Social Plastics Innovation Challenge Fund

Call guidelines – April 2024

Advert start date   4th June 2024

Advert closing date 30th June 2024

Executive Summary

Engineers without Borders Norway and Somali Response Innovation Lab (hosted by Somali Resilience Program – SomReP, a resilience consortium of eight NGOs where the lead agency is World Vision Somalia) have launched the Social Plastics Innovation Challenge fund with an envelope size of up to USD 150,000. The call is a part of the Social Plastics for Economic Development project which aims to find and test innovative solutions to sustainably reduce plastic consumptions, recycle the plastic waste and create alternative livelihoods for the most vulnerable groups residing in Hargeisa.

The call seeks innovations to address one or several of the following challenge statements:

1. Innovation Challenge 1:   How might we create alternative products to plastics for household consumers so that economical products are available in Hargeisa addressing the overuse of plastics?
2. Innovation Challenge 2:   How might we provide knowledge and investment to the startup communities to build viable plastic recycling businesses which do not take recycled products as an inferior value proposition and address the job creation aspects among youths?
3. Innovation Challenge 3:   How can we encourage local startups to come up with viable economic solutions for waste pickers to address their dignified livelihood needs?

We are looking for innovations that meet the following criteria:

•      Offer a new approach to tackling plastic waste consumptions in Hargeisa,

•      focused on creating the livelihood opportunities for the most vulnerable communities;

•      sustainable business model designed for scale-up;

•      locally rooted,

•      collaborative with the local ecosystem,

•      market-driven and sustainable,

•      open to the applicants who are willing to contribute match- funding/resources to the test phase,

•      can demonstrate satisfactory proof of concept - untested ideas and

innovation at ideation stage will not

be considered, and

•      can be implemented in Hargeisa for the duration of 12 months - from July 2024 – June 2025.

We will support the initial test phase of innovative solutions in Hargeisa in 2024 with funding, technical support and linkages to the humanitarian and innovation ecosystems as well as to the on-the-ground presence and technical support from World Vision Somalia, Somali Resilience Program (SomReP), Engineers without Borders Norway and Response Innovation Lab in the pilot location

Between one to three will be selected: minimum envelope of USD 50,000 and maximum at USD 150,000 (if one single pilot). Somali Response Innovation Lab will put in place a consultative mechanism for the selection of the projects but reserves the right to make the final decisions on funding allocations.

The call is open to

•      all types of legally-registered privately held organizations, social enterprises and companies or individuals,

•      single applications or applications in partnership with other organization within East Africa,

•      private sector partners and organizations with a strong track-record in East Africa are strongly recommended to apply.

Selection criteria will include:

•      Innovation level of the solution – disruptive innovations favored; innovative solutions with an existing proof of concept needed (concepts at the ideation stages will not be considered);

•      Environment technical excellence & relevance to the challenge statements;

•      Judicious use of project resources;

•      Potential for impact, scaling and sustainability;

•      Strong track record of the application team with female as a focal point of the project 

The Social Plastics for Economic Development project proposes a range of resources (readings and interactive activities) to support you in the preparation of applications. None of those activities are mandatory to be able to submit an expression of interest but they are strongly recommended.

Please check the resources pack in the project Google Drive created for the ecosystem partners: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QW03nS7yR4fYMYRjVd_L_Sob9eLZfomb?usp=drive_link

Design Thinking tools to support your application process: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CuI6Rz84_-Ta2AkO8NUpif78weH20SNs?usp=drive_link

Value chain mapping of the plastic waste ecosystem in Hargeisa (draft report): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1WoKi_1KNgUruuo3KlkYKoqMR7bTM5HPu?usp=drive_link