The SMEP Programme builds on a scoping study carried out by Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and York University, which identified several key industries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, namely food and beverages, textiles, chemicals, electrical equipment, and metals and the environmental and health impacts of these. To complement this study, SMEP funded further exploration to obtain country- and sector-focussed insights and unpack these findings into potential areas for future SMEP funding of large-scale targeted research and possible interventions at a regional, country or more granular level.

As part of the SMEP prioritisation work in East Africa, SMEP engaged Open Capital Advisors (OCA) to identify private-sector-generated pollution mitigation solutions that have the potential to scale and realise pollution abatement impact in Kenya and Uganda’s manufacturing sector. OCA was also engaged to design action-oriented follow-on work needed to overcome barriers in Kenya and Uganda impacting the scalability and adoption of pollution mitigation solutions.