Promoting sustainable product innovation and energy-efficient practices among small-scale industries in Uganda

Micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) account for a sizeable share of Ugandan industry and contribute substantially to the country’s economic development. They are a vehicle through which the rural poor and informally employed Ugandans can transform themselves into the middle and industrial classes of tomorrow. The sector accounts for approximately 90% of the private sector and has potential for long-term growth. MSMEs tend to employ inefficient, obsolete technologies that are environmentally inappropriate, however, and they lack the technical capacity and resources to undertake an analysis of energy consumption. Furthermore, they tend to release untreated industrial wastes into the environment in the form of solid waste effluent or air emissions. This project aims to strengthen the capacity of MSMEs for sustainable manufacturing.