The Upper West Region of Ghana is enmeshed with major environmental challenges, ranging from desertification, water insecurity, and climate change impacts. These problems on annual basis, are worsened by other factors such as bush burning, unsustainable farming practices, and climate change, which precariously lead to degraded vegetation, soil erosion, and scarcity of water.
This therefore calls for a different approach from the previous in tackling the problems of the area. This came to light when this writer engaged the attention of Environmental Care Group, Kindoma, a group dedicated to protecting the environment in the Upper West Region.
Speaking to this writer the Executive Secretary of Environmental Care Group Kindomo Nuhu Alhassan, said rural communities, especially in the Upper West Region, face socio-economic and environmental challenges such as poverty, social marginalization and wanton deprivation. The environmental resources on which they depend on for survival, livelihood and development is now subjected to corporate destruction leaving them with little opportunities for meeting the minimum standard of decent living.
According to him, in the Upper West Region for instance, surface mining and other mining activities have led to the loss of farm lands pushing farmers whose livelihood depend on land, pushing them to the edge, and it is now palpably clear that the application of indigenous knowledge for survival is not just enough as it has failed over the years to yield the needed results.
According to Nuhu Alhassan, his organization is therefore not relaxing by ensuring that it is able to implement its programmes and policies as to how best to protect the environment. He said with funding from the Global Green Grant Fund (GGGF) to support its activities, the new approach is the use of indigenous knowledge in fighting environmental degradation accompanied by the use of modern techniques of advocacy, taking the environmental rights of the people into absolute consideration.
Environmental Care Group Kindoma has therefore brought into being a new project of using indigenous knowledge and the application of advocacy in the fight against environmental degradation in its areas of operations.
With support from the Global Green Grant Fund (GGGF), through this project, Environmental Care Group Kindoma is therefore using indigenous knowledge and advocacy as a new approach on their environmental projects, which seeks to empower communities in the Upper West Region with advocacy skills to protect environmental rights of the people and the environment.
For example in the Wa West District of the Upper West Region where the group is based, it has over two hundred and thirty five communities as a district and out of this number, five (5) communities strategically located, with about 2,500 men and women, have been selected to benefit from the new project of using both advocacy and indigenous knowledge on a pilot basis.
These communities include: Kindoma, Weliyiri, Kuliyiri, Daribaayiri and Tomayiri as beneficiary communities. The advocacy skills building will focus on the identification of key actors, duty-bearers, advocacy moments, messaging, and tactics for social mobilization.
Nuhu Alhassan said the operational definition given to the project as defined by Environmental Care Group Kindoma is that “Advocacy” refers to the efforts of an individual or group to effectively communicate, convey, negotiate or assert the interests, desires, needs and rights of oneself or another person.
This means that people involved in advocacy work to get the best results and also to help others stand out and stand up in doing what is needful and right especially in protecting the environment and the rights of the people associated with it.
For example Nuhu Alhassan opined that, the environmental advocacy as envisioned by Environmental Care Group Kindoma is the identification of ‘local champion’ who is credible, trusted, and an ethical figure-head who advocates for the protection of the local environment wherever he or she may be found within their catchment areas.
This according to him, involves the local advocates being empowered with the requisite skills of advocacy and indigenous knowledge to be able to run around to bring about positive change to the environment as he or she is well equipped with the necessary know-how and information to protect the environment by empowering the local populace,
Environment Care Group Kindoma, through this project, is involving parents who would in turn advocate for their children’s environmental needs both at home and at school and at all places.
In this regard, Environmental Care Group Kindoma, is supported by the Global Green Grant Fund (GGGF) is also involving formal individual advocacy going through organizations such as government agencies and non-profits organizations within the catchment areas of the five selected communities of the pilot project.
The project is also involving the use of ‘self-advocacy’ which is very a critical aspect of social work practice to be employed by the Environmental Care Group Kindoma in areas earmarked and is adopting social workers approach to teach selected communities on self-advocacy skills, empowering them to advocate for their own environmental rights and needs in the affected communities. Therefore the ultimate is that through self-advocacy, individuals will develop their skills they need to be independent and self-determined in protecting and safeguarding the environment within the selected five communities for implementation.
TACTICS OF SOCIAL MOBILIZATION IN PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMRMT IN SELECTED COMMUNITIES
Environmental Care Group Kindoma is stimulating individuals and groups to work towards shared goals through diverse strategies on various spheres of the environment for effective results in the Upper West Region.
In this regard, effective social mobilization is being kept in place, which will require understanding each selected community’s environmental needs and assessment, by forming groups, promoting participation, empowering communities, and creating the necessary changes within selected communities on environmental matters.
The Group is also adopting what it terms as ‘advocacy moments’ at specific areas to tackle by creating loyalty to stay and work for the environment by encouraging all and sundry to become advocates for the environment and how to care for it.
These moments often involve selecting people by making them feel valued, and leading them to share positive experiences with others. They can then be strategically placed in order to build long-term advocacy and positive word-of-mouth marketing strategies for the overall success of the project.
The project is involving duty bearers who are individuals or organizations with the legal or moral responsibility to respect, protect, and fulfill environmental human rights, including those of rights holders.
These groups of people are obligated to ensure that the rights of others are upheld, and can be held accountable for any actions or omissions that violate those rights, an idea quite ideal for the fight against environmental degradation according to Nuhu Alhassan.
The project has included duty bearers such as governments, employers, landlords, and service providers within the selected communities of the pilot project supported by the Global Green Grant fund (GGGF)
Nuhu Alhassan describes corporate destruction of the environment as damage and degradation caused to natural ecosystems and resources by businesses and corporations through various activities like pollution, resource overuse, and deforestation.
This according to him, include actions like, dumping toxic waste, cutting down rainforests trees, and displacing communities. The net effects of corporate actions on the environment can lead to long-term negative consequences, impacting ecosystems, human health, and global climate change. Nuhu Alhassan said issues such as environmental degradation and pollution are what companies often release, producing harmful pollutants into the air, water, and soil, leading to contamination and damage to ecosystems.
According to Environmental Care Group Kindoma, education is a key tool for empowering individuals and communities by providing them with the knowledge and skills necessary to make an informed decisions and to take action on important issues of the environment.
Environmental education therefore helps individuals to understand the impact of human activities on the environment and to promote sustainable practices to protect natural resources for future generations.
This writer has been following the exploits of Environmental Care Group Kindoma over the years. They are based in the Upper West Region, Wa West district to be precise.
It is expected that with support from the Global Green Grant Fund (GGGF) and some local initiatives, the environment in the Upper West Region will be well protected for the overall well-being of the people in protecting the environment at the corner they find themselves,
Writer: Seidu Bomanjo
Email: [email protected]
This writer is a broadcast journalist practicing for over two decades based in the Upper West Region. He is an environmental journalist with a legal background on environmental law and media advocacy.
