Green Africa Youth Organisation

Kumasi, Ghana

An Overview Of Our Solution

As waste menace in Ghana continue to destroy healthy ecosystems, the sustainable community project seeks to address food security issues in impoverished communities in Ghana through ecosystem based agriculture which fosters organic farming, waste management, environmental sanitation, and youth engagement in agriculture. The project introduces segregation of waste in households. Organic waste is composted to institute community gardens at abandoned and unused spaces within the community. Inorganic waste is sorted and delivered to recycling firms. The project promotes the ecological health of existing ecosystems. Considering rising population and limited farmlands in urban centers, the project additionally reinforces the importance of urban gardening and sustainable agriculture.

Who is this solution impacting?

Community Type

Rural

Organization type

Nonprofit

Ecosystem (select all that apply)

Grasslands

Population impacted

500 people

Size of agricultural area

Smallholder farms within households. First cycle of project on course with a total land area of 1Hectare.

Production quantity

Projected yield 100kilos per household

People employed

Volunteers from tertiary institutions are used to oversee project

Describe your solution

The Sustainable Community Project has been designed by the Green Africa Youth Organization following our discovery of inappropriate waste handling in both rural and urban areas across the country. We had identified this through our numerous environmental outreaches organized across the country. Inappropriate organic waste disposal has led to the increase in sanitation related diseases such as cholera and diarrhea in impoverished communities, posing an environmental hazard to human health. Through household education on pit composting, the project seeks to eliminate inappropriate disposal of solid organic waste, and to provide nutritious organic food to families through organic farming. Secondly, there is a growing necessity for sustainable agriculture practices in the era of climate change. Chemically induced agriculture has posed a lot of problems to water bodies, air and humans. Organic farming which makes use of environment friendly and good agricultural practices (GAP) will be strictly adhered to in this project. This is geared towards improving biodiversity and also restores balance within the ecosystem. Furthermore, the project will ensure food security as urban supply of selected vegetables. Produce from households will complement the urban supply which in turn will ensure stable supply at a reduced cost. IMPLEMENTA

Describe your implementation

Action plans to be carried out to meet project objectives include: 1. Carry out an Education on Waste management, Composting and Organic Farming. This is geared towards creating awareness about the importance of proper organic and inorganic waste disposal, role of Organic agriculture in ensuring a sustainable earth. This is also geared towards raising awareness about the project in the chosen communities. This will be carried out in schools and community within which project is carried out. Likely challenges are adequate personnel as well as teaching materials to carry out the education and training. Volunteers in the department of environmental science and Agriculture from the university will be used to facilitate the education program 2. Provision of bins for the segregation of waste and digging of pits for organic composting. Supervisors and volunteers would be assigned to all households involved to ensure that the right procedures are carried out. 3. Land preparation and growing of vegetables within households. This will be carried out by the households under the supervision trained personnel in organic vegetable farming who is part of the organization’s team. In addition field personnel will be assigned to each household to monitor progress. Likely challenge to be encountered is harnessing our quest to train households to acquire the skill of organic farming and ensuring high yield within the same cycle of project. To mitigate this challenge, experts will ensure that sites are well managed so that production will not be under installed capacity. 4. Marketing of produce by the marketing team. Efficient marketing channels are established before produce mature. Part of the produce is given to the household to meet its household demand and the rest sold to generate income for the project. 5. Scaling up, evaluation and replication of project in other households at other locations.

External connections

Key partners of this project include; Michael Miyittah (PhD.) – Environmental Toxicologist, Associate Professor, University of Cape Coast. Gwendolyn Wellmann (PhD.) – Community Development Specialist, Nelson Mandela University, South Africa. Simon Fialor (PhD.) – Head of Department, Agric Faculty, University of Science and Technology, Ghana. Ellinor Jensurd – Business Portfolio Manager, Challenges Worldwide, Ghana. Chris Castro, Director of Sustainability, Orlando, Florida. Other organizations include; Accra Green Market Ghana Youth Environmental Movement Ghana Youth Climate Coalition Environment 360 Department of Environmental Science – University of Cape Coast Tunza Eco-Generation These are mainly Agriculturists and environmentalists whose activities are harnessed to make the project successful. They provide consultancy services as well as well as technical support. Green Africa Youth Organization co-ordinate with the ministry of Food and Agriculture in Ghana (MOFA) and the Ministry in charge of Environment to create a sustainable impact.

What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?

Inappropriate Waste Disposal: The disposal of waste at inappropriate locations has led to the increase in sanitation related diseases such as cholera and diarrhea in impoverished rural Ghana – as gutters are choked and organic foods rot in open spaces. This poses an environmental hazard to human health. Meanwhile, organic waste, if well managed can serve as compost to ensure food security in impoverished communities. Agriculture and Food Security: Agriculture is known to be the backbone of our economy in Ghana and many other African countries. However, over the past decade most youth have shown little interest in Agriculture – causing high unemployment levels and food insecurity in some parts of the country. The project builds the interest of children and youth in Agriculture, allowing each household to have a backyard garden taken care of by members of the household. The project also ensures chemical free farming and promotes healthy organic farming.

Describe the context in which you are operating

The project is operational in Ghana-West Africa and is being carried out within two of its regions which are the Central and the Ashanti region. The main targets within these regions are the households and selected High schools within the same community. Demographically, this project is channeled towards the youth within these communities within the ages of 15 to 30years. In our quest to increase food security, it is of utmost importance that demands for vegetables within the urban and peri-urban communities, which have increased over the years, be met with adequate supply. The youth plays an active role in making it a success. This is towards tackling the SDG 2 which aims at Zero Hunger by 2030.

How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?

The main focus of this project is to tackle improper waste disposal within households which has become a cancer in Ghana. This is done through segregation of waste materials into organic and inorganic form. Waste bins are distributed to households involved in the project to be able to segregate their waste. Organic wastes are composted and used as manure for organic garden within the same household. This will help reduce pollution in the environment which directly reduce health/disease incidence within the community. Households are linked to plastic recycling company within the region to cater for the inorganic waste. This does not go directly into the environment to contaminate the water bodies and agricultural soil. Furthermore, organic farming helps to restore balance to the ecosystem by reducing the level of chemical use in the soil and plant. The use of Pesticides (Glyphosate) and other inorganic forms of fertilizer is reduced drastically.

Language(s)

Which language(s) are spoken in the area where your solution is implemented?

Water

Water bodies within these communities will stand less risk of being contaminated and polluted by waste materials since segregation of waste and proper waste disposal will be achieved with the project.

Food Security/Nutrition

Vegetable production will be the focus of this project. Pressure on the urban demand for vegetables will be reduced which will positively affect price for the consumer.

Economic/Sustainable Development

This project directly tackle four (4) of the Sustainable Development Goals: 1. No poverty (SDG1) 2. Zero Hunger (SDG2) 3. Decent work and Economic growth (SDG8) 4. Climate Action(SDG 13)

Climate

Agriculture is the point of convergence between the fight against poverty and climate change. The use of sustainable agriculture contributes immensely to the reduction in climate change. This project uses organic forms of fertilizers as well as Integrated Pest Management (IPM) to ensure high yield yet still protect the environment. Activities such as usage of organic compost as manure and avoidance the use of glyphosate will ensure a positive effect on climate.

Sustainability

This project is designed to be sustainable and run on its own in the medium term. In the short term, funding is needed to provide resources for production including composting. This includes purchasing and supply of Agricultural tools, seeds, waste bins etc. Detailed logistics are included in the budget for the project. Funds are also needed for the training of personnel, households and High schools in Organic waste composting, principles in vegetable production and Environmental sustainability activities.
In the medium term, 70% of revenue accruing from production will be ploughed back into funding the project making it sustainable, and the rest given to the household.

Return on investment

Feasibility studies for communities and pre-project community engagement – 400 USD. Education and workshop for communities (Households, Schools, Cooperate organizations) – 800 USD. Waste segregation (dustbins), gathering, and composting (digging of pits) – 1300 USD. Land preparation, fencing, and sowing of seeds for organic farm for communities – schools, and households – 1500 USD. Farm maintenance, harvest, and sales – 1000 USD. Total: 5000 USD.

How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?

The project was started in two (2) of the regions in the country and seeks to be replicated in all the nine (9) other regions within the country in the long run. Cape Coast in the Central region and Kumasi in the Ashanti region of Ghana were chosen to start the project. These areas were chosen because of; 1. Availability arable, family size agricultural lands. 2. Availability of field supervisors and volunteers in these areas 3. High incidences of improper waste disposal 4. And availability of ready market. This project will be successfully replicated in most areas if the requirements listed above are met. Funding required will be will be relatively similar. Difference in cost will be due to difference in prices at different geographical locations.

Overview