UESD, partners launch 10-year ‘Nkabom’ project
The University of Environment and Sustainable Development (UESD) at Somanya in the Eastern Region has launched the Agro-Waste Management and Aquaculture Technology Entrepreneurship Initiative for the key implementors of the programme at a three-day workshop in Koforidua.
Under the auspices of ‘Nkabom’ Nutrition and Sustainable Agri-Food Collaborative, and themed, ‘’Inception Meeting for Agro-Waste Management and Aquaculture Technology Entrepreneurship Initiative, the initiative aimed to facilitate the ‘Nkabom’ Project Implementation Planning with key stakeholders for the next 10 years.
The participants, mostly from UESD and its partners, were taken through project overview, budget of the project, strategic planning, work packages and objectives, developing the structure of curriculum and short courses, curriculum co-design, tertiary and non-tertiary programmes, planning research in workstream and summer schools and entrepreneurship programmes.
The rest are administrative and governance capacity-building plans, diversity, gender equity and EDI policies, Agro-Waste and Aquaculture Technology, monitoring and evaluation and baseline planning, communication and visibility strategy and community engagement.
The project is being implemented in partnership with Mastercard Foundation, McGill University in Canada, Koforidua Technical University, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, University of Ghana, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Ashesi University, and Association of Ghana Industries.
Project Overview
The Agro-Waste Management and Aquaculture Entrepreneurship Initiative, popularly known as the ‘Nkabom’ Project, is an ambitious and transformative multi-stakeholder programme that seeks to address challenges at the intersection of environmental sustainability, agricultural innovation, youth employment and inclusive development in Ghana.
The initiative is underpinned by a bold, unified vision to convert agricultural waste into valuable products, enhance aquaculture practices using cutting-edge technology and create sustainable, entrepreneurship-driven livelihoods for the youth, women and the marginalised in communities.
In an address at the workshop, the Vice-Chancellor of UESD, Prof. Eric Nyarko Sampson, said the core vision of the project was to establish an inclusive, technologically empowered and sustainability-driven platform for agricultural innovation and job creation.
Prof. Nyarko Sampson, who is also the Project Investigator, said while Ghana’s agricultural sector is the backbone of the national economy, it generated substantial organic waste --- most of which was improperly disposed of leading to environmental degradation, public health risks and lost economic potential.
Strategic response
The Vice-Chancellor of Koforidua Technical University, Prof. John Owusu, said the three-day workshop was important as it brought major stakeholders together for them to understand what the project was about and the role each participant needed to play for its success.
He gave the assurance that his university would soon follow suit with a similar project which was needed at this critical time of the nation.
The Project Administrator and Project Coordinator, Mary Abena Agyepong, and Prof. Edward Wiafe Debrah, who are the Registrar and Pro VC of UESD, respectively, gave a firm assurance that they would play their supervisory roles well to ensure the success of the project.
