The post Revolutionising Waste Management in Nigeria’s Urban Centers: A Market-Based Solution to the Solid Waste Crisis. By Muhammad Sheriffdeen first appeared on Green Habitat Initiative.

                                                                                                                                                                  A coalition of Nigeria’s leading women-led civil  society organisations (CSOs), under the      auspices of the Development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), is calling on the federal government to put in place an inclusive and effective mechanism for the swift implementation of Nigeria’s resolutions made at the just concluded COP28 .

The Women Economic Empowerment CSO coalition (WEE-COL) expressed concern about the need for a clear monitoring and evaluation performance indicators for line MDAs and high-level government stewardship around the intersectionality of climate action and the health, agriculture, resilient food systems, education and security sectors.

In a statement issued in Abuja on 20^th December and signed by the coalition’s coordinator, Mrs Ruth Agbor, who is also the President of the Association of Women in Agriculture and Trades (AWITA), the women economic empowerment coalition (WEE-COL) commended the Nigerian government for recognising the severe and disproportionate impacts of climate change on women’s health, their well-being and livelihoods. The group also commended the Nigerian government for signing the Declarations at the recently concluded COP28 Dubai.

The women’s economic empowerment coalition noted that the COP28 Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems and Climate Action, as well as the COP28 Declaration on Climate and Health, present a critical framework for addressing the intersectionality between climate action and women-facing sectors such as health, education, agriculture, and food security.

Mrs Agbor said:

 ‘‘Women’s civil society organisations are ready to play a vital role, contributing to the realisation of government’s COP 28 commitments at all levels. Women’s groups are prepared to share lived experiences about the impact of the climate crisis. They are indispensable to processes of formulation, implementation and evaluation of climate action policies and projects in key sectors such as health and agriculture. We are therefore calling on the Nigerian government and particularly the National Council on Climate Change to actively engage and collaborate with women’s CSOs in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of climate action policies, programs and projects.’’

WEE-COL called on all Nigerians to join hands with the government to ensure that the policy and political value to accrue from the just concluded COP28 is utilised to effectively increase the capacity of Nigerians, especially the more vulnerable, women and girls, to adapt to the climate crisis which is now upon humanity affecting livelihood, health and survival.

Written by: dRPC

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We strongly believe the new members will facilitate our aim to improve lives and protect the environment through various projects focused on sustainable development goals 6 (water), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 11 (cities and communities), and 13 (climate action).

Our new board chair is Salma Y. Mohammed. She is currently the Acting Managing Director of ALC Finance Limited. Prior to joining ALCF, she was an Executive Director/ COO of New Frontier Developments Limited. She also was the Group Head, Corporate Services at ASO Savings & Loans and Director of Integration for ASO & Union Homes. Key among her achievements included a transformation project of ASOs Internal Systems that entails the restructuring of the bank’s HRM framework, systems, and processes.

She has attended several short courses at INSEAD, Lagos Business School, London Business School, Wharton Business Schools; Desmond Tutu

Fellowship/ Oxford University, Euro money training, Theios Consulting; London Business School; KPMG Professional Services; Franklin Covey; Salma is also an African Leadership Institute fellow (Tutu Fellow).

Her full profile can be read here.

Another Governing Board Member is Dayo Olaide. He is the current Deputy Director Nigeria of MacArthur Foundation. He is an international development professional with significant experience in project design, grant making, fundraising, advocacy, stakeholder engagement, and strategy development. He has led proposal writings, fundraising, and grant applications across diverse themes – girls’ secondary education, gender-based violence, gender and social inclusion, maternal health, community engagement, natural resource governance, elections, transparency, participation, and accountability. Mr Olaide has experience collaborating with government, civil society, the private sector, academia, and media. He trains, mentors, and advises nonprofit leaders and board members in proposal design, advocacy, and fundraising as a consultant, board advisor, and volunteer board member. He holds an MA in Development Studies and an MBA in Accounting and Finance.

His full profile can be read here.

In addition to the Governing Board, GHI has set up its first Advisory Board. Its objective is to provide expert advice to GHI on its focus areas; SDGs 6, 7, 11 and 13. We are very excited to announce Maria Yetano Roche as a member of this board. She is an international consultant and researcher with two distinct fields of expertise: sustainable energy access and climate policy. She has eighteen years’ experience in energy and sustainability, of which five have been in Nigeria, with active involvement in the country’s energy access, off-grid, clean cooking and NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) spaces.

The experience of the new team members will place GHI on a high pedestal and will enable us to make a more sustainable impact along the way.

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Runtuwo is a community in Dangoma council ward, Kalgo Local Government Area (LGA) in Kebbi State, North-Western Nigeria. It has a population of One Hundred and Ninety Four people who are predominantly farmers and masons. Open defecation was a common practice among the people because even though most households had access to a toilet, it was not properly maintained and people preferred to defecate in the open.

In December 2021, Green Habitat Initiative (GHI) under the Project for Improved Sustainability of Integrated WASH Services (I-WASH) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) visited the community. The purpose was to drive a change in the sanitation behavior of the community through a participatory process. The community was facilitated to understand the negative consequences of their poor sanitation practices and developed a set of activities described as the community plan to end open defecation. 

During the community facilitation process, Abubakar Danjarida who is a member of Runtuwo community was present and fully participated during the discussions. At the end of the session, he understood why his family preferred to defecate in the open even though he already owned two pit latrines. The toilets in his house were not cleaned regularly and it was poorly used, hence the odor and flies that constantly pervaded the house. The team from GHI and the Kalgo LGA Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) unit also told them that those using a pit toilet must have a fly-proof, drop-cover to allow ventilation but prevent flies from going in or coming out of the pit.

A day after the community session, Binta, the LGA WASH unit staff responsible for conducting routine monitoring visits to his community taught his household the importance of maintaining proper hygiene and environmental sanitation. She explained to them that a toilet which is not cleaned properly can become a fixed open defecation site because of the fecal matter and make its way back to their food through flies and unwashed hands. She also told them about the different toilet options, and explained that it was like climbing a ladder. When a household moves from open defecation to using a pit latrine, they are moving up the sanitation ladder. Similarly, when they move from using a pit latrine to a ventilated improved pit, pour flush, or water cistern they are progressing towards the higher rung of the sanitation ladder.

Armed with this information, Abubakar who is building a new apartment beside his old house decided to ascend the highest level of the sanitation ladder. He bought three water cistern toilets for the new building, so that he can manage his sanitation needs with better comfort and dignity. He is happy that his new toilets are easier to clean, more comfortable and free from flies.

He remarked that “My toilets are not smelling anymore and we always keep ourselves clean. I hope all my community members can construct toilets so that we will end open defecation in our community”.

The USAID-funded I-WASH intervention implemented by GHI is increasing the number of locally-led development activities that are achieving improved results in access to sanitation and hygiene facilities. When community members move up the sanitation ladder, it shows behavior change and sustainability because they are progressing from unimproved to improved and safely managed sanitation.

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The CLTS training took place in the second week of October (11th –15th October 2021). GHI trained up to thirty officers  selected from the target Local Government Area WASH Units in the project areas, including six officers from the Kebbi State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA).    

A key trigger during the workshop was the outbreak of cholera in their various locations which meant that a good amount of time was spent discussing how to administer medical expenses calculation, a triggering tool used to calculate the amount of funds spent on medical bills and how it affects the productivity of households. Participants also realized during this discussion how this tool is used to explain the cycle of poverty.

Two components, Equality and Non-Discrimination (EQND) and Sanitation Marketing (SanMark) were integrated into the training, meaning that it was no longer CLTS as usual but “CLTS++”. The EQND component ensured that all the different groups of people in the community were considered throughout the project implementation, from triggering to the attainment of Open Defecation Free (ODF) status. To demonstrate this, a role-play was facilitated to show the importance of constructing toilet designs that everyone can use (pregnant women, visually impaired, aged, and physically challenged), to ensure no one is left behind.

The first three days were devoted to enhancing participants’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes in order to effectively engage communities on CLTS. During this period, participants learned and practiced how to facilitate triggering sessions. Participants went to the field on the fourth day to conduct triggering sessions in four villages. The sessions took a little longer to get started because, despite being mobilized ahead of time, community members had to be summoned from their homes and businesses to the triggering location since most of the communities were in semi-urban areas. On the final day, participants learned how to conduct hygiene promotion, set up community management structures, and developed action plans for their various LGAs.

Due to religious and social inhibitions, men and women were separated during the triggering activity. Most households in Dan-Galadima, Gwandu LGA, had toilets, but maintenance was a major issue, as well as the issue of almajiris who did not have toilets and randomly defecated anywhere in the community. The available public toilet is locked and inaccessible to enable the almajiris to have a place to relieve themselves when nature calls. 

Harisu, a community member from Dangaladima, Gwandu LGA had a bitter experience while heading to the mosque for his morning prayers. He stepped on something soft and warm; when he flashed his torchlight, he discovered that it was feces! He was so disgusted that he had to go home to wash it off, which was a huge disruption of his daily spiritual routine. He was excited that the triggering activity will ensure that everyone uses a toilet.

The women’s group at Dangoma community were too disgusted and ashamed to respond to the questions during triggering, when they saw their “community map” was littered with feces. They said, “It is shameful for visitors to come and see their community full of feces”, and hid the sawdust used as feces from the children who were excitedly showing the facilitators their open defecation areas on the displayed map.

All the communities triggered have developed action plans which contain a sequence of activities they are committed to undertake for their communities to become open defecation-free.

Nafisa Labbo, one of the participants from Gwandu LGA says she has implemented CLTS in the past, but learning about EQND and SanMark enables her to facilitate communities with better results. She did not realize that different people have various challenges that can limit their access to sanitation and hygiene facilities; and that steps need to be taken to leave no one behind. Also, it was difficult for communities to become ODF because of construction challenges, but she has learned through SanMark how to facilitate the construction of durable and improved toilets.

The post CLTS Roll-out In Kebbi State first appeared on Green Habitat Initiative.

In his opening remarks, the Commissioner for the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning Dr. Abba Sani Kalgo stated that “There are several partners working towards the development of Kebbi State. GHI is one of such partners and I am particularly proud of them for their excellent work”. He further referred to the speech he made during the I-WASH project launch in Abuja, on the need for the government to improve commitment towards WASH services through increased budgetary provision for the sector. He assured GHI of the full support of the state government while reiterating that the workshop was an important exercise that would lead to better watershed practices in the state. 

The workshop targeted stakeholders from the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Ministry of Environment, Ministry for Water Resources, RUWASSA, Kebbi State Environmental Protection Agency, Ministry of Health, State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SPHCDA), Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, and Chairperson Coalition of Civil Society Organizations of Kebbi State. Chairpersons, permanent secretaries, directors, and deputy directors from these ministries, departments, and agencies actively participated in the two-day workshop.

Some of the findings showed that the fecal coliform was detected in the water quality tests. Additionally, there is a steady decline in dense vegetation and shrub areas due to increasing farmlands. Some of the contaminants of water from the presentation include open defecation and hazardous practices like the use of agrochemicals like chemical fertilizers and pesticides. 

All the sessions were highly interactive, and participants were enthusiastic about the workshop, commenting that it was “the first of its kind” in Kebbi State and an “eye-opener” to the current state of their environment.

Other presentations were made by Director Planning, Research, and Statistics (State Ministry of Environment) on Environmental Sustainability and Watershed Management (Role and Activities of Kebbi State Ministry of Environment), as well as another on Watershed Management and Climate Variability by IFAD State Project Officer.

During the workshop, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning mentioned that the recommendations from the WBMP workshop will be integrated into the state development plan which is currently under review. A number of recommendations like public sensitization, enlightenment, and awareness of the public on water conservation, increase geophysical surveys, and enforce land use management practices among others were developed.

All the inputs and recommendations from stakeholders were consolidated into a single document for implementation by the State and will be reviewed quarterly to monitor progress.

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The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is partnering with Green Habitat Initiative to improve access to sustainable and inclusive WASH service delivery in Nigeria. The Project for Improved Sustainability of Integrated WASH Services (I-WASH) will ensure the reduction of waterborne diseases and associated socio-economic challenges through a participatory and innovative approach that promotes inclusive access to WASH services in health centers, schools, peri-urban and rural communities in Kebbi, and Sokoto states.

According to the WASH NORM (2018) report, of 11% of Nigerians have access to basic water, sanitation, and hygiene services, 15% use basic sanitation services, 47 million practice open defecation, 16% of schools have access to basic WASH services, 6% of health centers have access to basic WASH services and 11% of households have had at least one case of diarrhea in the past 6 weeks. Among states with unimproved water supply, Kebbi State is the third highest in Nigeria, only better than Zamfara and Sokoto States respectively. 

When people lack basic access to improved Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, it has far-reaching consequences and can affect their health, education, safety, and livelihood. GHI is proud to work with USAID to support Nigerians to live healthier lives with the potential for improved economic outcomes. According to the Program Director of GHI, Engr. Sadiq Abubakar Gulma, “Our collaboration will not only leverage innovation and technology to achieve the purpose of the program but also has the potential to enhance the work of other partners in the WASH sector of Nigeria.”

Through an integrated and innovative approach, I-WASH combines the promotion of good watershed management, provision of WASH facilities, and remote surveillance of water facilities, sanitation marketing, and advocacy for key behavioral change in unserved/underserved communities. 

Project Launch

The project which was formally launched in Abuja on the 15th of July, 2021 was attended by 64 participants including high-level representation from the two states (Sokoto and Kebbi), WASH implementing partners and Civil Society organizations implementing WASH in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Several commitments were made by state partners to provide full support towards the project’s successful implementation, reiterating USAID’s commitment towards improved sanitation and hygiene services and infrastructure. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between GHI and Kebbi and Sokoto States representatives. The event was covered by the media agencies from print, television, radio and online platforms.

Amarachi Obinna-Nnadi, USAID/Nigeria Mission Development Outreach and Communications Specialist, who presided over the event remarked that, “This activity will help Kebbi and Sokoto states provide better community WASH services and contribute to improved health outcomes”.

Major Project Targets

The I-WASH program aims to strengthen the capacity of government institutions and community management structures to coordinate sanitation and hygiene as well as water resources management that ensure the sustainable operation and maintenance of WASH facilities. It will also attract public-private sector engagement through a paradigm shift in operation and maintenance of WASH facilities. Concurrently, it will provide evidence that will contribute to the establishment of policies on good watershed management. The deployment of monitoring sensors for water facilities will encourage transparency and accountability of funds while the conduction and airing of drama on TV and radio stations will ensure the program advocacy activities are heard in impacting ways and reached a national audience. 

Overall, the project will focus on Equality and Non-Discrimination (EQND) to ensure women and other disadvantaged groups are given the opportunity to equally participate and make their contributions to achieve increased access to water, sanitation and hygiene services. The project which started in February 2021 is expected to run through to February 2023.

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