UNDP Eswatini Accelerator Lab

Exploring waste management on multiple levels to improve experimentation and execution of new innovations

The UNDP Eswatini Accelerator Lab is exploring innovative ways of dealing with various streams of waste. The first challenge was dealing with single-use plastic bags. The Lab partnered with major retail outlets to implement a five days per week plastic bag partial ban. Buoyed by the success of the single-use plastic bag experiment that has now gone national, the Accelerator Lab is tackling the challenge of single-use disposable diapers. Additionally, solutions ranking high in the waste hierarchy are being explored. As part of this experiment, an innovation challenge has been launched. There will also be citizens' participation in the mapping of dumping sites, and presently collective intelligence has been sought through focused group discussions of nursing mothers.

The Lab has also been working on supporting informal businesses in agro-processing and access to formal markets, by experimenting with a portfolio of solutions targeting technical barriers to trade that inhibit such businesses from accessing formal market linkages. The Lab partners with various government institutions with a mandate of supporting Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) as well as retail outlets who have an Enterprise Development Programme.