Sustainable Enterprise Project (SEP)
Project Background
The Sustainable Enterprise Project (SEP) support microenterprises in agribusiness and manufacturing clusters with a focus on areas that is environmentally stressed and/or vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters. The project aims to support microenterprises through environment friendly investments (energy, water and resource efficiency) in the agribusiness and manufacturing sectors to promote environmentally sustainable technologies and practices among microenterprises in environmentally vulnerable areas, induce changes in the micro-lending ecosystem, and support the adoption of basic operational safety norms in project-supported enterprises. The project will consist of three components: (a) enhancing services and enabling systems, (b) strengthened access to finance for commercially viable environmentally friendly and resilient microenterprises, and (c) project management, knowledge management, and monitoring and evaluation. The project will prioritize (i) a selected number of polluting microenterprise business clusters, that can reduce emission and increase resource efficiency and (ii) the expansion of innovative economic activities that contribute to environmentally friendly clean and green business and climate resilience.
Integrated Development Foundation (IDF) is implementing the sub-project at Patiya, Anowara and Chadanaish upazila under Chattogram district. Although all areas are related with dairy business but they are unconscious about the farm management. The sub-project has two components such as component-1 and component-2. Component-2 is related with Agrasor SEP loan whereas, the component-1 consist of revenue and non- revenue generating common services, Eco labeling, capacity development of MEs and POs which is very helpful for development of farm business and environment. The sub-project aim is to increase adaption of environmentally sustainable practice by targeted micro-enterprises in working areas of IDF”. The sub-project objectives are to cover 50 families in 1st year, 75 in 2nd year and 75 in 3rd year under the project and to increase income these families by 30%, to Provide training to 200 families in cow management, rearing and cow waste management, to establish bull insemination and animal health center, to establish preservation/ pasteurization center and to create a marketing network of milk.
The role of PKSF in promoting environmental issues in microenterprises is crucial. PKSFs Microenterprise Program extends financial services to its Partner Organizations (PO) for undertaking microenterprises. PKSF has been facilitating women empowerment in microenterprise sector by provisioning opportunities of loan financing for women entrepreneurs. Currently, more than 77% of the total ME loan borrowers of PKSF are women. With the help of the Government, PKSF is implementing the ‘Sustainable Enterprise Project (SEP)’ financed by World Bank for the microenterprise sector to improve its environmental sustainability.
