Countries Archive - Page 6 of 22

Launch of partnership wetland conservation activities in Uganda

Written by Support on 18. October 2022. Posted in Countries, Uganda.

Wetlands serve as the ‘kidneys’ of the earth. They store and purify water, protect areas from flooding and are a vital habitat for fish and other wildlife. Once a wetland is degraded, it can’t maintain its ecological functions which poses risks to human health, biodiversity, and environmental security.

Partners under the Commercial Flower Farms Integrated Catchment Management Partnership have joined forces to combat the degradation of wetlands around Greater Kampala. On 28^th of September 2022, Nature Uganda, a civil society organisation working for the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable management of natural resources, officially launched their activities under the partnership in Mpigi District. The focus lies on the conservation of the Semagimbi wetland.

Conserving Semagimbi wetland together

Mpigi District belongs to the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area and hosts the Semagimbi wetland. This wetland has been heavily degraded by encroachment, land use change, a growing population and pollution from nearby industries.

Map of Semagimbi wetland — Map showing the status of Semagimbi Wetland system (Source: Wetlands Department, MWE 2022)

To support the conservation of the wetland, Nature Uganda is implementing a variety of activities under the partnership in Mpigi District. These include:

Development of a wetland management plan for Semagimbi wetland
Demarcation and environmental restoration of 10 km of the wetland
Establishment of wetland management committees
Identification and promotion of alternative livelihood options
Sensitization campaigns on sustainable use of natural resources
Engagement of schools around the wetland on solid waste management

Launch Event organized by Nature Uganda

partnership group photo — Attendees of the launch event including local district leaders, Nature Uganda, private sector representatives and schools of the area.
© Nature Uganda

During the launch event, stakeholders from the Ministry of Water & Environment (Mr. Benard Arinaitwe, Ass. Commissioner Wetlands), Mpigi Local Government (Ms. Maria Lubega, Deputy Resident District Commissioner; Mr. Emmanuel Ssempala, Deputy Chief Admission Officer; Ms. Aisha Nakirija, Vice-Chairperson; Mr. Tony Mwidyeki, District Natural Resource Officer), Religious and Cultural Leaders, students and a representative of the private sector (Mr. Victor Embati, Quality Assurance Manager Fiduga/ Dummen Orange) came together at Mpigi District Local Government Headquarters to be introduced to the activities led by Nature Uganda and to give room for discussions. Finally, participants visited Semagimbi wetland to showcase issues on ground.

Assistant Commissioner Wetlands of the Wetlands Department, Mr. Benard Arinaitwe during his opening remarks. © Nature Uganda

The Executive Director of Nature Uganda, Achilles Byaruhanga, highlighted: “We have in plan many interventions, which include working with schools around the Semagimbi wetland. By sensitizing them on proper waste management ways, we believe these children can help us pass this information to their parents.”

With the project officially launched, the stage is now set for the implementation of activities in Mpigi district. Jointly, partners will support the conservation of the wetland to ensure it can serve its ecological function for generations to come.

Read more about the launch on Nature Uganda’s website here: Nature Uganda rallies partners to restore Semagimbi Wetland. – Nature Uganda

Launch of Innovation Hub for transformative plastic waste recycling and job creation in Uganda

Written by Support on 11. October 2022. Posted in Countries, Uganda.

To promote resource efficiency and protect the integrity of natural resources, a shift to a circular economy in which products are reused and recycled instead of being wasted, is crucial. Therefore, an innovation hub for plastic recycling has been launched on 28^th September 2022 at the International University of East Africa (IUEA) under the framework ofthe Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area PET Plastic Recycling Partnership. The multi-stakeholder partnership supported by NatuReS strives to improve the sustainable management of PET plastic in GKMA by developing an inclusive green recycling sector.

Launch of Recycling Hub — A commemorative plague at the Plastic Recycling Innovation Hub launched at the International University of East Africa. Copyright: GIZ/Simon Akena

The Innovation Hub is a collaboration between IUEA, EcoBrixs, a Ugandan social enterprise working on plastic recycling, and NatuReS. EcoBrixs buys plastic from waste collectors, which it then recycles into a variety of new products such as bricks, pavers, fence posts or face shields.

Aware of the environmental impact of plastic waste and the importance of recycling in preserving natural resources, partners also recognize recycling as an opportunity to boost the local economy through employment and the production of other useful products. The hub aims to form a generation of empowered and skilled young Ugandans, capable of tackling Uganda’s plastic waste management challenges innovatively and collectively.

Therefore, the hub creates a space for plastic waste reduction through triggering and supporting recycling innovations. IUEA students will be the trainees, benefiting from the opportunity to explore and learn practical techniques in recycling from plastic waste recycling experts. EcoBrixs will, for example, provide the hub with the necessary know-how, skills and trainers.

Training the youth for innovative green jobs

However, the plastic recycling innovation hub will even go a step further and contribute to addressing some of Uganda’s youth employment challenges. The trainees will additionally gain employment and entrepreneurial skills. This will assist them in using and creating employment opportunities in Uganda’s recycling sector, which represents a goldmine of untapped possibilities. In fact, Uganda generates 600 tons of plastics waste daily according to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). This waste is currently handled by just over 30 registered recycling companies, working on a very small scale due to technical and resource constraints as revealed by the Global Green Growth Institute’s “Kampala solid waste value chain mapping” report. These figures demonstrate a huge potential for further recycling and opportunities for recycling startups to thrive.

By fostering a green jobs education approach that focuses on supporting circular economy initiatives, the Innovation hub will thus encourage the students to pursue green jobs and better manage plastic waste, building a workforce for a sustainable and inclusive future. This is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 12, which focuses on environmentally sound waste management through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse, as well as SDG 8, seeking sustained, inclusive economic growth and decent work for all. The Hub further contributes to Uganda’s green Jobs Programme, which aims at creating green and decent jobs to enhance labour productivity and reduce poverty through the promotion of innovative skills development and the enhancement of productivity and competitiveness of workers and enterprises.

The hub is expected to result in the following annual outcomes:

300 students trained in plastic recycling annually.
Through research and development of joint ventures with trainees, two prototype products are developed from plastic waste and brought to market per graduating year.
After graduation, 80% of trainees find employment in waste management and recycling.
At least 60 tons (5 tons per month) of plastic waste are recycled sustainably.

The Hub training modules have been integrated into the university’s curriculum. This, as well as partner commitments, will ensure the hub’s long-term viability and sustained outcomes.

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Author: Simon Akena, GIZ-NatuReS Uganda

South African city uMhlathuze nominated for the Green Economy Change Champions within Local Government Award

Written by Support on 4. October 2022. Posted in Countries, South Africa.

The City of uMhlathuze in South Africa’s Kwa-Zulu Natal province has been nominated as one of the five finalists for the “Green Economy Change Champions within Local Government Award” for the initiative on the use of drone technology to improve water management and assess non-revenue water. The aim of the awards is to showcase successful sustainability initiatives that have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented by municipalities across South Africa. The awards are jointly hosted by GreenCape, a non -for-profit organization that drives the widespread adoption of economically viable green economy solutions, and the German Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom.

Why drone technology for improved water management?

The city was concerned about high unaccounted for water losses recorded for two suburbs within their water supply network. To this end, the leveraging of drone technology proved to be a viable and innovative solution to help the municipality assess the cause of the increased water demand and losses. Through financial support from NatuReS as part of a contribution to the uMhlathuze Water Stewardship Partnership (UWASP), the city received a drone and had three of their municipal officials trained to obtain a drone license to operate it.

The use of drone technology in the two pilot suburbs revealed that the increase in population was the main driver for increased water demand, and that illegal and unbilled connections were the reason for the high unaccounted water losses. With the information obtained, the municipality can now understand the extent of water losses and improve water supply planning in the respective areas. Similarly, this allows them to deploy the right interventions for reducing demand and upgrading infrastructure to address unbilled consumption. Finally, water supply for communities can be improved.

Arial view, taken by the drone, of one of the communities which formed part of the initiative © Dawid Dirks

Celebrating the Municipal Green Economy Change Champions

The award ceremony will be showcased during an online event on the 12^th October 2022 at 10:00, where the winning initiative will be announced. To join the event live, register here. To learn more about the Green Economy Change Champions within Local Government, click here.

We wish the City of uMhlathuze all the best!

Community Engagement for Flood Resilience Provides New Hope in Kampala’s Informal Settlements

Written by Support on 30. September 2022. Posted in Countries, Uganda.

In the informal settlements in the outskirts of Greater Kampala’s Central Business District, improper solid waste management results in the clogging of drainage systems. This, in addition to the seasonal downpours, whose intensification is attributed to climate change, have exposed already vulnerable communities to a high risk of seasonal urban flash flooding. This is intensified by the fact that Kampala’s informal settlements are situated in flood-prone low-lying areas.

Associated with the floods are huge socio-economic losses due to the damage of assets and goods, and disruption of business and work operations. Nakato Caroline, a small business owner and resident of Sembule A Zone in Nalukulongo, states that floods continuously disrupt her retail shop by destroying valuable merchandise and leaving her shop inaccessible to customers. This worsens the financial strain on her family. She cites the insufficient plastic waste management as a major contributor to the clogging of the channels and the consequent flooding in her community.

The game changer: collective action

To sustainably build the resilience of these communities to flooding, the Greater Kampala Integrated Flood Resilience Partnership, supported by the Natural Resources Stewardship Programme (NatuReS), is spearheading community action for flood resilience in two flood hotspots in Kampala’s informal settlements of Kinawataka and Nalukolongo. This partnership is being championed by ACTogether Uganda and the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) through a project dubbed “Community Action for Flood Resilience.” ACTogether is a Ugandan Civil Society Organisation affiliated with Slum Dwellers International (SDI) which supports the National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda by facilitating processes that develop organizational capacity at the local level and promote pro-poor policy and practice in Uganda’s urban arena.

The “Community Action for Flood Resilience” project under the partnership empowers and builds the capacity of vulnerable communities to take the lead in the fight against floods. This is done through community-centered behavioural change activities to reduce the quantity of solid waste ending up in the drainage channels.

Community members desilting drainage channels. Copyright: GIZ/Ebong Willy Bunga

Through the project, 10 community members (5 from Kinawataka and 5 from Nalukulongo sub-catchments) were trained to become flood control champions, equipped with knowledge on the causes, effects, mitigation, and adaptation measures to the flooding challenges in their respective communities. The flood control champions are community members who were already spearheading awareness and dialogue sessions aimed at sensitizing their fellow community members on issues like malaria etc.

flood champions — 65 residents of Sembule A Zone in Nalukulongo, Rubaga Division, were sensitized on flood risks and mitigation measures by flood control champions trained under the partnership. Copyright: GIZ/Ebong Willy Bunga

Community initiative under a partnership approach

The actions of the trained flood control champions have had a cascading impact in these communities, particularly in terms of a positive mindset change towards communities’ capacities for flood resilience. They organized and conducted community dialogues called settlement forums, as well as community radio talk shows. Through these, the communities have been trained on urban flood risk and practical mitigation measures to enable them to control floods in their areas. Morever, they provided a platform for dialogue with other stakeholders and duty bearers, such as community leaders, on the flooding. These include causes, effects, and ways to collectively contribute to addressing them.

Through the settlement forums, community-led monthly clean-up exercises have been taken up in Kinawataka and Nalukolongo. These have instilled a sense of community and social responsibility among the members. The communities acknowledge their contribution towards flooding through improper solid waste management. In turn, they collect solid waste and desilt clogged secondary and tertiary drainage channels within their surroundings that would otherwise contribute to the flooding. This is further complementing the Kampala Capital City Authority’s (KCCA) solid waste management and flood control efforts.

Kampala map — A map showing drainage channels, 588.79 meters long, cleaned up on 12^th August 2022 in Kinawataka during a community clean-up activity. In this clean-up approximately 16 tons of solid waste, predominantly PET plastic, was collected from the channels. Copyright: GIZ

The flood control champions, officials, and community members speak out

As a follow-up to the actions led by the flood control champions and the communities, ACTogether organized community planning and review meetings. In these meetings, the flood champions, community leaders, government officials, and community members shared their experiences and lessons learned from the joint initiative.

Nakato Leticia, one of the flood champions, expressed her excitement and gratitude for being a part of this partnership learning from experts’ proven ways to improve community flood resilience. In addition, she appreciated having a platform to disseminate this knowledge to members of her community.

However, the effects of the community-led clean-up efforts went much further: Nyanzi Bob, Head of the Solid Waste Management Unit at KCCA (Rubaga Division, in which also Nalukolongo is located), shared that they have also improved the relations between the Kampala Capital City Authority and the local communities. This only became possible by working together as partners for a common objective.

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Authors

Simon Peter Akena
Junior Advisor
GIZ-NatuReS

Willy Bunga
Junior Consultant
GIZ-NatuReS

Peter Mwambu
Project Manager
ACTogether Uganda