Climate change: NGO trains women on green microenterprise development

An NGO, Women Initiative for Sustainable Environment (WISE) has begun a four-day training for women groups on green microenterprise development and promotion of clean cookstoves.

The Founder and Programme Director of the NGO, Mrs Olanike Olugboji-Daramola, said at the training in Kaduna state on Wednesday, that the goal was to address climate change in Kaduna State.

Olugboji-Daramola said that the move was part of efforts to entrench safe environmental practices that would mitigate climate changes.

She said that the promotion of the energy efficient and environmentally friendly cookstoves, was under the WISE’s Nigeria COVID-19 and Climate Resilience Programme, being funded by Women Earth Alliance, a United States-based NGO.

She disclosed that WEA provides leadership, strategy, and technical training for women leaders to scale their climate and environmental initiatives while connecting them to a global alliance of peers, mentors, and funders.

She explained that the programme was designed to build the capacity of women in social entrepreneurship and reusable energy to foster a clean and safe environment.

According to her, the training will improve the income of the women and youth groups through profitable and scalable green microenterprises, as actions to finding solutions to climate issues.

“This training, which includes agro-forestry, is a strategic solution to climate change that would put women at the forefront of addressing environmental challenges and climate issues.

“The women will also be equipped with the knowledge and skills on how to convert agricultural waste into briquette, a compressed block of combustible biomass material used for fuel,” she said.

Olugboji-Daramola explained that the briquette would not only be used for cooking but could also serve as an income generation enterprise and means of livelihood.

She described tree planting, briquetting of agricultural waste and promotion of energy efficient cookstoves as “integrated and strategic interventions”.

“These will significantly contribute to addressing climate change issues, while making money from it. The intervention, in the long run, will help to reduce deforestation, promote afforestation, and empower women financially, thereby strengthening their resilience to the impact of the economy,” she said.

NAN / Foluke Ibitomi