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Epe LGA Commends CODAF Methane Reduction Project
Authorities of Epe Local Government Area, Lagos State, have applauded the Community Development Advocacy Foundation (CODAF), a group of environmental activists and climate crusaders, for its methane reduction project. The project aims to foster green, healthier agricultural practices and curb the negative impacts of climate change in the council, Lagos State, and Nigeria.
Speaking at the unveiling of a baseline report on Multi-Solving Action for Methane Reduction in Nigeria (MAMRN) at the Epe Council Headquarters, its chairman, Princess Surah Animashaun, who was represented by the vice chairman, Hon. Sikiru Adeniyi Owolomose, commended CODAF, a member of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), for the initiative that birthed the Waste Materials Recovery facility in Epe Community.
He said, ” The waste-to-wealth initiative remains crucial for a better environment and sustainable future. As such, organisations, institutions, groups, communities, and individuals should be encouraged to embark on projects targeted at gathering waste (including plastics) for recycling, which will improve the environment.”
In his goodwill message, Executive Director of CODAF, Richard Benin, stressed the importance of green and sustainable agricultural practices, adding that Epe was chosen for establishing the MAMRN project due to its high methane generation activities as an agricultural and fishing hub in Lagos State.
Also speaking, Senior Programme Officer with Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev Nigeria), Victor Fabunmi, restated the need for sustainable waste management through awareness creation and education in transforming wastes to resources, adding that implementation of such programs was ongoing in Lagos, Jos, Edo, Abuja, and other parts of the country where proper waste management has become a huge challenge.
On her part, CODAF Programme Manager, Environment, Melody Enyinnaya, who presented the objectives, activities, and expected outcomes of the project, explained that the MAMRN project addresses one of the most potent yet under-addressed greenhouse gases affecting the climate system.
“The project takes a holistic approach by targeting methane emissions in the waste sector while simultaneously creating co-benefits for local communities and their ecosystems, just as it intends to train farmers on the use of non-petroleum-based chemicals in their farming activities,” she stated.
The project aims to promote zero waste initiatives and awareness leading to methane and waste reduction; establish a Material Recovery Facility to enhance the waste management and diversion of waste from dumpsites and landfills; and mobilise community action against waste-to-energy projects.
Others are to promote the use of compost in the agricultural sector, advocate integration of waste pickers into the formal waste management system in Nigeria, and increase the recovery rate of recyclable and compost materials by a reasonable percentage.
She listed the project activities to include community consultations, stakeholders’ mapping and baseline survey, creation of zero waste ambassadors, building of a Material Recovery Facility (MRF); My Zero Waste Farm Project (MZWFP), creation of Zero Waste Farmers Network, and establishment of Waste Parliament in Lagos.
Other activities are the Expanded Waste Parliament (EWaP), policy and media advocacy, the Zero Waste Market Campaign, waste pickers organising, the My Zero Waste City Radio Jingle, the MAMRN Experience Sharing Webinar, and monitoring and evaluation.
Enyinnaya emphasized that the project, for which CODAF has already spent over N20 million, will significantly reduce methane emissions in the waste sector, thereby improving air quality and public health in the community, while the construction and operation of the MRF will create thousands of green jobs and promote waste sorting, reusing, recycling, and composting.
The project will also improve the agricultural sector and further empower farmers on the use of compost for an increased crop yield, just as residents will benefit from training programs on zero waste.
On the expected outcomes, she said, “A fully operational MRF in Epe will recover 2.3 tons of plastics and other non-biodegradable waste per week and treat 2.7 tons of organic waste per week (using composting and black soldier fly technology).
“It will establish a Zero Waste Ambassadors campaign (in Lagos) in collaboration with other GAIA members in Nigeria; an active Zero Waste Farmers Network, as well as a cleaner and healthier environment. It will engender improved knowledge, attitude, and practices of Lagos residents towards waste management, where waste is reduced and treated as a resource due to the Zero Waste Ambassadors Project.”
In his presentation, Chief Research Officer and Senior Lecturer, National Centre for Energy and Environment, Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), University of Benin, Dr. Chukwudi Nnaemeka Emeribe explained that the survey targeted households, farmers, waste pickers, market and local government officials, adding that the team visited waste and landfill sites and composting facilities and examined existing waste management policies.
“Our purpose was to quantify waste practices and attitudes towards organic composting, analyse policy gaps and institutional barriers to waste management, and understand the cultural and socio-economic factors affecting adoption and access to infrastructure. We also evaluated waste diversion capacity and identified policy strengths and gaps in methane reduction efforts to establish a scientific benchmark for emissions.”
He said most of the targeted groups expressed the willingness and readiness to adopt and explore the green alternative in their agricultural practices to engender a sustainable ecology and a brighter future.
