Tackling issues around coastal management, biodiversity preservation, waste management and climate-smart agriculture not only creates balanced and resilient ecosystems but also reduces incidents of environmental and coastal pollution one country at a time. In this interview, Executive Director of Nurture Nature Foundation (NNF), Peter Asiedu tells Martin-Luther C. King in Accra, Ghana, said that the deliberate fostering of community engagement and co-ownership in eco-friendly initiatives would ensure sustenance, build resilience and ensure relevant projects benefit both current and future generations.
Excerpts
What core vision drives the Nurture Nature Foundation, and how does this translate into your daily operations and long-term goals?
The core vision drive of Nurture Nature Foundation is to promote sustainable solutions that empower communities and protect the ecosystems. This focus is on creating a balanced, resilient ecosystem by tackling issues such as coastal management, biodiversity preservation, waste management and climate-smart agriculture and aqua-culture empowerment.
Who are the vulnerable groups that NNF primarily focuses on, and how do you identify and prioritise their needs?
The vulnerable groups that NNF primarily focuses on are widows, persons with disabilities and under privileged children. We do community engagements through Chiefs, Assembly members, and community information systems to organize events which allow us to identify such persons and collect data on them. We do yearly feast and health screen for the widows and support for capital to maintain their business. Donations are also done to Orthopedic Training Centre (OTC) at Nsawam- Adoagyiri for persons with disabilities, and we connect under privileged children to orphanages.
Could you highlight some of the most impactful programs or initiatives NNF has successfully implemented so far, and what measurable changes have they brought about?
The most impactful programs or initiatives of NNF has successfully implemented so far is sensitization on segregation of waste at source, with households, schools, hotels, restaurants, drinking spots, weddings, funerals, outdooring ‘bola taxis’ riders and periodical cleanup in communities and the coastal areas. This has facilitated many persons in waste picking, in communities and the coastal areas to have alternative livelihoods support through regular collection of the waste plastics for income generation to reduce the incident of environmental and coastal pollution.
How do you ensure that the communities you serve are actively involved in shaping the interventions designed for them?
We do regular engagements together with steering committees created with support from Chiefs, Assembly members, and community members for continued advocacy on our expected outcomes, through the spirit of co-ownership for healthy and livelihoods support in a sustainable environmentally friendly ecosystem.
What are the most pressing challenges NNF faces in pursuing its mission, and how does the organization work to overcome them?
The most pressing challenges NNF faces are grants, and poor attitudes by people in best waste management practices due to high cost of waste disposal and inadequate waste bins in for ensuring segregation of waste at source. We are still making applications for grants, and research to have waste to wealth products to equip our financial capacity for our programs.
Which partnerships, local or international, have been critical to NNF’s success, and how do you leverage these collaborations?
Gamashie Development Agency (GAMADA) under Accra Metropolitan Authority has provided office space for NNF and a meeting place for our community engagement programs, which has given us platform for continued advocacy and visibility in the community. This has aided NNF to have authentic reference from government agency as sustainable partnership.
How do you identify and prioritize their needs? does NNF ensure the long-term sustainability of its projects, both financially and in terms of lasting impact on beneficiaries?
NNF long-term sustainability of its project include the empowerment of local communities, especially youth and women in environmental conservation and sustainable economic practices, fostering of community engagement and co-ownership in eco-friendly initiatives through education, active participation, and ensuring of sustainable resource use that benefit both current and future generations, building resilience in both ecosystems and communities.
What systems or tools do you use to evaluate the effectiveness of your programmes and how do you use feedback to refine your interventions?
Periodic monitoring of environmental cleanliness in communities, with respect do drainages, markets, streets, lorry stations, schools compounds, coastal shores to check the levels of litter at such areas. Feedback is very useful to inform our strategic innovations for achievements of our expected outcomes. We use color variations to indicate the degree of cleanliness in the community. Very Dirty Areas are marked with color red as hot spots and community members send pictures to the NNF community Whatsapp for urgent attention to ensure effective work to clean the area. Such gives us room for rigorous advocacy to ensure positive behavioral mindset to keep the surroundings clean. Less Dirty Areas are with color yellow as likely hot spots and community members send pictures to the NNF community Whatsapp platform for urgent attention to prevent excessive littering, to work to clean the area. Such gives us room for rigorous advocacy to ensure positive behavioral mindset to keep the surroundings clean.Tidy Areas are with color green as standard spot and community members send pictures to the NNF community WhatsApp platform for urgent attention to maintain corrective actions, to work to clean the area, whilst keeping up with regular advocacy to ensuring positive behavioral mindset to keep the surroundings clean.
What inspired the establishment of NNF, and what unique gap in the society were you hoping to address when the organisation was formed?
The establishment of NNF was inspired by changing the poor behavioural ions of people towards the environment. We are poised to promote proper waste management practices aimed at waste to wealth through a circular economy, and encouragement for women and youth in climate-smart agriculture and aqua-culture as a lucrative livelihoods intervention for jobs creation.
Looking ahead, what are the biggest aspirations for NNF in the next five to 10 years, and how do you envision scaling your impact across Ghana and beyond?
The biggest aspirations for NNF in the next five to ten years is to lead in the advocacy to have a source segregation of waste law in Ghana aimed to prevent land and water pollution; thus make every waste a viable industrial commodity for growth and development in a circular economy, whilst promoting women and youth lead innovations in climate-smart agriculture and aquaculture for food security in a resilient and thriving ecosystems that support public health, tourism and sustainable livelihoods.
