-finance to entrepreneurs engaged in briquette production.  

Rwanda :

· "Project for producing edible mushroom spores" is pioneering the local production of primary mushroom spores through a laboratory run by a cooperative of HIV-infected women and widows. Supported by international organizations and local government authorities, the initiative will make mushroom production accessible to vulnerable members of rural communities as a profitable and high-yield crop requiring little land. 

Senegal :

· "Feed yourself, care for yourself and beautify yourself with the same plants" is a women's cooperative and a phyto-pharmaceutical laboratory which joined forces to promote natural local products and is building a supply chain of natural ingredients based on fair-trade principles while raising farmers' environmental awareness. The initiative also opens up additional sources of income through handicrafts training. 

· "Reusing waste charcoal as biochar" is a family-business which currently, with the assistance of international development institutions as well as community and governmental organizations, is producing biochar from waste charcoal and clay. This is a cleaner and cheaper alternative to charcoal used in cooking and it reduces the pressure on exploited forests. 

South Africa:

· "Thrive" is a non-government organization partnering with governmental and research institutions to start up entrepreneurial triple-bottom line (the economic, ecological, and social criteria for measuring organizational and societal success) spin-offs in the areas of waste, local food, water, energy, and biodiversity and producing tangible environmental benefits while at the same time building capacity, creating jobs and generating income for local communities.

· "Everpix-ACT-SA communities: natural tree products and community resource management" This community-based public-private partnership aims to augment rural income and incentivise tree planting by manufacturing and marketing a portfolio of products from indigenous trees grown by local communities, such as Marula nut oil.

· "Why Honey" is a start-up aiming to increase an insufficient local bee population and building a fair-trade supply chain for honey and apiculture products by training women bee-keepers to become micro-entrepreneurs, and giving them assistance in organizing themselves into cooperatives. The initiative will also handle beehive construction, processing and the sale of the honey. 

· "The Development of a Khomani San Cultural and Nature Guiding Enterprise and Association" A partnership of local non-government organizations and local government authorities who support an eco-tourism enterprise that employs members of the local indigenous community. 

· "Imai Farming Cooperative" is a women's cooperative which has partnered with non-government organizations and government institutions and is increasing and stabilizing farmers' incomes and reducing waste by processing surplus fresh vegetable produce into pickles. The initiative also encourages organic farming.  