Some sixty three (63) young Ghanaians who formed the first cohort of a two-year Erasmus+ project and the European Commission – GreenVET Africa – have graduated with skills to create sustainable career paths in Green Waste Management and micro entrepreneurship.
The graduates who have acquired job oriented technical and vocational skills in sustainable industrial and municipal waste collection, waste aggregation; preprocessing, recycling and upcycling of waste into reusable materials are expected to fill the yawning labour and expertise gaps along the waste management value chain.
While the training content, methodology, program progression, tools and resource capacity building was provided by Whizzy Academy, the curriculum was delivered by the Ramseyer Vocational and Technical Institute, under the Presbyterian Relief Services and Development (PRSD).
National Coordinator PRSD Emanuel Nyarko Ankama enlightened the graduates on the emerging job opportunities in environmental management, Climate smart agriculture and waste management and charged the youth to apply their skills in writing bankable business plans to qualify for the various funding sources available for startups.
He disclosed, “There are so many opportunities available for the youth. This is a grant project from the European Commission but there are so many courses and those who are willing and ready to enter into this circular economy can be assisted. We will assign them coaches and mentors to help them prepare their business plans, pitch and if successful, they will get grants for their various enterprises,”
Mr. Nyarko Ankama indicated that the Presbyterian church has taken environmental management seriously pursuing its Arbour Day aggressive tree planting exercises, a waste for cash program and its climate smart agriculture initiatives as part of its divine mandate to be stewards of the environment.
Vice principal for the Ramseyer Vocational and Technical Institute Anthony Sarkodie Amankwah expressed optimism that the project consortium will extend the Green Waste Management program, which is the first of its kind, to other TVET institutions to train more young professionals to support Africa’s growing sanitation and environmental preservation challenges.
“This has been very successful and the anticipated impact is very huge. With this curriculum developed, we have only catered for 63 youth. In the Ashanti Region alone, we have thirty-five TVET institutions and so it has to be scaled up with the support of the European Commission and other donor partners who also have interest in our sustainable development goals,” he recommended.
Managing partner with Whizzy Innovation Hub and project officer on the Green VET Africa Project, Spenser Koranchie emphasized the potential of the project to create awareness about the commercial value of domestic and industrial waste and its ability to create jobs rather than becoming environmental hazards.
“The waste oil in restaurants can be turned into biofuel and yet a lot of people do not know. Just a few added chemicals can turn it into diesel for your engines. We were unable to mobilize this waste for an Egyptian buyer because people were not aware. This project is the break the barrier of awareness and lead to creation of jobs,” he emphasized.
He was hopeful the graduates will approach existing businesses to identify the creative and innovative uses of their waste and how same could be turned into diverse income generating avenues that could create extra employment streams.
A graduate who lives in an industrial area, Collins Asenso Opoku shared how he had been enlightened to know that every waste generated could be a potential material for another environmentally safe and useful venture.
“In my area, we have a lot of waste discharged and dumped anywhere. After doing an internship with a company which processes coconut husks into charcoal briquettes, I am developing a plan to collect all the waste in my area into some profitable use,” he explained.
The climate responsive program which was run concurrently in Ghana and Nigeria, aligns with the environmental objectives of the European Green Deal and the Europe – Africa strategic partnership which seeks to promote environmental management while taking advantage of the Twin transition – Green and Digital – to create sustainable jobs for the teaming unemployed youth in Africa.
Global threat of Waste
Sustainable and environmentally safe waste management has become a global concern as environmentalists predict that the world will generate 2.59 billion tonnes of solid waste annually by the year 2030 and a further to 3.40 billion tonnes by 2050.
Globally, about 37% of waste is disposed of in some type of landfill, 33% is openly dumped, 19% undergoes materials recovery through recycling and composting, and 11% is treated through modern incineration.
If not properly managed, these waste substances could become hazardous to the environment, threatening human, plant, animal and aquatic life.
www.kumasimail.com/Ivan Heathcote – Fumador
