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This collection is part of Footprints Africa's work to build a comprehensive database of circular economy initiatives in Africa. 

This is a result of the collaboration with the <a href="https://www.acen.africa" target="_blank">African Circular Economy Network (ACEN)</a>, as part of the programme to support the circular economy transition in Africa. Footprints Africa's vision is that businesses can be a force for good at scale. Their mission is to advance sustainable, scalable and inclusive approaches to development of local African economies. Footprints Africa supports SMEs to adopt future-friendly practices, such as those inspired by the circular economy, to address the challenges of growth and create jobs. 

This open-source dataset features well over 500 cases and 200 examples of policies and laws and intent to collect inspiring examples of initiatives from across Africa, in order to inform the global dialogue, which is largely focused on the European and American context. 

To learn more about Africa's initiatives and content to accelerate the transition to a circular economy, visit https://www.footprintsafrica.co/



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Footprints Africa

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Business case

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

Scalability

Reduced use of virgin materials and/or an increase of the use of secondary and bio-based materials

Reduce Material Consumption (SDG12)

Contributing to the improvement of biodiversity including species diversity, total number of protected species, and ecosystem health

Biodiversity

Producing agricultural products and processing them into food and beverageproducts for consumption

Agri/Food

Producing and gathering crop and animal products from land and water through farming, hunting, and fishing

Agriculture

Ensure renewable, reusable, non-toxic resources are utilised as materials and energy in an efficient way

Prioritise regenerative resources

Work together throughout the supply chain, internally within organisations and with the public sector and communities to increase transparency and create joint value

Team up to create joint value

 Develop research, structure knowledge, encourage innovation networks and disseminate findings with integrity


Strengthen and advance knowledge

Regenerate strategies phase out hazardous or toxic materials and processes and substitute them with regenerative biomass resources. A circular economy aims to mimic natural cycles—by shifting to more regenerative farming practices, for example—while also maximising the share of circular biomass that enters the economy. Regeneration can happen both at the systems level (by designing regenerative processes) as well as at the product level (by switching synthetic to organic fertilisers, for example).

Regenerate

Impacts

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Industries

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The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

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Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

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• A system of farming principles and practices that increases biodiversity, enriches soils, improves watersheds, and enhances ecosystem services. .Farm Tours • Aims to capture carbon in soil and aboveground biomass, reversing current global trends of atmospheric CO2 accumulation. • Offers increased yields, increased nutritional density of produce, resilience to climate instability, and higher health and vitality for farming and ranching communities.Tamalu Farm is a revival storyThis 10-acre site on the slopes of Mount Kenya began life as a flower farm more than 15 years ago. Following an idle period of 12 years when nothing was cultivated, we took over full management in January 2019. With a select team of local Kenyans nurtured and trained in the principles and methodologies of Regenerative Agriculture, we have begun the steady transformation into a working showcase of agro-ecological integrity. Our long-term aim is to lead the region’s transition towards better land stewardship for small to medium scale acreages as well as contribute to the movement globally; a center of excellence that advocates world class produce cultivated in a way that is ecologically sound, economically viable and socially inclusive.LEAF Africa aims to stimulate Africa's transition towards positive impact agriculture at any scale; farming that encourages economic, environmental and social profitability at a landscape levelYour regenerative agriculture learning experienceWE OFFER THREE DIFFERENT FARM TOURS TO SUIT ALL AGES AND INTERESTS* A FARM TO FORK EXPERIENCE | Full farm Tour with seasonal tasting menu ​ *PICK YOUR OWN - WEIGH & PAY | This is the perfect tour for families with kids! ​ *A FULL FARM TOUR | With farm produce tastings along the wayTopics such as regenerative agriculture, agroforestry, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Sustainable charcoal & biochar production, nursery management, and much more

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Africa

Kenya

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Footprints Africa supports SMEs to adopt future-friendly practices, address the challenges of growth and create jobs, using supply chains as a tool for development. 

The vision of the African Circular Economy Network (ACEN) is to build a restorative African economy that generates well-being and prosperity inclusive of all its people through new forms of economic production and consumption which maintain and regenerate its environmental resources.

African Circular Economy Network

Tamalu Farm is an agroforestry and market gardening project in Kenya the aim of which is to lead the region’s transition towards better land stewardship for small to medium scale farms.

Tamalu Farm

<p>Tamalu Farm is an agroforestry and market gardening project in Kenya, the aim of which is to lead the region’s transition towards better land stewardship for small to medium scale farms. Tamalu Farm’s approach is grounded in syntropic agroforestry, a dynamic system that integrates all seven layers of a forest in an agricultural landscape. This fosters increased social, economic, and environmental benefits for its users. Syntropic agroforestry mimics and accelerates natural succession processes to capture carbon, water, nutrients and biodiversity in degraded and undeveloped land.</p>