Expression of Interest: Circular Economy Innovation Challenge: Creating Green Skills and Livelihood Opportunities for Somali Youth in Agropastoral Com

Background and ContextAgropastoral communities in Somaliland face increasing pressure fromclimate shocks, environmental degradation, and limited livelihood opportunities. Recurrent droughts, declining soil fertility, and resource scarcity continue to undermine traditional livelihoods, while economic diversification remains limited. Young people are disproportionately affected, often lacking access to meaningful employment, market-relevant skills, or viable pathways to contribute to household income and community resilience. These challenges are particularly pronounced in rural and peri-urban agropastoral areas.At the same time, Somaliland is experiencing growing environmental pressures linked to underdeveloped market systems. Agricultural residues, organic by-products, plastic waste, and aging technical equipment are accumulating across communities, contributing to pollution, health risks, and lost economic value. These challenges coexist with unmet demand for affordable agricultural inputs, construction materials, and technical services, highlighting a persistent disconnect between available resources, skills, and functioning markets.Despite these constraints, Somaliland presents strong entry points for circular economy and green skills innovation, particularly where waste streams intersect with livelihood needs and emerging market demand. Agropastoral livelihoods generate substantial volumes of crop residues and organic by-products that can be transformed into productive inputs such as organic fertilizer. Urban growth and changing consumption patterns have increased plastic waste, while a growing number of local enterprises are demonstrating the feasibility of recycling plastic into construction and consumer products. In parallel, the rapid expansion of solar energy—driven by high electricity costs and limited grid coverage—has created increasing demand for repair and maintenance services, opening new income opportunities for youth through applied green skills.To ensure that the Innovation Challenge responds to real market conditions and user needs, its design was informed by structured engagement with ecosystem actors. This included a co-creation workshop using a human-centred and design-thinking approach to unpack underlying challenges, explore root causes, and frame opportunity areas from the perspective of actors working directly in agropastoral and circular economy settings. Building on these insights, an open market dialogue was conducted with solution providers, private-sector actors, cooperatives, and innovators to scan existing circular solutions, assess how they operate within value chains, and identify system-level constraints and opportunities. These engagements were exploratory and non-procurement in nature, and aimed to ground the Challenge design in practitioner experience and market realities.Insights emerging from these engagements point to several consistent patterns across the ecosystem:* Circular economy activities are present across agropastoral and urban contexts but remainfragmented, with weak coordination between producers, service providers, and markets. * Youth are already engaged in activities such as waste collection, repair, fabrication, and agro-processing, but often through informal arrangements with limited opportunities for skills upgrading, enterprise development, or income stability. * Skills development initiatives are frequently delivered as standalone or short-term interventions, with limited alignment to market demand or viable business models. * Access to appropriate financial products for circular and youth-led enterprises remains a key constraint to growth and sustainability.Across these engagements, emerging market signals were observed in several circular economy pathways. These include growing interest in organic soil inputs derived from crop residues, increasing acceptance of recycled plastic products in construction and consumer markets, and rising demand for repair, recovery and maintenance services for technical equipment. While these markets are still developing, they demonstrate sufficient activity to support early-stage enterprise growth and youth employment when combined with targeted skills development and market integration.Taken together, these conditions point to the need for an innovation challenge that prioritizes market-anchored, youth-focused circular solutions, rather than isolated pilots or training programs. The emphasis is on translating existing skills and local resources into viable services and products, embedding learning within real economic activity, and enabling youth to generate income while contributing to environmental sustainability and climate resilience.In response to these findings, theCircular Economy Innovation Challenge has been designed to support solutions that can be realistically implemented within a six-month period and that strengthen livelihoods, circular value chains, and environmental outcomes in agropastoral communities. The Challenge is implemented under the SIDA III Programme by the SomReP Consortium, with funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).2. PurposeThe purpose of the Circular Economy Innovation Challenge is to identify, support, and pilot market-anchored circular solutions that strengthen green skills and income-generating opportunities for youth in agropastoral communities in Somaliland. The Challenge aims to translate existing skills, resources, and emerging market demand into viable services and products that contribute to environmental sustainability, climate resilience, and inclusive economic development.3. ObjectivesThe specific objectives of the Circular Economy Innovation Challenge are to:* Support circular solutions that create tangible livelihood and income opportunities for youth in agropastoral and peri-urban communities * Strengthen green skills through learning-by-doing, embedding practical skills development within operational circular enterprises and services * Enable market-ready circular innovations that respond to existing or emerging demand, particularly in areas such as organic fertilizer production, plastic recycling, and repair and maintenance services * Improve linkages between skills, enterprises, and markets, reducing fragmentation in the circular economy ecosystem * Facilitate access to appropriate financing mechanisms and business models suited to circular and youth-led enterprises * Demonstrate feasible and scalable approaches that can be replicated or adapted in other agropastoral contexts within Somaliland * Contribute to environmental sustainability and climate resilience by reducing waste, extending product lifecycles, and improving resource efficiency4. Scope of the ChallengeThis section outlines the scope of the Circular Economy Innovation Challenge, including the types of solutions sought, priority thematic focus areas, target communities, timeframe expectations, and activities that fall outside the scope of the Challenge. Applicants are expected to ensure that proposed solutions align clearly with this scope.In addition to delivering circular economy outcomes, all proposed solutions are expected to demonstrate clear potential to create, strengthen, or apply green skills among youth in agropastoral and peri-urban communities. Green skills refer to practical, work-based skills related to resource recovery, processing, repair, fabrication, maintenance, or service delivery that are directly linked to income-generating activities. Solutions should therefore be designed in a way that enables youth to acquire and apply such skills through active participation in day-to-day operations.* Types of Solutions in Scope:The Challenge seeks practical, market-facing circular economy solutions that deliver tangible products or services and create income-generating opportunities for youth, including through roles that require hands-on technical, operational, or service-related skills relevant to a green economy.Solutions may be proposed by enterprises, cooperatives, youth groups, civil society organizations, or consortia, provided they demonstrate a clear pathway to implementation and market engagement.Solutions in scope may include, but are not limited to:* Circular production, processing, or service-delivery models * Repair, maintenance, refurbishment, or recovery services * Waste collection, aggregation, sorting, or transformation approaches * Cooperative- or enterprise-based models that strengthen circular value chains * Market linkage or service models that connect producers, service providers, and end usersProposals should move beyond conceptual ideas and clearly demonstrate how activities translate into viable products or services that respond to local needs and generate economic value.* Priority Thematic Focus Areas:Based on ecosystem engagement and market analysis, the Circular Economy Innovation Challenge will focus on two priority thematic areas where there is strong relevance to agropastoral livelihoods, emerging market demand, and realistic opportunities for youth engagement within a six-month pilot period.THEMATIC AREA 1: UNDERUTILIZED BIOLOGICAL BY-PRODUCTSThe Challenge prioritizes solutions that transform crop residues and livestock manure into productive, market-relevant inputs for agropastoral systems. Solutions under this thematic area are expected to contribute to improved soil fertility, resource efficiency, and climate resilience, while creating opportunities for youth to participate in activities such as collection, processing, quality control, application support, and distribution.Examples of solutions under this thematic area may include, but are not limited to:* Composting or processing of crop residues into organic fertilizer or soil-improvement inputs * Manure-based soil amendments or blended organic inputs suitable for local farming conditions * Service-based models that support farmers in managing organic by-products and improving soil healthProposals should demonstrate how currently underutilized biological materials can be converted into products or services valued by farmers, cooperatives, or agricultural enterprises, and how youth are engaged in operational roles that build practical capabilities in organic input production, handling, and application.THEMATIC AREA 2: TECHNICAL WASTE (PLASTIC WASTE AND E-WASTE)The Challenge also prioritizes solutions addressing plastic waste and electronic waste, which are increasing rapidly in urban and peri-urban areas and pose environmental and health risks if unmanaged. Solutions in this thematic area should focus on improving the recovery, reuse, repair, or transformation of technical waste into viable products or services that respond to local market needs.Examples of solutions under this thematic area may include, but are not limited to:* Plastic recycling or reuse models that convert waste into marketable and fit-for-purpose products * Repair, refurbishment, or component recovery services for electronic and electrical equipment * Aggregation, sorting, and processing approaches that improve the quality, safety, and usability of technical waste streamsSolutions should demonstrate how resulting products or services are appropriate for agropastoral and peri-urban contexts, and how youth participate in technical and service roles—such as sorting, processing, repair, refurbishment, or fabrication—that enable the development of transferable green skills alongside income generation.* GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE AND TARGET COMMUNITIESThe Challenge targets agropastoral and peri-urban communities in Somaliland. Proposed pilots must be implemented within Somaliland and demonstrate relevance to local livelihood systems, resource availability, and market conditions.Applicants should clearly indicate:* The specific location(s) where the pilot will be implemented * How the solution responds to local agropastoral conditions and community needs * TIMEFRAME AND SCALE OF PILOTSThe Challenge is designed to support short-term pilots that demonstrate early results and learning.Within the scope of the Challenge:* Proposed solutions must be implementable within a 4–6-month period within Somaliland * Pilots are expected to operate at small to medium scale, with clear potential for replication or expansion * Applicants should demonstrate how early outcomes—such as service delivery, product uptake, or income generation—will be achieved within the pilot timeframe5. Funding Modality and Contract SizeThe Circular Economy Innovation Challenge will support up to two (2) innovations, with individual budgets up to USD 15,000.Funding is intended to support practical, market-oriented pilot implementation, including costs directly related to delivering the proposed circular solution. Eligible costs may include operational expenses, materials and inputs, modest equipment, personnel costs, and other implementation-related expenses necessary to test and refine the solution during the pilot period.Funding will be provided on a milestone-based basis, linked to agreed deliverables and learning objectives. The final amount, milestone structure, and disbursement schedule will be confirmed during the contracting phase.Funding is not intended to support large-scale infrastructure investments, long-term operational costs beyond the pilot period, or activities outside the scope of this challenge.6. Guiding PrinciplesAll proposed solutions must align with the following guiding principles throughout design and implementation:* Humanitarian Principles and Do No Harm Solutions must be implemented in line with core humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence. Proposals should demonstrate sensitivity to local conflict dynamics, social tensions, power relations, and vulnerabilities, and include practical measures to avoid exacerbating risks or inequalities, particularly for agropastoral and marginalized communities. * Innovation and Ethics Proposals should demonstrate innovative approaches—through business models, service delivery, partnerships, or adaptation of existing practices—while upholding ethical standards, transparency, accountability, and responsible use of resources. * Localization Solutions must be grounded in the Somaliland context, leveraging local knowledge, skills, materials, and partnerships, and strengthening local ownership, leadership, and capacity, in line with the principle of “as local as possible, as international as necessary.” * Design with the User Solutions should be informed by the needs, realities, and constraints of end users, with mechanisms for user engagement, feedback, and inclusive participation, particularly for youth, women, and marginalized groups. * Sustainability and Scalability Proposals should demonstrate potential for financial, social, and environmental sustainability beyond the pilot period, as well as realistic pathways for replication or scale within similar agropas…