AGRICULTURAL WASTE FOR INCOME- GLOBAL CALL FOR SOLUTIONS

AGRICULTURAL WASTE FOR INCOME- GLOBAL CALL FOR SOLUTIONS

Background- The Challenge

Whilst Ghana is considered one of the most politically and economically stable countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, the country still faces challenges concerning poverty alleviation, education and health and sanitation amongst others.

Sustainable waste management practices are key to achieving particularly the goals of health and well-being of the nation’s people and physical environment. Ghana generates an estimated 22,500 tons of waste per day, about 60% of which is organic[1]. With majority of this organic waste being produced on rural farms, great potential exists to exploit the waste as a valuable resource, directly from the source, to generate valuable products and energy. Especially as the field of circular economy is still a relatively unknown concept in the region, Ghana is a greenfield for business models capitalizing on opportunities along the Biomass Value Pyramid, such as the production of pharmaceuticals, food and feed, fertilizers and energy generation.

The Project- AGRICULTURAL WASTE FOR INCOME

GCAF, together with MBC Africa, a collaborative platform providing comprehensive business solutions. It seeks to tackle organic waste management challenges as part of the Agricultural Waste for Income (AWA) project to be implemented in Ghana. This initiative is supported by ‘Invest for Jobs,’ an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Invest for Jobs is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and operates under the official title ‘The Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation.

Agricultural Waste for Income is a unique initiative that seeks to introduce new approaches from the fields of circular economy and waste management which can improve sanitation and waste management in the country whilst producing value-added products from crop residues and other left-over organic materials, overall improving the waste and recycling ecosystem in Ghana. This will create an opportunity for more investors to engage in the sector during as well as after the project phase.

With approximately 39% of the Ghanaian agricultural labor force being women, the objectives of the AWA project are also to create new and exciting employment opportunities and generate additional income for women farmers.

Your solutions

The proposed solution should hence result in newly established methods for agricultural waste management among Ghanaian women smallholder farmers- improving environmental sustainability, household incomes, health and well-being. The solution should have a measurable developmental impact and should be scalable.

The best identified solution shall be implemented within the AWA project from February to December 2021 where the women farmers will be trained in incorporating the selected waste management/circular economy solution to their farming processes. The selected company/organization will not only have the opportunity to implement its solution and expand its operations in Ghana’s growing market but will also receive support with venture building services and investment readiness preparation from the experienced team at GCAF (in case the organization is not based in Ghana, the solution will be implemented with a Ghanaian partner).

Start-ups, non- profits, for profit non-government organizations as well as researchers based at universities (of applied sciences) and non-university research institutions are equally eligible to submit proposals providing the proposed solution is relevant to achieving the objectives of the AWA project. Likewise, there are no restrictions on country of origin of the applying entity.

If you are interested in responding to this call, please provide your Pitchdeck or brief description of your solution in English and your contact details to info@greentec-foundation.org.

Where possible please indicate:

  • the country of origin / headquarters of your organization
  • the country(-ies) of operation of your organization
  • the type of organic/agricultural waste your solution targets
  • if your solution has already been implemented in other projects, with which target groups and in which countries
  • a brief summary of project results/impact to date (e.g., metrics of improved health and sanitation, jobs created, improved farmer working conditions, quantifiable poverty reduction, farming process optimization, positive environmental impact, GHG emissions averted)
  • if any infrastructure / support for implementing your solution in Ghana currently exists
  • if the solution is particularly inclusive of women
  • any existing cooperation with local municipalities or other stakeholders? If yes, please state where (does not necessarily have to be in Africa)
  • potential value-added products to be generated from the solution
  • potential uses/markets for the application
  • scalability opportunity of the solution
  • short description of the business model

We will gather all applications until the 8th of February 2021. This is the first in a round of two application cycles. A jury will decide until end of February and applicants will be informed soon thereafter if their solution has been selected.

If you have any further questions regarding the application process, please direct them to the GCAF team at info@greentec-foundation.org.

We would like to thank you in advance for submitting your ideas and your commitment to sustainable growth in Africa.

The GCAF team.

 

About GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation

GreenTec Capital Africa Foundation (GCAF) has an overall mission to support and promote Africa’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, often in cooperation with international development agencies. GCAF’s activities include a broad range of support measures for entrepreneurs in Africa, including business consulting, venture building, training for companies/investors and market analysis. As the non-profit entity of GreenTec Capital Partners (GCP), Germany’s premier investment company specializing in African start-ups and MSMEs, GCAF leverages the investment expertise and resources of its mother-company to realize impactful projects that target the private sector, especially African start-ups and SMEs.

 

[1] Market Survey Waste and Circular Economy in Ghana, Netherlands Enterprise Agency, 2019 (https://www.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2019/08/Ghana-Market-Survey-Waste-Circular-Economy.pdf)

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