It is with great pleasure and excitement that the SEED Initiative today announces the 2011 SEED Award Winners!

With applications from over 75 countries, the selection was tough, but the independent international Jury was able to select a record number of 35 SEED winners, who exemplify innovation and the Green Economy at the local level.

These 35 winners represent the collaborative efforts of non-governmental organisations, women and youth groups, labour organisations, public authorities, international agencies and academia.

2011 saw some very exciting initiatives, from a company that transforms groundnut shells into fuel briquettes in Gambia, to an enterprise that has developed solar ovens in Burkina Faso, to an initiative that trains and employs street youth to collect waste materials in Ghana, which they then transform into handmade designer products, to a business in Kenya where women produce aloe-based skin care products. These are just some the 35 winners of the 2011 SEED Awards that will now receive from SEED a package of tailor-made support.

As last year the 2011 SEED Awards have a special focus on Africa, identifying 33 initiatives from Burkina Faso, Cameron, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe, who, with the SEED support, will now be able to scale-up their activities across the continent.

This year, in addition to the general SEED Awards, a special Gender Equity Award was announced as part of SEED's partnership with UN Women. This award is part of an initiative that will not only fulfill the general criteria of the Awards but in addition is women-led, or owned, and prioritises gender equality or women's empowerment as a core objective.

Meet the 2011 SEED winners, by visiting the SEED winners' database.