SWEEP Foundation NG

2-Day Capacity Building in progress 🔥
Drafting Anambra State Implementation Plan & Guidelines. The workshop is hosted by Anambra State Ministry Of Environment Awka in collaboration with UNIDO - United Nations Industrial Development Organization

In attendance: Hon. Commissioner Clement Aguiyi, Esq, Ibukun Faluyi - Exec. Secretary EPRON, Amb. Obuesi Phillips - Consultant MOE and CEO SWEEP Foundation NG, Emem Umana - UNIDO, and other key stakeholders.

Working together to build a cleaner, greener, and circular Anambra ♻️

HOW ANAMBRA STATE CAN EXPAND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH RECYCLABLE WASTE MANAGEMENT

A Joint Publication of the Statewide Waste and Environmental Education Foundation (SWEEP Foundation NG) and the Anambra Waste Recyclers Association (ASWRA)

Introduction: From Waste Management to Economic Opportunity

Anambra State is at a critical point in its environmental and economic development. The state’s growing population, expanding commercial activities and rapid urbanisation are generating increasing volumes of municipal waste, much of which contains valuable recyclable materials.

Yet, rather than treating recyclable waste as an economic resource, Anambra continues to operate a waste management regime that is largely fragmented, reactive and institutionally disjointed. The result is a system focused primarily on evacuating waste from communities and moving it to dumpsites, instead of recovering materials, creating enterprises, generating green jobs and building a functioning circular economy.

This raises a fundamental question:

Who is really in charge of waste management in Anambra State?

The question is not merely administrative. It is an economic question with significant implications for investment, environmental sustainability, public health and the ability of the state to attract climate finance and international development funding.

A Disjointed Waste Management Architecture

Available evidence suggests that responsibility for waste management is spread across several institutions without a sufficiently clear, integrated and accountable framework.

At the community and local government level, different Local Government Areas are involved in waste evacuation and related municipal sanitation activities. At the same time, dumpsite management is associated with the Ministry of Local Government, while the Ministry of Health manages medical waste. The Anambra Internal Revenue Service (AIRS) is also involved in the collection of environmental-related levies.

This creates a situation in which multiple institutions interact with different aspects of the waste value chain, but without a clearly defined institutional centre responsible for coordinating the entire system.

The problem is therefore not simply that Anambra has a waste management challenge. It has a waste governance and coordination challenge.

There appears to be no sufficiently clear-cut boundary between policy, regulation, collection, evacuation, transfer, disposal, recycling, resource recovery, environmental enforcement and revenue administration.

Consequently, responsibility can become difficult to establish when the system fails.

Who regulates waste collection?

Who determines where municipal waste goes?

Who is responsible for developing recycling infrastructure?

Who licenses and coordinates recyclers?

Who develops the state's waste data?

Who is responsible for waste diversion from dumpsites?

Who creates the investment framework for recycling and resource recovery?

And ultimately, who can an investor or development partner approach when seeking to invest in Anambra's circular economy?

These questions require urgent answers.

The Economic Cost of the Current Model

The conventional approach of collect–evacuate–dump treats waste as a liability rather than an asset.

However, recyclable waste has economic value.

Plastics, metals, paper, cardboard, glass, textiles, organic materials and other recoverable resources constitute raw materials for industries and small businesses. When properly collected, sorted, processed and marketed, they can support entire value chains involving waste pickers, collectors, aggregators, material recovery facilities, recyclers, manufacturers, logistics companies, technology providers and financial institutions.

A modern waste management system should therefore ask not only:

“How do we remove this waste?”

but also:

“What economic value can we recover from this material?”

This is the foundation of a circular economy.

Anambra Needs an Integrated Municipal Waste Management System

Anambra should move from a fragmented disposal-oriented model to an Integrated Municipal Waste Management System driven by recycling, resource recovery and circular economy business models.

Such a system should bring the entire municipal waste value chain under a clearly defined framework:

Generation → Separation → Collection → Aggregation → Sorting → Processing → Recycling → Manufacturing → Markets

Under this model, waste becomes an input into productive economic activity.

The state can establish clear institutional responsibility while creating opportunities for private-sector participation. Government should concentrate on policy, regulation, standards, infrastructure facilitation and enforcement, while qualified private enterprises, cooperatives and community-based organisations participate across the value chain.

Recycling as a Job Creation Strategy

The recycling economy can become an important component of Anambra's employment and enterprise strategy.

Rather than seeing waste collectors and informal recyclers merely as sanitation workers, the state should recognise them as participants in a potentially valuable resource recovery industry.

With appropriate training, registration, access to finance, equipment and markets, waste workers can transition into formal green enterprises.

Opportunities exist in:

Plastic collection and recycling

PET bottle aggregation

Paper and cardboard recovery

Metal recovery

Glass recycling

Organic waste composting

E-waste recovery

Construction and demolition waste recovery

Waste logistics

Material recovery facilities

Recycling equipment manufacturing and maintenance

Circular economy technology

Recycled-product manufacturing

This can create thousands of direct and indirect green jobs while reducing pressure on dumpsites.

Government Should Create the Market, Not Crowd It Out

Anambra does not necessarily need government to become the operator of every component of the waste economy.

Government's most important role should be to create the enabling environment.

This includes establishing clear regulations, standards, licensing systems, investment incentives, reliable waste data, enforcement mechanisms and infrastructure that enable businesses to operate profitably.

The state should also explore Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for material recovery facilities, recycling parks, transfer stations, composting facilities and other infrastructure.

The informal recycling sector should not be displaced. Instead, it should be organised, integrated and upgraded into the formal waste management economy.

A Single, Clear Institutional Framework

The most urgent reform is institutional clarity.

Anambra State needs a clearly defined authority or institutional framework responsible for coordinating municipal waste management across the state.

Such an institution should have clearly defined responsibility for:

1. Municipal waste management policy and regulation;
2. Waste collection and transportation standards;
3. Dumpsite and landfill regulation;
4. Recycling and resource recovery;
5. Waste data and reporting;
6. Integration of informal recyclers;
7. Private-sector participation;
8. Extended Producer Responsibility;
9. Environmental compliance and enforcement;
10. Investment promotion within the circular economy;

11. Climate and sustainability financing; and

12. Coordination among Local Governments and relevant ministries.

Other institutions can retain their legitimate sectoral responsibilities, particularly for specialised waste streams such as medical waste. However, these responsibilities must operate within a coherent statewide waste management framework.

The Investment Question

There is another dimension that Anambra State must urgently consider.

Institutional confusion is an investment risk.

When responsibilities are scattered across Local Governments, ministries and revenue institutions without clearly defined boundaries, investors face uncertainty.

An investor seeking to establish a recycling facility needs to know:

Who grants approval?

Who regulates the operation?

Who provides access to recyclable feedstock?

Who determines environmental compliance?

Who collects applicable fees?

Who owns or manages the relevant infrastructure?

Who resolves disputes?

Who provides reliable data on waste volumes?

Who is the government's principal counterpart?

If these questions cannot be answered clearly, investors may simply look elsewhere.

The same problem affects international donor agencies, climate-finance institutions and multilateral development organisations.

These institutions increasingly seek bankable projects capable of demonstrating measurable environmental, social and economic outcomes. They need credible institutions, clear mandates, transparent data and accountable implementation structures.

Anambra has significant potential to attract funding for circular economy development, climate resilience, plastic pollution reduction, green jobs and sustainable urban development.

But fragmented governance can make potentially attractive opportunities appear too risky, complicated or institutionally uncertain.

Conclusion: Waste Is an Economic Asset

Anambra State cannot build a modern circular economy on a fragmented waste management architecture.

The state needs to move beyond the traditional philosophy of “collect and dump” towards “collect, recover, recycle and create value.”

This requires institutional reform, private-sector participation, community engagement and a clear statewide strategy for recyclable waste management.

The central question should therefore no longer be simply who removes the waste?

It should be:

Who is responsible for managing the entire waste value chain and transforming Anambra's waste into economic opportunity?

Until that question is answered through a clear and integrated institutional framework, the state's waste management regime will continue to appear confused to businesses, investors, international donor agencies and multilateral institutions that could otherwise finance and support sustainable waste management and circular economy opportunities.

Anambra's waste problem is also an economic opportunity.

What is required now is the governance structure, investment framework and political will to unlock it.

SWEEP Foundation NG
Towards an Integrated, Investment-Ready and Circular Waste Economy for Anambra State.

STATE OF GULLY EROSION IN ANAMBRA STATE 2026

A Community and Environmental Resilience Assessment

Issued by: SWEEP Foundation NG with the support of Anambra State Waste Recyclers Association
Date: August 2026
Theme: From Gully Sites to Green Assets

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Gully erosion remains one of the most serious environmental and community-development challenges confronting Anambra State. In 2026, the scale and persistence of the problem continue to threaten homes, roads, farmlands, public infrastructure, businesses, livelihoods and, increasingly, the safety and future of vulnerable communities. Today, the state is widely referenced as the gully erosion capital of Nigeria.

The challenge is no longer simply the existence of individual erosion sites. It is the rapid degradation of interconnected landscapes, driven by uncontrolled stormwater, inadequate drainage infrastructure, deforestation, inappropriate land-use practices, poor waste management and increasing climate pressures.

SWEEP Foundation NG and ASWRA therefore calls for a shift from a predominantly reactive, project-by-project approach to an integrated system of prevention, early intervention, ecosystem restoration, community participation and long-term maintenance.

The Foundation believes that erosion sites should not be viewed only as environmental disasters requiring engineering interventions. With the right approach, degraded landscapes can become entry points for nature-based solutions, green infrastructure, community employment, environmental education and climate-resilient local economies.

2. THE STATE OF THE PROBLEM

Anambra is widely recognised as one of Nigeria's most erosion-prone states. Numerous active and emerging gully sites occur across communities, particularly within areas of highly vulnerable terrain.

The situation is characterised by:

- Expansion and deepening of existing gullies;
- Emergence of new erosion channels during heavy rainfall;
- Destruction of roads and access routes;
- Threats to houses and community infrastructure;
- Loss of productive agricultural land;
- Sedimentation and pollution of waterways;
- Displacement and disruption of livelihoods;
- Increased vulnerability of low-income households;
- Rising costs of emergency intervention and infrastructure repair.

The persistence of these impacts demonstrates that erosion must be treated not merely as a construction problem, but as a landscape, water-management, climate and community-resilience challenge.

3. KEY DRIVERS OF GULLY EROSION

SWEEP Foundation NG identifies a combination of environmental, infrastructural and human factors contributing to the continuing erosion crisis.

A. Inadequate Stormwater Management

Poorly designed, undersized or poorly maintained drainage systems concentrate large volumes of stormwater into vulnerable areas, accelerating soil removal and gully formation.

B. Road Construction and Land Development

Roads and other developments can alter natural water flows. Where appropriate drainage outlets, erosion-control structures and downstream protection are absent, runoff can become a major trigger for erosion.

C. Deforestation and Loss of Vegetative Cover

The removal of trees and vegetation exposes soil to direct rainfall impact and reduces the landscape's capacity to absorb and slow down water.

D. Poor Waste Management

Plastic waste, refuse and other materials dumped in drainage channels obstruct water flow, redirect runoff and worsen flooding and erosion.

E. Unsustainable Land Practices

Unplanned development, indiscriminate excavation, poor farming practices and construction on environmentally sensitive terrain can increase landscape vulnerability.

F. Climate Change and Extreme Rainfall

Changing rainfall patterns and increasingly intense rainfall events can place additional pressure on already vulnerable drainage and ecological systems.

4. COMMUNITIES AT RISK

The erosion challenge affects communities across different parts of Anambra State, with particularly visible vulnerability in areas including the Nanka–Agulu–Oko axis, parts of Orumba, Onitsha and surrounding areas, and erosion-prone communities in Nnewi South and other parts of the state.

However, SWEEP Foundation NG cautions against treating erosion as a problem confined to a few famous gully locations.

Every active erosion site has the potential to become a larger landscape disaster if early intervention is delayed.

The priority should therefore be to establish a comprehensive, continuously updated State Erosion Risk Map and Community Gully Register, identifying active, dormant, emerging and high-risk sites.

5. WHAT IS NOT WORKING ENOUGH

Despite significant government interventions and investments over the years, the continued emergence and expansion of erosion sites indicate that intervention alone is not sufficient.

A sustainable response must address the causes and pathways of erosion, rather than concentrating exclusively on repairing the visible gully.

SWEEP Foundation NG is particularly concerned about:

- Limited preventive action before gullies become catastrophic;
- Weak community ownership of erosion-control infrastructure;
- Poor maintenance of drainage systems;
- Fragmented institutional responsibilities;
- Insufficient integration of waste management and drainage planning;
- Limited use of nature-based solutions;
- Inadequate community environmental education;
- Weak local monitoring and early-warning mechanisms.

6. FROM GULLY CONTROL TO LANDSCAPE RESTORATION

SWEEP Foundation NG recommends a new approach:

STOP — STABILISE — RESTORE — REUSE

STOP: Prevent further expansion through appropriate drainage, runoff management and immediate protection of vulnerable areas.

STABILISE: Secure active gullies using appropriate engineering and nature-based interventions.

RESTORE: Rebuild vegetation, soil health, biodiversity and ecological functions around degraded landscapes.

REUSE: Where feasible, transform restored areas into productive community assets through green livelihoods, environmental education, recreation, urban greening and other sustainable uses.

This approach recognises that successful erosion management does not end when construction is completed. A restored landscape must remain protected, monitored and maintained.

7. THE ROLE OF COMMUNITIES

Communities must move from being passive beneficiaries of erosion interventions to becoming active partners in environmental protection.

We recommend the establishment of Community Gully Monitoring Teams responsible for:

- Identifying emerging erosion threats;
- Reporting blocked or damaged drainage;
- Monitoring restored sites;
- Supporting tree planting and vegetation restoration;
- Promoting responsible waste disposal;
- Conducting community sensitisation;
- Supporting early-warning and emergency reporting.

Local knowledge is an important resource. Residents often observe changes in water flow, cracks, drainage failure and soil movement before these become major disaster.

8. THE GULLY PROJECT

In response to this challenge, SWEEP Foundation NG is advancing THE GULLY PROJECT — a community-led climate resilience, erosion control and ecosystem restoration initiative.

The project seeks to demonstrate how communities can participate directly in:

Gully Control + Climate Resilience + Nature-Based Solutions + Ecosystem Restoration + Green Livelihoods + Community Advocacy.

The Gully Project is designed not simply to ask, “How do we stop this gully?”

It asks a broader question:

“How do we restore the landscape, protect the community and turn environmental vulnerability into an opportunity for resilience and green development?”

The project will promote demonstration sites, community mobilisation, environmental education, restoration activities, documentation and solutions journalism so that successful interventions can be replicated across other erosion-prone communities.

9. OUR POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

SWEEP Foundation NG calls for:

1. A Statewide Erosion Risk and Gully Mapping Programme covering active, emerging and high-risk sites.

2. Integrated drainage and erosion planning for roads, housing developments and other major infrastructure.

3. Community-based early-warning and monitoring systems in erosion-prone communities.

4. Mandatory environmental and stormwater considerations in major construction and land-development projects.

5. Greater adoption of nature-based solutions, including vegetation restoration, bioengineering and watershed management where technically appropriate.

6. Integration of waste management and drainage management, recognising the connection between blocked waterways, flooding and erosion.

7. Long-term maintenance plans for completed erosion-control infrastructure.

8. Community ownership and participation in planning, implementation and monitoring.

9. Youth and women's participation in green livelihoods connected to restoration, tree growing, waste recovery, environmental monitoring and maintenance.

10. A multi-stakeholder Anambra Erosion Resilience Framework bringing government, communities, technical institutions, civil society, development partners and the private sector together.

10. A CALL TO ACTION

The erosion crisis cannot be solved by government alone.

It requires coordinated action from government institutions, traditional and community leaders, engineers, planners, environmental professionals, businesses, development partners, civil society organisations and citizens.

Every blocked drainage channel, indiscriminate dumping site, exposed landscape and uncontrolled stormwater pathway can become the beginning of a larger erosion problem.

Prevention must therefore become everyone's responsibility.

SWEEP Foundation NG and ASWRA calls on the Anambra State Government to strengthen collaboration with communities and civil society organisations and to establish a more integrated, transparent and preventive approach to erosion management.

We also call on Anambra communities to become the first line of environmental defence by protecting drainage channels, reporting emerging erosion threats, restoring vegetation and participating actively in local environmental governance.

11. OUR POSITION

Gully erosion is not only an environmental problem. It is a development problem, an infrastructure problem, a livelihood problem and a community resilience problem.

The objective should not be to simply close gullies.

The objective should be to restore landscapes, protect communities, strengthen infrastructure, create green livelihoods and build a more climate-resilient Anambra.

SWEEP Foundation NG and ASWRA believes:

«Every gully is a warning.
Every degraded landscape is an opportunity for restoration.
Every community can become part of the solution.»

FROM GULLY SITES TO GREEN ASSETS.

Issued by:
SWEEP Foundation NG
Statewide Waste and Environmental Education Foundation

August 2026

THE GULLY PROJECT

Anambra Communities Resilience, Erosion Control and Ecosystem Restoration Project

The Gully Project is a community-driven environmental resilience initiative designed to address the growing challenge of gully erosion and ecosystem degradation across Anambra State. The project focuses on restoring degraded landscapes, controlling erosion at source, protecting communities and infrastructure, and rebuilding healthy ecosystems.

Through community participation, nature-based solutions, vegetation restoration, sustainable land management and local environmental stewardship, The Gully Project seeks to transform vulnerable gully sites from environmental hazards into restored, productive and resilient community assets.

The project promotes a simple but powerful vision: protect communities, restore the land, control erosion and build a greener, more climate-resilient Anambra.

We celebrate with our sustainability partner on this momentous achievement. Congratulations 👏 🎉 Ifetike Chekwube Hope
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19P4mVfyRN/

ASWRA CALLS ON GOVERNOR SOLUDO TO HONOUR MR. IFETIKE CHEKWUBE, AFRICA’S BEST ICT-DRIVEN EDUCATOR 2026

The Anambra Waste Recyclers Association (ASWRA) celebrates one of our own, _Mr. Ifetike Chekwube Hope_, State Executive Committee Member of ASWRA and Technical Teacher at Government Technical College, Onitsha, on his remarkable emergence as the _Overall Best ICT-Driven Teacher in Africa 2026_.

Mr. Ifetike received the prestigious continental award at the African Teachers Excellence Award (ATEA) Gala Night, held during the African Teachers Festival 2026 at the UBEC Digital Centre, Abuja, on Friday, August 21.

A multiple award-winning educator, Mr. Ifetike is widely recognized for his innovative teaching methods and effective use of ICT to transform classroom learning and inspire students. This latest honour follows his earlier recognition in January 2026 as the _Overall Best Performing Teacher in the South-East_ at the National Teachers Summit.

In recognition of this achievement, _Mr. Ifetike paid a courtesy visit to the ASWRA Board Chairman, Amb. Obuesi Phillips_, at his country home in Umueri, where the board commended him for bringing pride to the association and the state.

As an active leader within ASWRA, Mr. Ifetike has continued to champion sustainability, innovation, and youth development across Anambra State.

In light of this historic feat, *ASWRA, through its Board Chairman, Amb. Obuesi Phillips, respectfully urges His Excellency, Governor Prof. Chukwuma Charles Soludo*, to formally honour and celebrate Mr. Ifetike. This recognition will not only motivate educators across the state but also showcase Anambra as a hub for innovation in both education and sustainable development.

Congratulations, Mr. Ifetike! You have made ASWRA, Onitsha, Anambra State, and Nigeria proud. 👏🏽🏆🇳🇬