GAYO is the first community-led circular economy waste management project in Ghana. In collaboration with communities and stakeholders, GAYO runs programmes that guide individuals to make conscious choices to promote sustainability and reduce communities’ vulnerability to natural hazards and socio-economic risks. Their projects include community composting, tree planting, recycling arts, education and advocacy.

Mankind is not in harmony with nature in numerous places on this world. Unfortunately, climate change impacts societies in very different ways, creating even stronger inequalities. Groups that are particularly vulnerable are children, youth, elderly and women, who have a comparatively less adaptive capacity due to social and structural inequalities in Ghana.

GAYO acts in various fields and sustainability aspects. Youth shoulder the responsibility of climate adaptation and mitigation while also facing unprecedented disruptions to employment, education, physical and mental health, and financial security. In partnership with Youth Climate Lab (YCL) and with support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Green Africa Youth Organization worked with youth-led organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa and Asia to organize a series of workshops that produced resources on multi-solving, youth voices on climate action and recover, and how it can be used to further climate justice. Furthermore, GAYO has developed a zero waste strategy document for Ghana, in collaboration with several local assemblies and stakeholders. Also, in the field of water-related issues, GAYO is partnering with LoveSpring to construct mechanized boreholes that will serve the purpose of providing communities with potable drinking water, as well as, providing irrigation for farming. This effort will be combined with other ecosystem-based adaptation measures such as the use of compost on farmlands to enhance water retention in the soil and tree planting exercises to provide a humid climate to support farming activities.

Founded in the year 2014, GAYO is dedicated to developing the human interest to observe basic natural laws and adopt the behaviour of living in harmony with nature. They seek a future where there is a balanced relationship between humans and the various natural systems on which they depend in such a way that all the components are accorded a proper degree of sustainability. Over the years GAYO's work has been in diverse fields including climate change, circular economy, disaster risk reduction, sustainable agriculture, and renewable energy activism.

This case study has been created as part of Footprints Africa's work to build a comprehensive open-source database of circular economy initiatives in Africa. We are doing this in collaboration with the African Circular Economy Network (ACEN), as part of our programme to support the circular economy transition in Africa.

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