Alien Invasive Plants (AIPs) are plants that grow in a place that is not their natural home and so damage other plants, animals and negatively affect livelihoods. Alien Invasive Plants have invaded approximately 18% of South Africa’s total land area and are growing at 5-7% per annum.
The spread of AIPs is directly attributed to the loss of ecosystem services valued at R11 billion and are further attributed to the loss of surface water that equates to the domestic water needs of 3.38 million households (SANBI).
Substantial quantities of this woody biomass – approximately 1.5 million hectares – could be harvested for beneficiation, and in the process stimulate a diversity of economic value chains serviced by women-led SMMEs that would be able to employ youth.
In the context of the AIP challenge highlighted above, and in support of an entrepreneurial ecosystem developmental approach, the NBI aims, under the GIZ’s Investing in Young Businesses in Africa programme (IYBA), to convene networks of people from different organisations to come together and unlock entrepreneurial opportunities associated with the functions of the AIP biomass economy ecosystem, focusing on women and youth early-stage entrepreneurs.