Banyan Global collaborates with the Center for Rural Empowerment and the Environment (CREE) in Kenya to support wildlife conservation through the acquisition of eco-san toilets, innovative devices that convert human biological waste into fertilizer, enhancing crop yields for smallholders. CREE is a livelihoods-focused non-profit organization that seeks practical solutions to bridge the gap between sustainable development and environmental conservation. The organization achieves these outcomes through programs that focus on poverty alleviation and resolving human-wildlife conflict. This creative farmer-led initiative prevents human- hippo conflict by keeping people from starting new farms in hippo habitats. The CREE-managed Dunga Wetlands project alleviates the problem of human encroachment by improving crop yields on select farms in that area. Through eco-san toilet technology, which utilizes human waste as fertilizer, farmers can grow more agricultural crops in less space, preventing the need for further colonization of land near wetlands and hippo habitats.
Banyan Global is partnering with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to design and implement a training program about opportunities and constraints related to agriculture and climate change. This program will be the first of its kind for ECOWAS and will contribute to policy-making guidance related to climate change during the next three years.
In Georgia during the past two years, Banyan Global has designed and implemented trainings and training of trainers programs on environmental compliance and safety standards. These trainings have been delivered to more than 100 private-sector participants. These daylong sessions build knowledge and skills for environmental risk assessments, mitigation, and planning. The training is targeted to private hospital and clinical managers interested in applying for financing from a bank with a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Development Credit Authority guarantee in order to renovate and expand their facilities. Having an environmental safety management plan is a prerequisite for financing under the DCA. Banyan Global will work individually with many of the trainees to implement tailored environmental safety plans for their facilities. This work has been conducted as part of Banyan Global's role on the USAID-funded Georgia Health Systems Strengthening Project (HSSP). HSSP plays a critical role in transforming Georgia's health care system from the public to the private sector, leading to efficiency gains and better consumer satisfaction as a result of market forces.
As part of the United States Agency for International Development-funded Afghanistan Small and Medium Enterprise Development project, Banyan Global provided a series of quality-assurance trainings, training of trainers, and hands-on assistance to a range of small businesses, including a biscuit company, a dairy, a jam and juice manufacturer, a poultry farm, two furniture manufacturers, and a power company. These trainings focused on quality-assurance management, food and environmental safety, and quality controls. An emphasis was placed on working through local business-development service providers to build local capacity in the quality-assurance field. As a result of a multiyear series of interventions, the project built a cadre of business-development service providers able to offer quality-assurance training and technical assistance to Afghanistan's small- and medium-sized business community.