10-11 June 2021  -  SEED piloted a new Lab format together with the GO4SDGs platform: the SEED Regional Practitioner Labs for Policy Prototyping. The Labs showcase innovative, breakthrough policies and policy programmes, the Labs were based on the theory of change that replication is an effective and efficient way to solve similar problems across geographies.

The Labs were designed to facilitate the replication and adaptation of policy solutions benefiting MSMEs. Stakeholders in the policymaking process were engaged through design-thinking tools that facilitate the synthesising of elements and conditions critical for replication and adaptation. 

In the Africa Chapter, the policy solutions presented covered topics of eco-tourism, food waste / loss and single-use plastic reduction: 

Ghana’s National Plastics Managmement Policy: Policy partnerships for SDG12 and SDG17

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Ghana generates around 1.1 million tons of plastic waste per year – 5% of which is collected for recycling. In 2018, Ghana’s Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology & Innovation (MESTI) released the draft of Ghana’s National Plastics Management Policy (NPAP). The primary aim of the policy is to address the country’s mounting challenges with plastic waste and associated environmental and health problems. The Ghana NPAP serves as the national platform for multistakeholder cooperation, facilitating initiatives and funding to scale up and accelerate in-country partnerships that address plastic waste and pollution while contributing to the nation’s progress towards achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals. Highlighted aspects included a functioning Circular Economy framework for plastic, the piloting of the automation of the management functions within the plastics value chain in Ghana and the creation of a digital platform solution that connect plastic waste pickers, buyers, re-users, recyclers, policymakers and other stakeholders so that commercial activities are facilitated, and regulatory functions are effectively executed. Under the Public, 15 MSME are supported to scale up their plastic waste initiatives. 

Visit the policy blueprint on Mural here.

More information about the policy partnership here.

Rwanda's RCOOL Initiative: A low carbon solution for food supply chains for SDG2, SDG8, and SDG12

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Rwanda has some of Africa’s fastest growth in expanding electricity grid connections to reach its 12 million people and is no stranger to demonstrating bold leadership when it comes to sustainable development. Its National Cooling Strategy addresses the challenge of performing cooling technologies that waste energy and exacerbate environmental degradation. It includes recommended actions that would expand access to cooling while conserving precious resources. Food loss between farm and market due to lack of refrigeration is a significant issue. Almost 15% of food-related CO2e emissions come from losses in food supply chains which result from lack of refrigeration and spoilage in transport and processing.

The showcased solution is looking at clean cold-chains and rural community cooling hubs in Rwanda, includes the imposition of Minimum Energy Performance Standards allowing only efficient products on the Rwandan market, financial mechanisms enabling farmers to transition to the latest technology without an upfront investment and capacity building and outreach to equip farmers with technical knowledge to enable take-up and to prevent waste.

Visit the policy blueprint on Mural here

More information about initiative here

Sustainable Island Mauritius: Supporting tourism MSMEs to adopt sustainable measures for SDG9 and SDG12

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Tourism is one of the key pillars of the Mauritian economy: a powerful engine of growth for investment, entrepreneurship, wealth and job creation. The tourism industry directly creates 1 in every 10 jobs in Mauritius, and it contributes 8% to the total GDP. The Sustainable Island Mauritius project led by Mauritius Tourism Authority (MTA) aims to contribute to the vision of developing a sustainable island and green destination with tourism innovation. It includes capacity building on sustainable tourism & best practices for tourism SMEs, a Hotel rating + certification system to audit the small and medium enterprises system for green tourism operators and enhance their marketing, the enhancement of access to green finance for SMEs.

Visit the policy blueprint on Mural here

More information about the project is available here

The Africa Regional Policy Lab was attended by over 100 participants across two days and produced 4 policy-related solutions inspired by the showcased solutions:

• Organic waste management strategy for Zimbabwe
• Blueprint for a national eco-tourism framework in Uganda
• Public-private partnerships to tackle tourism-generated plastic waste in sub-urban areas in South-Africa
• Strategy for enhancing role of high education institutions (HEIs) in policy dissemination & adoption in Kenya

If you are interested in getting involved or knowing more about these solutions, get in touch at labs-policy-prototypingseed [dot] uno.