Towards inclusive green circular economy in Africa
SwitchMed offered to the Lebanese Switcher, founder of Sustainable mushroom production unit “Lili’s farm”, the opportunity to participate in the second SWITCH Africa Green regional networking forum, to share his challenges, lessons and experiences as well as build synergy and complementarities with African stakeholders involved in green business development and SCP activities.
Dr Mansour, what’s your opinion about your participation in this major networking event?
In Africa sustainable production in the agriculture sector is centred around particular and traditional products where value chain studies become very relevant and frequent. The rootedness of green businesses in local culture and natural wealth is fascinating in Africa; the Mt. Rwenzori Coffee in Uganda, the Shea byproducts from Burkina Faso, the banana fabric and biogas and other Kenyan products are all parts of a sustainable system of production and consumption that works towards local and regional development benefiting from available international support.
“Switch Africa Green has exposed me more thoroughly to the wider environment of green business and green economy.”
Wissam Mansour.
I personally met with people from Ghana and from Mauritius who were very interested in Lili’s Farm developed climate control and mushroom growing systems; on the other hand one of the few mushroom growers in Burkina Faso met with me and we exchanged experiences and outlooks towards better oyster mushroom production and growing strategies and techniques.
The rather scarce funding available to African green businesses extracts more talent into the values inherent from sustainable production and consumption. Extended value chains across African products reminds me of similar potentials in traditional Mediterranean products which have equal potential.
Although historically products like olives in the Mediterranean have developed into a long chain of production and consumption, still, green agriculture remains individualistic in the Mediterranean and much could be learnt from the group spirit that is involved in large scale green projects on national levels in Africa.
Read the full interview with Wissam Mansour by SwithcMed.
[Photo by Switch Africa Green | Twitter]
