Local Production Local Solutions

Location: Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Zambia, Nepal

About

Local Production Local Solutions (LPLS) addresses supply chain issues that have arisen during COVID-19. LPLS, while currently focused on COVID-19-related products, prioritises making local production systems more resilient. Global logistics have been compromised by lockdowns and border controls across Africa and other low to middle-income countries (LMICs), leaving many businesses and citizens without key parts of their supply chain. This condition has exposed the rigid, inflexible state of production in many settings, demonstrating the need for locally resilient, flexible production ecosystems. LPLS is working to develop broader, restorative, and agile supply systems, while providing people with the life-saving health and community resources they need to face current restrictions.

Will there be a shift away from long, global, just-in-time supply chains towards more resilient, shorter, regional chains due to vulnerabilities exposed through the pandemic?

COVIDAction LPLS was designed to address these type of big questions by crowdsourcing and mapping innovative responses dealing with the demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) and other unavailable goods. Since April 2020, the initiative has launched a series of open calls to surface how organisations and grassroots innovators across Africa and South Asia have pivoted in local production and novel approaches to meet community needs. The programme provides identified social entrepreneurs financial and technical assistance to scale their impact.