News overview
04 Jun 2024
F&S Engaged in a Project to Create Jobs for Youth in The Moroccan IT Sector
Our consultant Annelien Meerts is since April engaged as institutional and MSD expert in a project of CBI in the Moroccan IT sector. The aim of the project is to reduce youth unemployment by strengthening Moroccan IT SMEs, by developing services that support them in exporting their services and that improve their HR practices to better attract, develop and retain talented youth. A team of 4 experts: institutional and MSD experts Annelien Meerts and Heuda Guessous and IT sector experts Jack Put and Amine Zarouk are implementing the project.
14 May 2024
Ziway Water Hyacinth Project: Closing Session Recap and Future Prospects
On the 12th of April marked a significant milestone for our collaborative efforts in the Ziway water hyacinth project as we convened for the “Closing & Way Forward” session. The gathering was a vibrant mix of stakeholders including our consortium partners—Dutch rose growers from Ziway, local government representatives, the energetic youth from the briquettes groups, and the creative women from the handicraft groups.
07 May 2024
Closing Ceremony of the PAC-PME Program and Launch of the Mali Mentors Alliance: A Milestone in Support for Malian Entrepreneurs
On April 26, 2024 in Bamako we organized a ceremony full of emotions and celebration, marking the closing of the Growth Support Program for Malian Small and Medium Enterprises (PAC-PME). Initiated in August 2022 with the first cohort in Bamako, the PAC-PME has since extended its impact through four cohorts, including two in Bamako, one in Sikasso and one in Ségou. This ceremony not only celebrates the successes of the program but also officially inaugurates the Alliance Mali Mentors (AMM), a professional network of entrepreneur mentors, representing a new chapter in the continued support of Malian entrepreneurs. PAC-PME will continue to consolidate its results until September of this year.
02 May 2024
Bridging the Gap: Insights from the WASH Learning Event in Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, addressing the challenges of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) is pivotal to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite concerted efforts by the Ethiopian government, the road to ensuring universal access to clean water and adequate sanitation remains fraught with significant challenges, including a daunting funding gap nearing US$3 billion. In response to this pressing issue, the government has underscored the critical need to raise for private capital for the WASH sector. This blog post explores a ground breaking initiative that aims to integrate the financial sector into solving these WASH challenges, culminating in a learning event that offered valuable insights and strategic directions.
26 Mar 2024
Transforming Waste into Opportunity: Fair and Sustainable Consulting’s Initiative in Nyeri County
In a recent collaborative effort spearheaded by Fair and Sustainable Consulting, together with Governor H.E. Mwalimu Mutahi Kahiga, a pivotal meeting was held with a delegation from Fair and Sustainable Insect Farms. This meeting marked the beginning of an innovative venture aimed at revolutionizing waste management practices in Nyeri County, Kenya.
11 Dec 2023
Study of F&S for FAO creates new insights in the socio-economic aspects of the Black Soldier Fly sector in East Africa
F&S consultants Annelien Meerts, Laura Martinussen and Andrew Kizito Muganga have mapped the the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) sector in Keny and Uganda. It is part of the ‘Animal Feed Commercialization Project’ implemented by the Subregional Office for Eastern Africa of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) with funding from Mastercard Foundation.
BSF production is emerging as a new agricultural sub-sector. It is a sustainable and circular source of protein for animal feed, which is much needed in East Africa. However, the production of BSF is still in its infancy and knowledge on the value chain remains limited. This research contributed to more in-depth-knowledge on what is happening in the BSF value chain in Kenya and Uganda, what actors there are and what its potential is.
09 Nov 2023
New milestone in the promotion of the PAC-PME mentorship approach: launch of the Mali Mentor Alliance
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F&S’s Projet d’Accompagnement à la Croissance des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises or PAC-PME (accompanying small businesses to growth) is in full swing. The project, financed by the Dutch Enterprise Agency (RVO), is implemented in Bamako, Sikasso and Ségou, in Mali. 100 young entrepreneurs, of whom 40% women, are supported with mentorships, training courses, and connections to investors to enable them to grow their business and grow personally.
22 Aug 2023
PAC PME launches fourth and final cohort
Recently, PAC PME successfully launched its fourth and final cohort in Ségou town. At the time of writing, the first mentor intervision and peer coaching event for the entrepreneurs are taking place.
[Récemment, PAC PME a lancé avec succès sa quatrième et dernière cohorte dans la ville de Ségou. Au moment d’écrire ces lignes, le premier événement d’intervision de mentors et de coaching par les pairs pour les entrepreneurs a lieu]
30 Mar 2023
PAC PME launches second and third cohort
On March 23 and 24, PAC PME organized two bootcamps for the entrepreneurs and mentors of its third cohort.The bootcamps have resulted in the selection of 26 entrepreneurs, and 13 new mentors.
[Les 23 et 24 mars derniers, PAC PME a organisé deux bootcamps pour les entrepreneurs et mentors de sa troisième cohorte. Les bootcamps ont permis de sélectionner 26 entrepreneurs et 13 nouveaux mentors.]
14 Sep 2022
F&S launches new accelerator programme in Mali to support young entrepreneurs
Since the start of 2022, Fair & Sustainable Consulting is implementing a new programme in Mali entitled Projet d’Accompagnement à la Croissance des Petites et Moyennes Entreprises or PAC-PME (accompanying small businesses to growth).
01 Sep 2022
CAFOD and F&S start a MSD journey together
More and more NGOs and donors are switching to Market Systems Development (MSD) as a new approach for their international economic development programs. CAFOD, together with F&S, started a journey to get familiar with the MSD approach and to apply it to their economic development programs in Africa.
15 Aug 2022
Eight young entrepreneurs to start new commercial Black Soldier Fly farms in Nakuru
Five months ago, Fair and Sustainable Consulting (F&S) and DanChurchAid (DCA) embarked on a journey to find the best young entrepreneurs in Nakuru County to set up commercial Black Soldier Fly (BSF) farms under the umbrella of Fair & Sustainable Insect Farms.
19 Apr 2021
Gender sensitive framework for sustainable management of TVET Colleges in Ethiopia
Fair & Sustainable Ethiopia – in partnership with Niras – IP Consult and MDF – has been contributing to the Ethio-German Financial Cooperation: Vocational Education and Agricultural Training Programme through activities including gender-sensitive strategy, and provision of capacity building workshops for TVET colleges and institutions in Ethiopia.
16 Apr 2021
Dairy value chains development for pastoralist communities in Borena
F&S Ethiopia are participating in a project entitled “Developing Inclusive and Profitable Dairy Value Chains for Pastoralist Communities in Borena Zone”, as co-implementer with our consortium partners CST Ethiopia, CIFA, and OPA.
06 May 2020
Is Moringa a miracle tree?
The leaves of the “Miracle Tree” Moringa oleifera are becoming more and popular among health-conscious consumers all over the world. Dasha Gretchikhine – intern at Fair & Sustainable Consulting – dived into the complex matter of Moringa’s nutritional content and its retention throughout cultivation and processing.
17 Apr 2020
Improve your reach and impact: the Market Systems Development approach (MSD)!
Many organizations engaged in international economic development search for ways to efficiently increase the sustainability, impact and scale of their work. F&S shows that Market Systems Development (MSD) is a method that can deliver such results.
17 Feb 2020
Paying attention to Gender pays off.
IDH published a new Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tool which helps track and evaluate gender-equality interventions. The tool is the result of a Gender Business Case Evaluation study conducted by Fair & Sustainable (F&S) Ethiopia in collaboration with F&S Netherlands, in 2018.
14 Jan 2020
ValueLinks as a useful tool for identifying economic opportunities: the case of threatened forest landscape in Madagascar
These are the results of a study carried out by Fair & Sustainable Consulting (F&S) for the GIZ Sectoral Programme “International Forest Policy” (SV IWP) in Madagascar.
04 Jul 2019
F&S trains main actors in the mango value chain in Guinea
From 20 to 24 June 2019, F&S gave a training in Kindia (Guinea) for all companies and organizations that are involved in the mango value chain. During the training, main actors involved in the mango sector were trained to gain a common comprehension of ways to analyse and develop the mango sector.
04 Jun 2019
Impact via exports: a selection of export-oriented value chains in five African countries
F&S was hired by CBI to conduct a value chain selection in Egypt, Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Central was exploring opportunitiess to make these value chains more inclusive and fair while increasing export to Europe.
22 Nov 2018
Why a gender approach is good for workers, business, and the sector: a case from the Ethiopian Flower sector
IDH commissioned a study in the Ethiopian flower sector to test the hypothesis that Gender interventions increase workers’ satisfaction and engagement and lead to changes in employee attitudes, behavior, and work motivation, which leads to improved business performance.
07 Nov 2018
How online tools can help a practitioner in collecting data for value chain development
At Fair & Sustainable we often need to collect data for a value chain analysis or value chain development monitoring. Kobo Collect provides an open-access tool which is valuable even for less experienced enumerators.
06 Dec 2017
Evaluation of participatory forest management pilots and biomass energy production in Rwanda (PAREF NL2)
This summer Fair & Sustainable and ADE (Belgium) evaluated the ‘Project of support to Participatory forest management pilots and biomass energy production in 9 districts of Rwanda (PAREF NL2)’using quantitative data analysis and the MSC approach.
25 Oct 2016
External evaluation of UTZ Certified tea programme in Sri Lanka
F&S, in collaboration with Nucleus Foundation, conducted the External Evaluation of the UTZ Certified tea programme to inform UTZ and stakeholders on the outcomes of the tea programme and identify lessons and recommendations.