In Bakoteh, a community in the Greater Banjul Area of The Gambia, plastic waste has long been a serious problem. Home to the largest dumpsite in the region, residents have lived with the smoke from burning waste and the health risks that come with it – for years, there seemed to be no alternative. 

That’s starting to change. 

In September 2025, the Sobeya Kafo Waste Collectors Group was formed – ten local people who came together through WasteAid’s First Step Resource Management Programme, funded by Veralto. Over eight weeks, the group received training in everything from sorting and handling plastic safely, to running a small business and managing finances. The goal: to help the community build its own sustainable waste management system from the ground up. 

The results are already visible. At a recent community event, the shift in how people think about plastic was striking. Where once it was something to throw away or burn, people are now seeing it differently – as something with real environmental and economic value. 

Absa Joof, the group’s Secretary, put it simply: 

“This project has been an eye opener for me. Before, my household and I used to burn plastic waste or dispose of it carelessly. After participating in WasteAid’s training, I now see opportunities to generate income from waste.” 

What stood out just as much as the training itself was who showed up. Young people were actively involved throughout – in the workshops, and in the community clean-up, known locally as Sett-Setal. That kind of grassroots energy is exactly what long-term change looks like. 

This is what WasteAid’s work is about: not just cleaner streets, but stronger communities. When people have the knowledge and tools to manage waste themselves, the benefits go far beyond the environment – they create livelihoods, build confidence, and give communities real ownership over their futures. 

Thank you to Veralto for your support, without which this programme would not be made possible.

In Kalaji, a group of women farmers is demonstrating how organic waste can become a productive resource — supporting sustainable agriculture, strengthening livelihoods, and contributing to a local circular economy.

During a recent monitoring visit, WasteAid’s Director of Programmes, Akira Akazawa, joined the WasteAid Gambia team to meet one of the farmer groups supported by the EU-funded S-ORGANIC project — Scaling up Organic Fertilisers in The Gambia: Advancing Nutrition, Innovations and Circular Economy.

The team met a well-established group of around 75 members, the majority of whom are women. Drawing on training and practical support provided through the project, the group has been producing organic compost and fertiliser using locally available materials — putting new skills and knowledge to work in their own community.

Their efforts directly address one of S-ORGANIC’s core aims: reducing reliance on imported chemical fertilisers by building local capacity to produce and use organic alternatives. The project also works to improve soil fertility, promote more sustainable food production, and support the productive use of organic waste.

During the visit, group members described how they produce compost for use in vegetable and crop cultivation, including rice and maize. They also shared why organic compost is increasingly valued — noting that crops grown with organic inputs can stay fresh for longer, an important quality for both farmers and customers.

The group currently produces an estimated 100 bags of compost per month. But members were clear about what is needed to grow sustainably: more reliable access to raw materials, lower input costs, greater consistency in product quality, and stronger links to markets.

Speaking after the visit, Akira Akazawa said:

“The Kalaji women farmer group is a strong example of what the S-ORGANIC project is working to achieve. Their work connects environmental management, sustainable agriculture, and women’s economic empowerment in a very practical way. The next step is to support them to strengthen quality, improve access to materials, and build reliable markets for their compost.”

The visit reinforced the importance of combining technical training with business and market development support. WasteAid and partners will continue working with the group to strengthen production records, improve compost quality, review raw material supply chains, and identify potential buyers.

The Kalaji site also has real potential to become a learning resource for other communities exploring organic compost production and circular economy approaches.

Through S-ORGANIC, WasteAid is working with partners to advance practical, locally led solutions that turn waste into value, support sustainable agriculture, and contribute to food security across The Gambia.

On 12 May 2026, WasteAid’s Director of Programmes and Project Officer met with Turkish Ambassador F. Turker Oba at the Turkish Embassy in The Gambia to explore potential collaboration on environmental sustainability and waste management.

At WasteAid, we believe that lasting change comes from building local systems, strengthening community capacity, and forging partnerships that go beyond borders. Meetings like this one are central to that mission.

The conversation shone a spotlight on WasteAid’s flagship programmes in the country – focused on plastic reduction and organic waste management – while also providing insight into the Turkish government’s development work delivered through the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA). This includes tree planting, borehole construction at Bijilo Monkey Park, and the provision of tools and equipment to support local waste management efforts.

The meeting generated real enthusiasm for what a partnership could look like, bringing together WasteAid’s expertise in community-led capacity building with the reach and resources of the Turkish Embassy and TİKA. For WasteAid, partnerships like this are essential – tackling the waste crisis in lower-income countries requires collaboration across governments, communities, and international organisations, and no single actor can do it alone.

Discussions also touched on the Embassy’s broader network of partnerships in The Gambia – including with the Office of the First Lady, the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Natural Resources, and Brikama Area Council – reflecting a shared and sustained commitment to sustainable development across the country.

WasteAid looks forward to building on this promising start and working alongside the Turkish Embassy towards a cleaner, healthier Gambia – where waste is managed sustainably, livelihoods are strengthened, and no community is left behind.

WasteAid and Kanifing Municipal Council have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), marking an important milestone in a partnership that has developed over more than a decade. 

The MoU, signed on 7 May 2026 by Akira Akazawa, Director of Programmes at WasteAid, and Paa Sait Ceesay, Chief Executive Officer of Kanifing Municipal Council (KMC), establishes a renewed framework for cooperation between WasteAid and KMC, further strengthening joint efforts to improve sustainable waste management, recycling, environmental protection, and circular economy initiatives in The Gambia.

WasteAid has worked closely with KMC for over ten years, supporting practical solutions to urban waste challenges and helping to build local capacity, strengthen community engagement, and promote more inclusive and sustainable approaches to waste management. 

This new MoU builds on that long-standing relationship and provides a stronger basis for future collaboration. It sets out shared priorities including solid waste management, recycling and resource recovery, public awareness and behaviour change, capacity building, support for small-scale waste and recycling enterprises, and improved coordination between local government, communities, the private sector, and development partners. These priorities reflect the areas of cooperation outlined in the MoU framework. 

Speaking at the signing, Akira Akazawa, Director of Programmes at WasteAid, welcomed the opportunity to deepen WasteAid’s partnership with KMC and continue working together to address the growing waste management challenges facing urban communities. 

“WasteAid is proud to continue its long-standing partnership with Kanifing Municipal Council. This MoU builds on more than a decade of collaboration and gives us a stronger foundation to work together on practical, locally led solutions that improve waste management, support communities, and contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment.” 

Waste management is not only an environmental issue. It is closely connected to public health, livelihoods, climate resilience, and quality of life. Through this renewed partnership, WasteAid and KMC aim to support practical, locally led solutions that reduce pollution, increase recycling, and create opportunities for communities and small enterprises. 

The MoU also recognises the importance of inclusive approaches, including the participation of women, young people, vulnerable groups, community actors, and informal waste workers in waste management initiatives. 

WasteAid looks forward to continuing its collaboration with KMC and other partners to support a cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable future for communities across the municipality and beyond. 

We have a wealth of evidence demonstrating the positive impact of our Wastepreneur programme. A key driver of this success is our proactive approach—identifying and resolving challenges as soon as they arise to ensure consistent results. This is evidenced by our creation of the HUBLINK project in Uganda.  

At WasteAid, it is vital that our programmes serve the participants first and foremost. To ensure this, we integrate rigorous due diligence and maintain constant communication with waste collectors on the ground. Through these touchpoints, a significant barrier was brought to our attention: many Wastepreneurs lacked access to higher value markets, due to the quality of the aggregation bays.

Without a local hub to consolidate their materials, collectors were often forced to pay high transportation costs to reach distant buyers. In many cases, these costs swallowed their margins entirely, making it impossible to turn out a fair profit from the waste they had worked so hard to collect.  

Rather than compromising the project’s future, we took decisive action to mitigate these risks. We transitioned the project to a new implementation anchor: the Halal Waste Group. 

Halal Waste Group 

The Halal Waste Group (HWG) was set up in 2019, when a few individuals responded to waste clogging drainage channels in their community, from that point onwards the group grew in size, it now includes 33 members and handles roughly 30-35 tonnes of waste material per month.  

Whilst the group clearly demonstrates the power of local people responding to local problems. The group had larger ambition beyond its original scope and soon identified major logistical and infrastructure barriers that limited their efficiency and growth.  

This is where we are able to offer support. By combining our global technical knowledge and resources with HWG’s deep local insights, we are working to scale their impact without losing the “community heart” that made them successful in the first place.  

HUBLINK’s goal is to strengthen the Halal Waste Group as a compliant, community-rooted aggregation and market-linkage hub. By maintaining this local focus while professionalising operations, we aim to: 

• Increase recyclable waste recovery across the region. 

• Improve livelihoods and working conditions for informal waste actors who are the backbone of the system. 

• Reduce unsafe waste disposal within the Rubaga Division of Kampala. 

Convening Community Stakeholders 

To ensure the best possible impact of the HUBLINK project, we recognised immediately the need to bring in other community stakeholders. On April 15th, WasteAid hosted a critical stakeholder engagement meeting with key partners including KCCA, TUNN, and Reclaim. The session was designed to build a shared roadmap for the hub, integrating expert lessons on infrastructure and health and safety into our operational plans. By clarifying the roles of every actor involved, we’ve created a unified front for implementation. This commitment was formalised at the close of the meeting with the official signing of the MoU between WasteAid and HWG. 

The meeting as well as acting as a means to discuss the practicalities of HUBLINK going forward and ensuring its success. There was a palpable sense of momentum in the room, with stakeholders expressing deep enthusiasm for the project’s potential to transform both the local environment and community livelihoods. 

Julius Mayanja, Local Council One Official 

“This hub is coming as a real saver for our environment and for the livelihoods of our people. Even ourchildren already have [got involved] when they see a bottle, they step on it to reduce its size – so we must now match that energy with training, organisation and community awareness.

Emily Namanya, KCCA Representative
“Wasteaid is a welcome partner in the fight against environmental degradation. If Halal Waste Group needs recognition or accreditation, KCCA is ready to engage, because when informal waste pickers are organised and supported, both the environment and livelihoods improve.” 

Fahad Serumpanise, TUNN
“This project gives Halal Waste Group a chance to move from struggling with space and logistics to operating in a more organised, safer and more business-minded way. Our aspiration is not only to collect waste, but to grow a hub that serves collectors and the wider community.” 

We are excited about the future of HUBLINK. Our ambition is matched only by the dedication of our community partners, and we feel confident in what we can achieve together. By creating impact at both the individual level for waste collectors and across the wider community, we are building better livelihoods and a greener Uganda.

This vital work is made possible through the continued support of Bunzl. We are incredibly grateful for your partnership, which allows us to turn these ambitions into reality and directly scale our impact across the region.

We have huge plans to further strengthen and scale our programmes in the countries we work in, evidenced by our recent expansion of our S-ORGANIC project to a national level initiative. Our programmes are designed to be country context specific, to maximise their impact, therefore it is vital that we have multi-stakeholder engagement.

On 15 April 2026, WasteAid brought together key voices from across the sector to discuss how we turn tried and tested circular economy practices into tangible action while strengthening sustainable waste management systems in The Gambia.

The workshop demonstrated the value of bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders, from government institutions, private sector actors, civil society and community-base waste collectors. This collaboration enabled effective problem-solving and opportunity scoping, leading to the co-development of practical, action-oriented solutions across policy, plastic waste value chains, and organic waste management.

These discussions are essential as we strengthen our Country Strategy for The Gambia. Engaging a broad range of stakeholders is essential to ensuring our strategy remains informed by local insights. This collaborative approach allows us to address real-world sector challenges and align on a unified vision for circular economy development.

The workshop highlighted several critical priorities, ranging from stronger policy coordination and more resilient markets for waste-derived products to improved infrastructure and financing. By identifying these pillars, we are well-positioned to address them head-on and drive the systemic change needed for a sustainable future.

The workshop was guided by clear objectives:

• to facilitate meaningful dialogue among key actors in the waste management sector,
• assess existing systems and policy frameworks,
• identify gaps and opportunities within plastic and organic waste value chains,
• and develop practical recommendations to support a national transition toward a circular economy. 

By fostering inclusive engagement and strengthening partnerships, the technical workshop represents an important step toward shaping a coordinated, evidence-based approach to sustainable waste management in The Gambia.