Search Results

Nairobi's bustling and booming, but is the hustle sustainable? By Mbugua Ng'ang'a, bird story agency The Waiyaki Way-Raphta Road roundabout in Westlands is a microcosm of the contradictions that define Nairobi's sustainable development narrative. Motorists driving down into the city stop cruising on the four-lane highway as they approach the busy intersection. Four lanes shrink to two on the off-ramp leading to Raphta Road but then traffic suddenly comes to halt because part of the road has been colonised by mutatus, Nairobi's infamous public transport minivans. It takes the constant intervention of traffic police ensure that traffic flows smoothly. Above the honking and frayed nerves, the Nairobi Expressway stretches out in the morning sun like a lazy lizard. The expressway is for motorists who do not mind paying a fee – a minimum of 100 shillings (US$0.82) and a maximum of 310 shillings (USD$2.5) depending on distance – so they can drive calmly above the din below. From up there, motorists have a clear view of the blue, glass-walled Africa 1 tower, a phallic symbol that juts above the skyline, with a top floor that is a revolving restaurant giving patrons a 360-degree view of Nairobi. Only a keen eye will notice the sprawling copper-brown roofs of the Kibera shantytown sandwiched between the affluent Lang'ata neighbourhood and the famous Nairobi National Park, where lions roam freely (sometimes onto surrounding roads). "Urban growth must be planned to make it sustainable," says Winnie Ngumi, chairman of the Kenya National Highways Authority (KenHa) Board and CEO of Space N Style. This company specialises in manufacturing roofing tiles, eco-friendly homes, and bespoke plumbing systems. Construction site ongoing for office rentals in Hurlingham along Kindaruma Lane in Nairobi. Photo : Njenga Kungu "I am not certain that we have implemented urban growth plans in a sustainable manner." One way of ensuring sustainable urban growth involves zoning, which the new governor, Johnson Sakaja, promised ahead of the August 9 election. "I will create four boroughs and appoint city managers for each to deal with the specific needs of every part of the city," he said before being elected two months ago. As he names his management team, Nairobi residents will be watching to see if his promise to run the capital the same way New York will come to pass. Winnie acknowledges the challenges ahead. "Zoning of urban areas must be done well in advance and development of buildings should ideally follow zoning provisions to make the city liveable," she says. Construction site ongoing for office rentals in Hurlingham along Woodlands lane in Nairobi. Photo : Njenga Kungu In her view, the city is increasingly overwhelmed by rising demand for infrastructure. By 2019, Nairobi had 4.4 million residents, about a tenth of the national population, sharing a space of 670 square kilometres. According to the World Population Review, this number has grown to 5.3 million. Yet, the capital has not grown its housing or transport infrastructure in tandem, as is evident from the congestion that characterises the Westlands roundabout. In early October, newly-elected President William Ruto unveiled a plan to facilitate the building of 500,000 homes in the capital annually to address the housing shortage. Under the programme, residents would pay about 30 dollars a month to own a studio apartment and about double that for a one-bedroom apartment in poor neighbourhoods like Mukuru. "In 15 to 25 years, they will become homeowners," he said this week of the programme, primarily targeting shack dwellers who live in deplorable conditions and where the cost of water per litre is twice as high as in well-off neighbourhoods. Such inequalities make economic advancement unsustainable in poor city neighbourhoods. Shell petrol station ongoing construction along Kiambu Road. Photo : Njenga Kungu "Integration of all elements in sustainable design is key in making our cities more liveable," said Winnie, Nguni, laying a finger squarely on one of the biggest challenges facing Nairobi. Companies like Huawei Technologies, which have won huge tenders to harness technology to manage traffic, have a significant role to play in improving sustainability and smart mobility. The company has deployed Artificial Intelligence to design Nairobi's Intelligent Transport System in partnership with the Kenya Urban Roads Authority. The system has streamlined traffic flow in middle-class neighbourhoods like Kileleshwa but challenges still abound, partly because public service minivans are not keen to observe traffic rules, making city roads unsafe for other users, particularly pedestrians, who account for the highest number of road crash victims and casualties. About 48 per cent of Nairobians walk to work each morning and back home every evening. According to police records, pedestrians account for about half of road crash fatalities in the capital, meaning that design challenges make the city's road infrastructure largely unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists, who account for the second largest demographic of crash victims. All is not lost, however. Later this month, the Architectural Association of Kenya, in partnership with UN-Habitat, invited urban planners for three days of talks on the essentials of city building and how to manage urban development. This meeting should develop ideas to make Nairobi's urban development more sustainable. Rubis petrol station under construction along Kiambu Road. Photo : Njenga Kungu And with World Cities Day coming up at the end of the month, there is ample opportunity for urban planners to advise government agencies, such the Nairobi City County, on how to transform the capital from one big construction site into a liveable, smart city devoid of the internal contradictions that are all too evident at the Westlands roundabout. bird story agency

Keeping it simple, transparent and efficient - and backing it all up with AI - is helping this recycling company make money. by Kate Okorie, bird story agency Plastic waste is everywhere in Nigeria. The streets are littered with lightweight plastics and metallic parts. The culprits are regular citizens who discard trash with little regard to how and where and even the decrepit waste collection trucks can sometimes be seen trailing trash in their wake. In the absence of strong environmental policies or government infrastructure, there has been a proliferation of privately-owned companies that make money removing this waste from the streets. It's a competitive and tough business but one company has come up with a model that has seen it expand rapidly. Scrapay started with a simple premise - any company that relied on its own collection infrastructure was going to struggle to make money. "Without a central collection point, the amount spent on logistics might be higher or equal to your business profit," explained Scrapays co-founder, Boluwatife Arewa. Scrapays co-founder, Boluwatife Arewa. Photo Courtesy : Boluwatife Arewa So Scrapays came up with a system that offers the most efficiency. The waste distribution chain begins with a waste producer who places a pickup order that a collector receives. The collector weighs the items at the pickup point and pays the producer accordingly. Next in the chain are the agents, who usually assemble waste from multiple collectors for offtake to the processing point. Bags of recycable plastic bottles at the collection point. Photo Courtesy : Boluwatife Arewa Technology enables the company to maintain a stakeholder network. Scrapays provides a quick code (USSD) platform for waste producers and collectors. "A significant number of players in the recycling business do not use smartphones, so the USSD makes it easy for them to interact with our system," Arewa explained. Call and we will come collect codes. Graphics : Hope Mukami The low-tech mobile messaging service allows them to place pickup orders, track earnings and make payments from their mobile wallet; earnings can be transferred directly to a local bank account and withdrawn as cash. While the quick codes may be simple to use, a fully integrated artificial intelligence framework enables agents to value items and make payments to collectors within a short timeframe. The system receives inputs automatically from a wide variety of sources, to keep valuations up to date. "The app we created for our agents has an internet of things (IoT) system," Arewa said. Arewa revealed that incentives received by each individual in the chain depend on the type of material recovered, time of the year, and local and international market forces. "Over the past three weeks, the price of metal has been increasing with everyone recovering metal earning more," While metal appreciates, "the price of cartons are decreasing," he added. He explained that the price fluctuations result from the ongoing rainy season in Nigeria. To ensure transparency, the company's system provides recent prices of the recyclables, including plastic, aluminium, metals and PET bottles. "The payments are not fixed; stakeholders are rewarded based on how much value they bring to the chain," said Arewa. One of Scrapays agents, a commercial tricycle vendor, makes around 1.3 million Nigerian naira (US$3,000) every six weeks from selling the vehicle's packaging materials — cartons, plastic stretch wraps and light metals. Previously, she paid people to dispose of them. Some agents set up multiple collection locations and help retrieve up to 4 tonnes of waste from the environment, monthly. "When people see us make money from waste, they want to join too," said Ndidi Achonye, a waste collector in Lagos. Arewa founded the company together with fellow Geoscience coursemates Tope Sulaimon and Olumide Ogunleye while the three were still undergraduates at the Federal University of Technology Akure, in Southwest Nigeria. They initially named it Panti — a Yoruba word for waste. Currently operating in five states in Nigeria, including Lagos, Scrapays' business model has, like the company, evolved significantly. Importantly, by connecting everyone in the recycling ecosystem and making pricing, collections and payments more transparent and reliable, the system they've developed incentivises the waste producers themselves to recycle and helps collectors make more money. According to Arewa, Scrapays collectors network has grown by 25 per cent on a month-on-month basis. "Our agents have autonomy over their activities. We only provide them with the technology and structure to do it in a scalable manner," he said. The company also leverages its multi-use platform — USSD, mobile apps and web — to generate profit from app subscriptions as well as in-app transactions, to boost its primary earnings from facilitating the recycling value chain. Scrapays' business model has significant appeal to investors and grant bodies; it is the only waste management company selected for the latest Google Black Founders Fund. A little-known additional revenue source for the company is carbon credits. The company has tapped into the international carbon trading system, earning dollars for the removal of carbon from the environment. "A well-structured carbon credit system can allow African countries to protect at-risk resources and generate income from the protection of those resources" Jean-Paul Adam, a director at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) was quoted as saying, in an article published by ESI Africa. With growth and increased credibility, it might be expected that the company would push to establish branches right across the country. However, Scrapays is segmenting its expansion very strategically. It is looking to expand one Nigerian state at a time, while also expanding to other countries - not only in Africa but also Latin America and Southeast Asia - that face similar waste problems to Nigeria's. bird story agency

Tafadzwa Ufumeli, bird story agency On a Saturday in Waterfalls, a suburb five kilometres south of Harare's Central Business District, Stuart Nyakatswau is alone in a warehouse, surrounded by large garbage bags and machines. His company, Wastiinova, recently moved into the facility and he is busy cleaning and preparing for the busy week ahead. Despite having 19 employees, he still prefers a hands-on approach and his business is, to him, more than a money-making venture. “It is my little way of making the world better,” the thirty-year-old told bird story agency during a recent interview. Medical waste recycler, Stuart Nyakatswau, at his factory in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo : Tafadzwa Ufumeli Wastiinova is a waste recycling company. Nyakatswau started it in 2017, after coming across a newspaper article. “One day I was reading a news story where a child had picked up a test tube full of blood at a rubbish dump and had mistaken it for lipstick. It felt wrong, and I felt I needed to do something as someone in the health sector,” he said. At the time, he was no longer feeling gratified at his job as a laboratory technician at a local laboratory. He started approaching medical facilities, offering them a service providing proper disposal of their waste. Medical waste usually comprises of syringes, gloves, bandages, human tissue, cultures and other biohazard waste. It cannot be disposed of in the same way people handle domestic waste. Plastic waste waiting to be recycled at Stuart Nyakatswau's factory in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo : Tafadzwa Ufumeli “At the beginning, I was hiring trucks and I was collecting waste from clinics, hospitals and taking them to incinerators at major hospitals,” he said. This was a challenge due to the low number of incinerators in Zimbabwe. In Harare, only major government hospitals, including Parirenyatwa, Sally Mugabe Hospital and Chitungwiza Hospital, have industrial-scale incinerators. “The incinerators kept breaking down. The one at Parirenyatwa broke down. We started going to Sally Mugabe hospital. In no time it broke down as well,” Nyakatswau said. The remaining incinerator at Chitungwiza hospital was soon to follow. As someone who was already concerned about the environmental effect of burning waste, however, he recognised these setbacks as an opportunity. “Every time we would burn waste, my heart would get heavy. So when the incinerators kept breaking down, I asked myself – is there another way?” The inquiry triggered a lightbulb moment for Nyakatswau. “As I was pondering my next move. I remembered that surgical instruments are used and are sterilized for use on the next patient, and the same could apply for medical waste,” he said. At the time, business was picking up and he was realizing some profit, enough for him to make some savings. “I decided to buy an autoclave, a machine which sterilizes the waste and makes it safe for handling during the recycling process,” he said. What made the idea even more attractive was how energy-efficient autoclaving waste is, compared to burning. “Incineration uses 1200 degrees Celcius to burn waste, so if we could find an alternative that reduces the heat... Sterilisation uses 124 degrees Celcius and high pressure. That became our next goal... to replace incineration by sterilization,” he explained. That was in 2019. As he made the investment, dipping into personal savings, he had no idea of the challenges that lay ahead. The arrival of COVID-19 meant that the proper disposal of medical waste was no longer a luxury for medical facilities, but a necessity. The correct disposal of accessories used in managing clinical cases became a matter of national importance. Though the world was under distress, for Nyakatswau and Wastiinova, the wave of medical waste became both a problem and an opportunity. “We had to push to increase more shifts, work on weekends. When we were not able to meet the demand we would sub-contract,” he said. It was from this spike in business that Nyakatswau's company was able to make further investments, solving some of the company's biggest headaches since venturing into business, like transport. They bought their own vehicles, which meant they were no longer hiring trucks to move clients` waste around. “People have always associated waste with dirty trucks. We bought two brand new Quantums, we branded them well and it raised our stock on the market. People associated our brand with status,” Nyakatswau said. While COVID-19 regulations have eased in Zimbabwe and medical waste is not longer being created at the same rate, “Now that COVID-19 is gone, things are now going back to normal. People are now spending the whole day with the same masks. At clinics, gowns are no longer compulsory,” he said. However, Nyakatswau said the past two years have left the company with a significant footprint. And less pressure has allowed the company to think about value addition. “In the past, all the plastic and other waste we would get, we would sell to people who export the waste to South Africa for recycling,” he said. So Nyakatwau invested in machinery that would allow the company to perform its own recyling. “It melts the plastic. We separate the plastic by colour. We melt the plastic, turn it into strands and then we grind them into pellets,” said Nyakatswau. The pellets can be used to make bin liners and plastic chairs. Again, that offers an opportunity. Stuart Nyakatswau shows off one of the equipment he uses to separate waste at his factory in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo : Tafadzwa Ufumeli “We are in the process of importing a machine that manufactures bin-liners,” he explained. His company also handles confidential waste like medical records. Despite the temptation to char the documents into ash, they simply shred them incisively before selling the shreds to those who recycle paper. They have a zero-burn policy, which Nyakatswau says they are implementing with 95 percent efficiency. “Ninety-five of the waste we collect, we recycle. We could achieve zero burning, but there are things that according to our regulations and ethics we burn. In Africa when there is a still-born, you have to burn, lest people get worried,” he said. “So, we are still burning pathological waste, due to the beliefs of our people. But everything else we are recycling,” Nyakatswau added. Plastics offer considerable potential rewards. “We commissioned a local company to design for us two machines, one that makes plastic tiles and one that makes foot soles. I think they will be done in a few days,” Nyakatswau explained. During the course of the journey, the company has won a number of accolades, the most notable of which was the 2018 Green EnterPRIZE award for Outstanding Business in Waste Management in Zimbabwe. Medical waste recycler, Stuart Nyakatswau, at his factory in Harare, Zimbabwe. Photo : Tafadzwa Ufumeli He used the US$5,000 in prize money to fund the construction of a storage facility he was using. During the same year, AMREF Health Africa identified Wastiinnova as one of the top six emerging health startups in Africa. The company was also listed among the top nine Global Startups in Medical Waste Management in 2019 by an organisation called Recycling Startups. “There was a time I was interested in winning awards. But now we are focusing more on growth. If the awards come, we are happy. But if they don’t, we won't be worried, as we are focusing on growth,” he said. That growth strategy includes expansion across the continent. The company's logo is designed with 36 green dots, which represent the countries they intend to venture into. For each country they enter, a dot on the logo will turn to orange. So far, there are two dots on the logo which have turned orange, representing Zimbabwe and Rwanda. “We have already entered the Rwanda market at a pre-revenue stage. We are not yet making revenue but we have a website we use to push education, training.... While we are doing that, we are building a database of the market and once are convinced that we will get enough business we are setting up base there,” said Nyakatswau. Besides just collecting and putting waste to good use, Nyakatswau is also seeking to venture into research. The laboratory sciences graduate is now also studying the correlation between incinerating medical waste and colorectal cancer. “Whatever we, do we always have to make sure we are making the world a better world. If you incinerate waste, there are particles that increase. We believe there is a correlation between high cases of colorectal cancer. We are hoping to do research to validate that,” he said. bird story agency

Determined to keep litter off the streets and beaches, Anas Seko, 27, is using every modern method in the book to engage other young Africans and get the job done. by bird story agency staff Nothing gets Anas Seko's blood boiling more than seeing someone throw garbage out in the street. The 27-year-old photographer and communications professional has committed himself to creating a cleaner environment - and once clean, he wants it to stay that way. Dubbing himself "the garbage collector" his biggest challenge is sensitizing people around him to do the right thing. To do so he has built a toolkit for 21st Century activism: he stages art shows and one-man performances, creates short movies, engages in advocacy, and makes the best possible use of social networking opportunities. Anas Seko collecting garbage in his neighborhood. Photo Credits : Anas Seko Seko's mission kicked off in 2019 with a mobilization to clean Ganvié pier, in his neighbourhood. Ganvié is a lake city built on stilts and is one of Benin Republic's top touristic attractions. Its pier is the gateway to the 35,000-person settlement and is also a vital hub for fishmongers and other traders. For years, the pier was badly polluted as waste was indiscriminately dumped in the area. Anas Seko collecting plastic bottles from a river. Photo Credits : Anas Seko Friends and relatives answered the call and with a small team and limited resources, the cleaning started. Ganvié, sometimes referred to by the locals as the Venice of Africa, is considered an important cultural and historical heritage by most Beninese. So the move drew public attention and was reported by the local media, earning Seko nationwide fame and recognition. Anas Seko now spearheads a new initiative called Mon Anniversaire Ma Patrie, or, My Birthday, My Country. The initiative encourages everyone to volunteer for a positive action performed on one's birthday. The initiative has led to enthusiastic gatherings of people to clear beaches, streets, and university campuses of discarded plastic bags as they celebrate their birthdays. Anas Seko collecting garbage in his neighborhood. Photo Credits : Anas Seko According to Seko, education around a campaign is vital. Often, solutions are actually closer than people realise - all that is needed is information. "In Ganvié for example, there was a small garbage collector just behind the fish market, which prevented people from spilling waste nearby," he recalled. His plea is that education on environmental issues be introduced in schools' curricula at the earliest stage possible so that the next generation will be entirely eco-friendly. To sensitize the youth, he stages art performances in primary schools, produces funny videos, and uses social media extensively. Anas Seko posing for a picture. Photo Credits : Anas Seko With COP 27 looming, the young activist has his own opinion on the impact of major international events. "The COP is a very good initiative, very good resolutions are taken, but there is a huge gap between resolutions and their implementation on the field," he said. That's where he comes in. Using a suite of tools that need not cost a great deal, he believes that local communities can be educated to demand more of government and force corporates to keep carbon emissions and pollution in check. Until COP resolutions can be implemented, "the garbage collector" will continue using all the tools at his disposal to get things done "on the ground". bird story agency

A shared enthusiasm for music, the environment and social sharing helped this young woman grow a climate action group on campus. Now, she and her fellow campaigners are hitting the streets. by bird story agency Fridays are always full-on, for a group of 100 students at the Catholic University of Zimbabwe, in Harare. After preparing placards and billboards, the group proceeds to a park where they update each other on the status of the work being done by different members of their organization, the Fridays for Future Initiative. The group holding placards and billboards made of cartons and manilla papers. Photo Credits: Tafadzwa Kurotwi After an hour or so of discussion and debate, members break into song, then stage marches around the campus, before hitting the streets and walking to Harare's central business district, about 7 kilometres away. At the centre of the planning and organization is 23-year old Tafadzwa Kurotwi Malaika. The third-year IT student says her passion for climate change advocacy developed early, from age 14, when she was still in high school. Tafadzwa Kurotwi. Photo Credits: Tafadzwa Kurotwi Malaika was born and raised in Mashingu, a marginalised community among the Shona and Karanga people whose survival is absolutely pegged to subsistence farming. Malaika became alarmed when, as a young girl, she saw how the community and especially her family kept registering a drop in farm produce. “It is funny how even today they link the drop in rainfall, the increased droughts and general low farm produce to everything else but climate change,” the climate awareness ambassador explained. It was only when she got to university that Malaika was able to take to the internet to find out more. She quickly realised she could use her online skills not only to gain knowledge but also to motivate for change. “Every time I look back I marvel at the way the internet has helped me become more informed and more prepared to lead fellow youth in the path to climate education,” the climate advocacy enthusiast said. Besides using peaceful marches and protest to raise awareness, the group is part of a larger movement that is brought together by music. The group together after a music performance. Photo credits: Tafadzwa Kurotwi “We are all musicians or lovers of music under the umbrella unit of Climate Live Zimbabwe which is a music concert group that besides organizing music concerts, propagates climate education,” Malaika explained. The Fridays for Future movement engages in street cleaning, community education and planting trees. A member going around the school showing the infomercial cards advocating for climate change action. Photo Credits: Tafadzwa Kurotwi The group is also in the process of conducting research on the available options and innovations they can leverage to recycle plastics collected from the streets and community neighbourhoods. “We have managed to initiate active programs ranging from garbage collection to climate education and tree planting in five towns including Harare, Mutare, Bulawayo, Murehwa and Kadoma,” she reported proudly. “Within a very short time we are almost at 720 trees and we hope to reach 1000 by end-year, a target we will hit as soon as the rains resume. We have now even seen President Emmerson Mnangagwa take part in some of the street cleaning campaigns which is a gesture we don’t take lightly,” she added. The group staging protest-like marching that spearheads climate education and street cleaning. Photo Credits: Tafadzwa Kurotwi Malaika said she believes that youth have an obligation to know the danger lying ahead for the world and to speak out, because “everyone especially young people should have a voice and a role to play in the climate space.” While she has not gotten the opportunity to project the message of climate action to her rural community in Mashingu, she believes with support and consistent hard work, she will have the capacity to educate more Zimbabweans. Tafadzwa Kurotwi holding an informercial. Photo Credits: Tafadzwa Kurotwi “We in Catholic University are lucky because we have access to information and resources that have built our climate education base but this is a war and we cannot fight alone,” she stated, promising to lead her group of young activists to demand improvement in climate awareness and climate education. bird story agency

A massive green-belt cleanup project is testament to what can be achieved if environmental groups and responsible businesses collaborate. by Des Erasmus, bird story agency Environmental activist Nduduzo Ndaba has a wishlist for a severely polluted greenbelt that sits astride an equally polluted river in Durban, on the east coast of South Africa. It includes more than the vigorous deep clean that is currently underway. “I would like to see this as part of a green corridor again, a park where residents can relax, for bird watching. Vegetable gardens would be good,” he says, cocking his head towards the metres-high mounds of waste and debris that are being scooped up by graders. Ndaba is a team supervisor at a non-governmental organisation involved in grassroots environmental action. The area being deep-cleaned used to be part of a green corridor with a walking, cycling and running route that stretched from the inland area of Inanda, all the way to Durban’s beaches. But it has been neglected by local government and is avoided by the public because of the filth. “You should have seen it before we started,” Ndaba said of the area, shaking his head as the graders shift discarded plastic, textiles, household items, garden waste, glass bottles, building rubble and muck into piles. The clean-up has been sponsored by several businesses in the area. Stamatis Kapsimalis, owner of a storage company, was the force behind getting the companies together. At least 300,000 rands (US$ 16,650) have been spent on the project already, he said - a clear indication that local business was “invested” in improving the area. “I am the patron of where I live and work, no matter who makes the mess. My business logo is ‘handle with care' and the environment should be handled the same way,” Kapsimalis explained. Other businesses in the area, from construction to meat companies, have come on board to support the clean-up. Apart from sponsoring the graders and trucks, the companies also pay the salaries of employees at the NGO, Adopt-A-River. Once the huge piles of waste have been created, the graders lift and tip it into waiting trucks. It is then transported to a landfill, where the eThekwini metro that runs Durban has waived its dumping fees. The metro has also assisted with fencing off an entrance to the area, to prevent further dumping of waste. While Ndaba’s dream for the area is shared by the rest of the team, his appreciation for the environment “has always been there”, he said. “Nobody had to teach me.” He was, however, inspired into activism via documentaries he used to watch on television when he was "very young". A local of KwaZulu-Natal, Ndaba was born in Ntuzuma, a township built in the days of apartheid. He practises green activism in the township, he said. It’s something he regards as a necessity for preservation for future generations. He admitted that bringing residents around to his way of thinking would take time. But he is willing to persevere, he said. So far, workers at Adopt-a-River, including founder, Janet Simpkins, have managed to clear tons of industrial and residential waste on the land that is situated above the river - the mighty Umgeni, one of the region's most famous rivers. The river is part of the route of an internationally-acclaimed annual canoe marathon, the Dusi. The 120-kilometre canoe race starts at the Msunduzi River in provincial capital Pietermaritzburg and finishes at the mouth of the Umgeni, in Durban. The race is a massive economic driver for rural communities along the route but its future hangs in the balance because of severe pollution. The stench of the water is unbearable in many places and the dangerous bacterium, E. coli, is a constant concern. Durban’s golden mile beaches have been closed at least six times this year because of high E. coli levels, the result of effluent making its way down the Umgeni and into the sea. The city’s water and sewerage infrastructure was severely damaged during April floods, which exacerbated the problem. In August, dead fish - the victims of effluent outflow - were found on the banks of the river. What makes Ndaba angry, he said, is the way that some of the warehouses adjoining the land dump their rubbish and unwanted components. Several even cut holes in their own fences to make dumping more convenient. Adopt-A-River’s teams were hoping to finish the clean-up in a week, but two days of rain and the immensity of the task forced a change of plans. When the graders and tipper trucks finish up, the teams will have to scale the riverbank to pick out the remaining rubbish by hand. It’s an unenviable job but the environmental warriors are well-versed in the importance of clean waterways; it is their passion, they said. What is difficult for Ndaba and Simpkins to fathom, however, is the extent to which Durban residents drive from the suburbs to dump waste around the river. This is partially the result of the landfill sites in Durban not being easily accessible, requiring dumping fees and being far away, explained Simpkins. “Any small contractor who is trying to make some profit on a job is not going to drive to one of the far landfills and pay the fees,” she said. Both Pietermaritzburg and Durban landfills have also become synonymous with criminal activity as waste pickers fight over spoils, the result of a depressed local economy and South Africa’s cost of living crisis. For some community members, dumping in the greenbelt area is seen as safer option than driving to the landfills. But personal accountability and education could be engaged to address the issue, according to Ndaba and Simpkins. “People who dump like this, or simply litter, are short-sighted and selfish. It makes me really, really angry. They may think of it as one piece of paper, but if everyone thought like that, we would have no more green spaces in the future,” said Ndaba. That sentiment is shared by Azile Mpukwana. Mpukwana, an intern at the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA) who has been working with Adopt-A-River. An environmental science graduate, Mpukwana said her priority was conservation. “The more we litter, the more we have to clean. The more we litter, the more our water is compromised,” she explained. The best way to get this message across, she said, is to lead by example. “Talking only gets you so far. Do the right thing and set an example. People must see you doing what you talk about them having to do.” Leading by example is one of the reasons Mpukwana takes part in regular beach clean-ups in the area where the Umgeni flows into the sea, she said. Like Ndaba, Mpukwana finds that bringing beach users around to her way of thinking is difficult. “Some people will come up and ask what we are doing and how long we will take, but mostly there is a sense of not caring,” she said. By early October, most of the mess had been cleared from the greenbelt. "We haven’t had any more reports of dumping,” said Mpukwana. “Once one person starts dumping in an area, it tends to attract more. With the fence up, and the area clean, people seem to respect it more - they don't take chances as easily.” bird story agency

Ibrahim Muhammad Shamsuddin is leveraging a scholarly background and his own inventions to spread climate action awareness, take agency and shake climate-related trauma. by bird story agency staff As a 10-year-old, Ibrahim Muhammad Shamsuddin and his group of new friends looked on as their community began to lose everything they owned to floods. He watched as the situation around his family's newly-built home turned catastrophic. An unusual weather pattern in Zaria, Kaduna state had resulted in weeks of rain. Then, the raging waters swallowed their home on the shores of River Galma, along with all their household items. “I cannot forget that day we waded through the waters to a refuge centre,” he narrated. Even today, his voice shakes slightly as he tells the story. Shamsuddin’s father, a Nigeria Railway Corporation retiree, had invested years of savings to put up a home in Zaria. The family, after spending years in the city, had just settled into their new home when they were wiped out by the floodwater. The experience haunts hime to this day. “I was depressed for months, my performance in school was a mess because I literally witnessed the worst of floods,” he recounts. Today, the 28-year-old climate change activist uses the memory as motivation in his fight for information access, especially among rural populations, to ensure they do not become victims in the same way. Ibrahim Muhammad Shamsuddin making a speech. Photo Courtesy : Ibrahim Muhammad Shamsuddin The passionate chemistry scholar now blends research, mobilization, and technology to reach and educate rural communities in Kaduna on climate change adaptation practices. Besides co-founding the Break Free from Plastics Awareness Initiative, he is also a regional coordinator for the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change, or AYICC. A big focus for both groups is plastic disposal and plastic replacement (known as plastic forfeiting) as well as clean cooking. Sometimes the two overlap; all too often plastics find their way into cooking fires. “Over time, the impact of cooking using conventional cooking methods has turned out to be a health hazard for many households in Kaduna,” he explained. Ibrahim Muhammad Shamsuddin holding a placard about affordable and clean energy. Photo Courtesy : Ibrahim Muhammad Shamsuddin “A woman from rural Zaria caught a respiratory complication. At the hospital she was asked when she stopped smoking yet she has never smoked,” he added. His research findings showed that nearly 40 percent of agricultural output in the area is waste matter. He saw an opportunity. If the agricultural waste could be converted to biomass and used for cooking, he would kill two birds with one stone. On one end, he would save the community's respiratory health by offering a clean cooking solution and on the other, he would be saving the trees usually cut down to produce charcoal and cooking wood. Explaining that deforestation interferes with the water holding potential of soil, lowering water infiltration into the ground and thus increasing flooding, he said he realised his research could lead to direct impact on the ground, with positive outcomes both for community and for the environment - and, long-term, for the climate. “From 2018 to date, we have successfully trained more than 7000 women on making briquettes from agricultural waste,” he said. He believes more inventions will help lower indoor pollution and lower flooding, boosting quality of life. His goal is to see the community in Zaria and, by extension, the wider Kaduna State, impacted by knowledge and practical, clean solutions to energy needs. “Recently for instance I visited a community where we had earlier trained women on biomass - briquette generation and they were there all bubbly and praising the efficiency of the briquettes, that is the impact I wish for my community,” he narrated. Ibrahim Muhammad Shamsuddin preparing briquettes. Photo Courtesy : Ibrahim Muhammad Shamsuddin Ibrahim also said he believes that if there is increased awareness leveraging local media, the majority of Africa’s population in rural areas would be more informed on the changing climate and how to adapt. For now, his activism keeps the childhood memories and trauma at bay. bird story agency

Tongaat knows hard times. From colonialism and the near-slavery of indentured labour to now being the ground zero of climate change in South Africa, the area's residents are no strangers to struggle. That's coming in handy. Desiree Erasmus, bird story agency In April, storms lashed South Africa’s port city of Durban, claiming 460 lives and displacing 6000 people. More than 8000 houses, many informal and built on unstable foundations, went sliding down the city’s hills as the rains poured. Climate reports say these were among the worst weather events across the continent this year. Some 40 km north of Durban and located on the uTongathi River, the town of Tongaat was established by British sugar barons to house indentured labourers - mostly from India - in the nineteenth century. Later, it became a haven for liberation struggle leaders. Activism runs in its veins like sugar through cola. When the rains came and the eThekwini metropolitan government didn’t know what to do, that history of activism served the community well. Residents stepped in, arranging their own water tankers, making places of refuge and engaging in human solidarity. But after 200 days of being without water, the community took things up a notch, once again digging deep into its history of activism. Bandile Sengane, one of the four security guards keeping an eye on the temporary pipeline in Tongaat, Durban, South Africa. Photo : Desiree Erasmus A renewed wave of direct action surged through the small town, as the community found itself having to fight the province’s metropolitan municipality to reconnect its water supply nearly six months after the disaster. Using a combination of court action, protest and news media coverage, the Tongaat Civic Association is managing to place the predominantly farming and rural community onto the national agenda with one simple objective in mind – to get the taps working again. After a series of protests - including one in which residents symbolically burned a plastic water tank supplied by authorities - they have finally been given timelines and a temporary solution until the community is again connected to the eThekwini metro water grid. The do-it-yourself community meanwhile sourced their own water tankers when the city government’s tankers did not arrive. A torched water tank during a protest staged by residents of Tongaat and Hambanathi after more than 100 days without water following the devastating April floods. Photo : Don Perumal Tongaat Civic Association chairman, Don Perumal, told bird that the community was not angry with the metro because of the devastation caused by the flood – and the unprecedented four days of persistent downpours blamed on climate change - but rather because of the indifference of politicians and officials. “We were forced to act and bring city and government officials around the table, otherwise we would be nowhere near a solution to bring water back to the area,” said Perumal. The area's poorly maintained and aged water, sewerage and electricity infrastructure all took a beating during the storm, with upgrades and replacements still taking place. Within 24 hours of the protests, which took place after 135 days without water and made national headlines, the provincial minister for co-operative governance and traditional affairs, Sihle Zikalala, along with the national minister for water and sanitation, Senzo Mchunu, and eThekwini mayor Mxolisi Kaunda, met with the community. “One of the quick fixes we had been asking for was that the city divert some water into our local reservoir from a major water pipeline that ran right past Tongaat. They had refused to do so. It was only after the protest action that they agreed to undertake this by 15 September. However, by 8 September no work had commenced and we were again forced to have our lawyer write to them, threatening legal action if they did not complete the tie-in by the agreed date,” said Perumal. The pipeline runs from a local dam to a number of affluent towns on the north coast. Engineers, under pressure from the community, completed a tie-in for Tongaat and water was finally diverted to the Mamba Reservoir, which services the northern areas of Tongaat. An emergency tie - in into another bulk water pipeline that bypassed the town to supply affluent areas along KwaZulu - Natal’s north coastline contructed by the Metro. Photo : Desiree Erasmus “Over 10,000 people benefited from this tie-in. It was only because of our sustained pressure and action that it was completed. Until then we had been without water for 160 days,” said Perumal. “We have employed a multi-pronged approach that includes writing letters to the city, going on a national media blitz, protesting and issuing legal threats. It is what has worked. We don’t want to be friends with the city. We are doing business with them and we demand we get the services we pay for.” Some of the town now has water but security of supply is not guaranteed; Perumal and other community leaders said they were keeping an eye on October. “We were told after the protest action that the oThongathi Water Treatment Plant, which was destroyed by the flood and which is our primary source of water, will be completed by October. We will keep the pressure on the city to meet this target,” he said. Nearly 30 years ago, on 21 October 1994, the Tongaat Civic Association conferred the Freedom of the Town of Tongaat on the country’s greatest global icon – Nelson Mandela. When Mandela was working underground, he used to conduct meetings with the then ANC leader, Chief Albert Luthuli, in Tongaat, where he said he was granted “safe refuge”. “Tongaat has always had a progressive approach to activism. Even under the years of apartheid, Tongaat was a united community. It has always forged relationships with other communities such as Hambanathi,” said a former deputy mayor and Tongaat activist Logie Naidoo. “During both the 2021 July unrest (in which 354 people died and the regional economy took a beating in four days of unrestrained looting) and the recent floods, the community came together. From protecting neighbourhoods to providing water and food to the vulnerable, the spirit of community is absolutely amazing. There would have been far more deaths during the floods had this community not taken an active role," Naidoo said. “During all of this, the city was nowhere to be seen. Due to work by non-profit organisations such as Gift of the Givers (the renowned philanthropy) and private businesses, we now have 24 boreholes in the area. All the schools have a steady supply of water. It is because of civic activism that all of this has happened. We need to revive that spirit across South African communities, and maybe Tongaat can lead the way,” said Naidoo. The climate crisis may be worsening but in this part of the world, it is stirring a deep-seated vein of community engagement and activism back into action. bird story agency

How a rural community in a fast-urbanising region along the west African Tano River is using traditional knowledge handed down over generations to protect the river, its vegetation and its fish stock. by Michael Sarpong Mfum, bird story agency Through the heart of the Tano North Municipality in Ghana's Ahafo region, runs a river that has, for as long as anyone can remember, been the life-blood of the community. A key bridge in the area also connects two regions, Bono and Ahafo, separated by the flowing waters. Running over 400 kilometres from its head in Techiman, the capital town of Bono East Region to the Ehy and Tendo lagoons in Ghana, the Tano River finally enters the Atlantic Ocean via the Aby Lagoon in Ivory Coast. Besides bequeathing the Tanoso community its name, the river is a treasured heritage and source of livelihood for many on its path to the ocean. And for that reason, it is carefully conserved by the community around it. River Tano, one of Ghana’s rivers that covers 400 kilometres from its head in Techiman, the capital town of Bono East Region. Photo : Michael Mfum The origins of the edicts that prescribe how the life-sustaining waters of the river are to be protected and sustained are today lost on the Tanoso community that continues to protect it with a spiritual zeal. But that is of no consequence to the area's high priest, Nana Osei Kwadwo. The 70-year-old is the head of the Tanoso Traditional Counci,l comprising chiefs and queen mothers. According to Kwadwo, tradition outlaws the fishing and eating of fish from River Tano. And those who flout rule, which applies to both locals and strangers, face severely punishment. “Anyone who flouts the tradition by fishing in the river and also engaging in activities that may pollute the river, they are fined. The fine may differ depending on the gravity of the offence. Some are charged to slaughter sheep to pacify the river,” he said. “This tradition which has been with us for years is achieving its purpose because we have been able to protect the river and the fish stock in it because people are aware what will happen to them when they flout the tradition.” The Tanoso community has traditionally engaged in a booming pottery business along the river, along with farming. The importance of a regular, learn water supply for both activities may have much to do with how the community has to protected its “sacred heritage”. Every small detail of the river is carefully observed. Even when a fish dies naturally, rites are performed by a priest who oversees the river before the fish is buried. This has seen the survival of the river and fish for generations. The Tanoso credit the river and its protected environs, for their relatively stable ecosystem, at a time when many other communities are dealing with the fallout of environmental abuse, including dying rivers, disappearing fauna and flora, flooding and erratic weather patterns River Tano, one of Ghana’s rivers that covers 400 kilometres from its head in Techiman, the capital town of Bono East Region. Photo : Michael Mfum Kwadwo, who has been a priest for the river for almost two decades, said the traditional council has over the years ensured the planting of trees such as indigenous acacias along the banks of the river, to protect it. While the pressures of development have increased, the community has not been averse to using modern communications methods to help keep the river pristine. Kwadwo explained that the council uses media channels such as radio to educate the people maintain the tradition. Despite that, the impact of upstream deforestation is evident in the brownish water during the rainy season. For years the river has served as a major source of drinking water for thousands of people who live along the river in four regions of Ghana - Bono, Bono East, Ahafo and Western. Illegal miners who have occasionally invaded the area have been flushed out by joint police and military patrols. Augustine Adusah, a teacher at the Tanoso Primary School, believes the traditions associated with the river are likely to be maintained into the future. He believes other communities across Ghana can emulate the example of the Tanoso community and protect other key waterways in much the same way. bird story agency

In Nigeria's Rivers State, engineering company Egoras is successfully refurbishing e-waste into affordable appliances, creating a new market for recycled and upcycled products. By Kate Okorie, bird story agency It was the first day of the much-anticipated Egoras Trade Fair in Port Harcourt, Southern Nigeria. The company had announced it would sell its refurbished electronic appliances at discounts — as much as 70 per cent. At different corners of the mini-football field, where the items were on display. The company printed about 1,500 tickets for the event. There was one problem: more than 5,000 people showed up. Bright Uzoma was among the shoppers on that day. After enduring a long queue at the payment point, he bought a washing machine and blender. Exactly one month has passed since then, and he shared that both products are still in good condition. What do you do with gadgets when they die? Recycle them, of course [Graphics: Hope Mukami] Egoras' products are not considered second-hand. They come with a warranty of up to one year. "Products we classify as ‘Grade A’ are as good as new items," said Harry Ugoji, the company’s founder. Egoras came into full operation in 2020. Their first trade fair was a small-scale event, held in the founder’s residence, and they only had a handful of refurbished items for sale. Egoras staff members posing for a picture. Photo Credit : Egoras Now the company has three showrooms and a factory - with a production capacity of 100,000 refurbished items per year. Nigeria alone produces 1.1 million tonnes of e-waste annually, with a significant amount going into landfills, contaminating the soil with toxins, including carcinogenic metals like arsenic, cadmium, and nickel. This is not just a Nigerian problem. Of the 53.6 million metric tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) produced globally in 2019, only 17.4 per cent was properly recycled. More than half was shipped to developing countries as second-hand items - worsening their e-waste situation. Despite this e-waste disaster, environmental laws in many developing countries are limited and poorly implemented. In 2016, Nigeria launched an "extended producer responsibility" (EPR) programme to reduce e-waste and facilitate the country’s transition from a linear to a circular economy. In a comprehensive study of the EPR in Nigeria, sustainability specialist Kunlere Idowu stated that “robust public participation” is key to implementing these policies. Nigerians have so far displayed apathy towards the policy. That attitude is fuelled by poor awareness of the benefits: it does not help that the key players in the country’s circular economy are relatively unknown. To escape obscurity, Egoras has taken to social media, engaged influencers, and built community trade shows and strategic partnerships to educate the public about its activities. They have also benefited from word-of-mouth marketing by satisfied customers, as in the case of Uzoma, who successfully convinced several colleagues to also patronise the company. Customers and staff looking at phones in the shop. Photo Credit: Egoras Egoras' business model involves purchasing unwanted electronic appliances from members of the public and transforming them into valuable items sold at a significant discount. When these items arrive at the factory, the engineers evaluate them to ensure they are suitable for reuse. They are then grouped in decreasing order of functionality — from Grades A to E. Items that fall under Grade A have minimal faults and are purchased at about 85 per cent of the original price; in contrast, Grade E items are scrap metals. Refurbished items on sale. Photo Credits : Egoras "If we receive a fridge, we check for the viability of the condenser and lagging (insulating) material as they are the essential parts," Ugoji remarked. Electronic items that are faulty beyond repair are sent for further recycling. "We send them to a research institute in Enugu that produces machine parts and uses these solid wastes as raw materials," Ugoji explained. The institute remoulds the waste and occasionally, Egoras buys back items at reduced prices. "In the future, we look to having our (own) recycling unit to bring down the cost of production further," Ugoji added. Egoras commissions agents to go door-to-door to ensure economies of scale, collecting electronic waste in large quantities. These agents are scattered across the southern and southeast regions of the country. An on-air system is used to encourage trust and build security. "In our radio adverts, we announce these agents' numbers on air for the different locations," he said. The company's primary focus is to widen its customer base and scale up production to 1,000,000 refurbished electronic items every quarter. This looks promising as the company nears the completion of its second factory with a 5000-person capacity. True to its commitment to a sustainable environment, Egoras switched to LPG-powered generators in its factory. In Nigeria, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has long been promoted as a better energy alternative because it emits less carbon than the popularly used petrol. Widespread adoption of LPG also plays an important role in mitigating gas flaring in Nigeria - the second-largest environmental pollutant in Nigeria's oil-producing states, after oil spills. Egoras has developed a formal framework that enables the participation of skilled professionals from the informal waste recycling sector, which is Nigeria's dominant sector in waste management. When the new factory is finally completed, Ugoji believes that they will be able to provide more jobs to engineers and technicians. bird story agency

As the world reels from global food supply chain disruptions and extreme weather, this eco-village in Uganda is helping inculcate the importance of sustainable agriculture to local communities, teaching farmers how to grow for a healthier planet. Seth Onyango, bird story agency A fresh, earthy aroma fills the air as a symphony of birdsong erupts to usher in a new day in Wakalenge village, in rural Uganda. Goats frolick playfully, knocking dew off the grass fringing a dirt road meandering to the Eco Mama's Community Gardens. Nestled 15km from Jinja town, Wakalenge, a budding eco-village, is free from the toxicity that blights many of the urban centres in the Pearl of Africa: runaway litter and choking fumes. This rare pristine environment, coupled with lush greenery, is what Eco Mama's project manager and educator Felix Likami says originally gave the area its distinctive charm, making it the perfect spot for setting up an eco-village. At first glance, the meshed fence enclosing the community garden gives the impression of ordinary farmland, but a keen look soon reveals something different: a thriving agro-ecology system, replete with a wide variety of crops and herbal medicines. Tomatoes and bell-pepper harvested from Eco Mama Uganda's demonstration farms. Photo : Seth Onyango, bird story agency As Likami explains, after years of communal effort, the soil nursing these crops has been fully rehabilitated and has now recovered from the use of chemical farm inputs and their inevitable environmental damage. “We have been using methods such as soil stabilisation which involves the addition of immobilising agents to reduce the contaminants' leachability,” he shares. In December 2017, Eco Mama’s Uganda acquired 6.3 acres of land in Wakalenge Village to promote sustainable agriculture in the wake of the crippling fallout from climate change. Soon after acquiring the property, a borehole was drilled to provide easy access to clean water for its members and the wider community. Composting toilets were also built, and a shipping container was moved onto the site, where it has been repurposed and renovated into a classroom, storage and extensive covered outdoor educational space. Central to the architecture of the Eco Mama’s "green school model" is the practice of sustainable and organic agriculture, with a deep respect for indigenous cultures and customs. "Individuals and families may choose to make diet and lifestyle changes that benefit the earth and their bodies, inviting the rest of the community to move towards a greater state of health and wellbeing,” the organisation states. On this day, Eco Mama's is receiving a new cohort of ‘students’ ranging from young adults to the very old (including "grannies" and "grandpas") who, after training is completed, will be issued certificates. Adam Abubakar pose for a photo with students at Eco Mama Uganda. Photo : Seth Onyango, bird story agency They will be expected to hit the ground running once enrolled, joining lecturers to learn about growing food for a better planet. With modest sunshine this September, they are soon seated outside, under the shade of a makuti (palm leaf) roof, where well-trained agronomists teach attendees everything they need to know about crop management, from tilling the land to planting, harvesting, soil management, cultivation and even sourcing of farm inputs. Meanwhile, the hands-on practical sessions are conducted in the vast area devoted to nurseries and demonstration farms. “A total of 60 farmers are organised into four groups. Each is assigned a small piece of land where they carry their demonstration activities,” Likami explains. “Group one works on Mondays, Group 2 on Tuesdays, Group 3 on Fridays and Group 4 on Saturdays. This is the time when we share information on Grow-Biointensive farming, agroforestry as well as holistic nutrition.” Grow-Biointensive mini-farming is a wholistic, sustainable farming method. Eco Mama has also been donating immunity-boosting organic porridge flour to its community members as well as others in need. The flour is formulated from millet, sorghum, sesame seeds, maize, cassava, amaranth and moringa powder. All the organic ingredients are produced from the organisation’s outreach gardens within the community and the flour was distributed far and wide during the height of COVID-19, to help with resilience in the community. The youths and children enrolled in the program join select workshops that encourage them to develop into holistic farmers and custodians of the environment. Eco Mama holistic nutrition specialist, Juliet Wekesa, serving school children an organic made smoothie made from bananas and spinach. Photo : Seth Onyango, bird story agency. Once in a while, Brandi Payne, Director of International Development for Eco Mama’s Global Community Gardens and a holistic nutrition specialist, travels to the eco-village to lecture. In 2018, Payne helped to construct the region's first Earthbag house on the site, hoping it would serve as a model that would be adopted by the communities in Jinja and beyond. Earthbag construction is an inexpensive building, a sustainable method that uses mostly local soil to create structures which are both strong and can be quickly built. For Sabwe Steven, a "reformed" agrochemical supplier, life has taken a dramatic turn for the better... man who once ‘contaminated soil’ with chemicals for a living is now leading Eco Mama’s efforts to rehabilitate it. Working as a crop co-ordinating officer, he is unleashing natural instead of chemical warfare against pests and teaching others how it is done. How? Using some of nature's own repellents - including pungent aromas. “Instead of spraying chemicals on sukuma (kale), we are using ash because these insects have spiracles…they stay away since if they don’t breathe they die,” he shares. “For soft-bodied insects, we use red pepper which kills them upon contact. For insects that smell, we use enhanced garlic and onion smell to repel them, without having to kill them.” Before joining the organisation, Sabwe suffered an infection on his hand due to agrochemical exposure. He now vows not to backslide. Juliet Wakesa, who was mentored in holistic nutrition, herbal medicine and bio-intensive farming practices in the last five years, is now a dedicated team member and an integral part of Eco Mama. She travels to various communities around Kitale in Western Kenya teaching women (primarily) how to grow their own food and about the nutritional benefits of the foods they’re growing. As part of an expanded eco-curriculum, Eco Mama's Uganda has also educated communities about the cultivation and consumption of Artemisia annua (sweet wormwood) to prevent and treat malaria in East Africa Research in Europe and the US shows that a daily infusion of Artemisia annua interferes with most virus' ability to replicate. Eco Mama Uganda was co-founded by a couple, Shayna and Adam Abubakar. Adam is a native of Uganda's lakeside town of Jinja. Eco Mama Uganda founders, Shayna and husband Adam Abubakar. Photo : Seth Onyango, bird story agency While consciously designed to transform farming and save lives in areas hit by climate change through its teaching programs, the local community has its hands firmly on the Eco Mama's steering wheel. That includes the production of food. "Two acres have been allocated exclusively for demonstration gardens. With our team of Kenyan and Ugandan facilitators providing training to local community members, our demonstration gardens have been built from the ground up by hands-on certifiable workshops,” Shayna tells bird on a video call. Both Shayna and Adam (fondly known as Ado) have completed certificates in herbal medicine in the tropics, through ANAMED in Kenya, as well as the Permaculture Design Course offered by Permaculture USA at Langara College in Vancouver, BC; courses which have been incorporated into the offerings at Eco Mama’s Global Community Gardens. Shayna and Likami met when she was hired to come to Kenya and recruit someone working with a supplements company to train them on holistic nutrition. Likami was soon engaged to build healthy soils for raising quality food at the eco-village. He holds a bachelor's degree in natural resource management from Egerton University-Kenya and a diploma in biointensive agriculture. Both areas of study offered crucial value in his quest to empower communities and help them realise the enormous benefits of bio-intensive agriculture. Shayna and Adam have now moved away from the organisation, allowing the community to drive its growth. They only give support when needed. “We want to see the community find local solutions to local problems. They need to own the process,” Shayna said. bird story agency

16-year-old Rahmina Paullete is inspiring community members - young and old - residing on the shores of Lake Victoria to stop pollution as she piles pressure on leaders to fix damage from climate change. By Conrad Onyango, bird story agency Communities living on the shores of Lake Victoria are now becoming accustomed to scenes of youth and children adorned in branded t-shirts, lifting placards, chanting climate action messages, and conducting clean-ups every week. ‘People over profit,’ ‘Act Now,’ ‘Loss and damage finance now,’ and ‘Let Lake Victoria breath again,’ chant the young activists. These words, inscribed on campaign t-shirts and manila placards, are now buzzwords here. Kisumu youth in one of their climate action awareness campaign. Photo : Rahmina Paullete The most consistent message, however, has been ‘Let Lake Victoria Breath Again,’ a campaign started about two years ago. “I realized there are more actions that need to be taken, apart from environmental conservation. We need to apply more pressure towards our leaders, government, and capitalists to finance the loss and damage caused by climate change,” Rahmina Paullete told bird in an interview. The 16-year-old climate activist and conservationist leads this campaign under Kisumu Environmental Champions, a non-profit organization she founded to save Africa’s largest freshwater lake, Lake Victoria. The freshwater lake is shared by three countries: Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. Rahmina Paullete with fellow youth in a cleanup Exercise. Photo Credits : Rahmina Paullete Since childhood, Paullete has seen water levels in the lake rise and has also seen the rapid spread of water hyacinth, an oxygen sucking and invasive plant species that blocks the smooth flow of water and fish from getting sufficient sunlight. Raised in the lake city’s three estates - Nyalenda, Carwash, and Lolwe - Paulette has also witnessed an increase in pollution through uncontrolled disposal of used napkins, pads, and plastic waste into the water body. All of these negatively impact the lake’s ecosystem, fishing, and marine activities. “The lake can become a better ecosystem like the way it used to be, blue or colourless...I would like to see more of these places in Kisumu especially within the Lake Victoria ecosystem become more restored and have plenty of fish.” she said. Kenya’s Economic Survey 2021 shows fish production in Lake Victoria rose from 88,223 metric tonnes in 2020 to 94,349 metric tonnes last year, attributed to optimal exploitation of fishery resources on stricter controls on fishing methods during breeding periods. But this still falls short of the up to 200,000 metric tonnes recorded two decades ago. Paullet’s enrollment into a high school environmental club gave her much exposure to the impacts of climate change and significant knowledge on the extent of the lakes’ ecosystem damage that sparked her interest in climate activism. Through the foundation, she started in early 2021 with other like-minded youth and now engages in scheduled weekly clean-ups, community sensitisation on proper waste management, and advocacy through social media and street activations. More than 100 youths have been on-boarded, and children as young as four years and a few adults can be seen occassionally participating in clean-up activities and awareness creation forums- highlighting some of her early gains. “Paullete is an inspiration to young children, encouraging them to be climate savvy, sensitizing them on environmental issues and also offers a challenge to older people and young adults on being mindful of what they place in their environments,” said Nicole Okwiri. Okwiri is among locals who are beginning to change how they view the ecosystem, the importance of the lake and how they manage waste from their homes as they join in the push to clear the ‘filthy’ lungs of Lake Victoria. “ Without her (Paullete) I would not have known about these clean-ups. When I go back to my community or even my house, I have a sense of responsibility. I do not just throw away trash anywhere, said Sam Mambo, an area youth in one of the recent clean-ups. Another youth, Diana Odhiambo, echoes Mambo’s sentiments and affirms, “We are trying to emulate her and just follow her footsteps.” Rahmina Paullete with fellow youth in a cleanup Exercise. Photo Credits : Rahmina Paullete All plastics collected are usually taken to the nearby recycling center or reused at home to make decorations. In July 2021, the government signed into law The Sustainable Waste Management Act 2021, boosting these efforts by spelling out household waste segregation and provisions for the closure of illegal dumpsites, among other provisions. The activist also runs an eco-friendly business - Rahmina Paullete Eco products- that makes cards, bags, books, mats, chairs, table coasters, and hair bands from water hyacinth. But she says this is yet to pick up locally due to low awareness of how hyacinth products can reduce carbon footprint. Rahmina Paullete Eco products made from water hyacinth. Photo Credits : Rahmina Paullete Paullete now aims to follow in the footsteps of renowned Swedish climate activist, Greta Thunberg. Thunberg, running a youth-led global movement, Fridays for Future, has so far built a support base of 14 million young people. “I don’t have a role model yet but I would follow the footsteps of Greta Thunberg. Because she is young and doing a lot, she inspires me,” she said. The Friday s movement started in August 2018, when Thunberg, then 15 years old, successfully staged a three-week protest against the lack of action on the climate crisis in front of the Swedish parliament. The protest went viral on Twitter and Instagram. Paulette met Thunberg last year when she made her debut at COP26 during a session with other young climate activists from the global south, Africa’s youth - the United Nations projects that 42 percent of global youth will be found in the continent by 2030 - offers a major block of support to those standing up to fight climate change. “The voice of youth is increasingly being present at the climate table because many youths are coming up and saying we need to do so much together. However, when it reaches to these conferences and summits the voices get depleted, especially the vulnerable and those from indigenous communities” she said. This time round, at COP27, it will be different, according to Paulette. But first, Africa’s young climate activists will need to generate more support and visibility to sustain their projects and initiatives. bird story agency