When heavy rains pounded Ebonyi in August, rice fields in Abakaliki and Izzi disappeared under water, while in Afikpo North, more than 800 farmlands were washed away, displacing over 3,000 households. The floods didn’t just destroy crops, they wiped out months of labor, family savings, and food that entire communities were counting on. It left most of the farmers in […]
Ebonyi State, long known as the “food basket of the Southeast,” had been watching its bounty fade. Rampant deforestation and soil degradation stripped the land bare, triggering erosion and causing harvests to plummet. In several communities, state agricultural records show crop yields dropped by nearly 40% before intervention efforts began. One of those farmers, Mrs. Ngosi Okereke, farmer of Ndiode, […]
For decades, deforestation in Ebonyi communities was fueled largely by young people, who cut down ancient trees such as mahogany, oil bean, and ikoro without replacement. Living in swampy areas, they never fully grasped the long-term damage these actions caused to their health, environment, and livelihoods. That perception is changing. According to Solomon Iruka, President General of Ohatekwe-Edatta Community, sustained […]
For decades, there is no doubt that women in rural communities cooked with firewood in small, poorly ventilated kitchens and women in Ohatekwe-Edda and Okposi are no exception. The thick smoke filled their lungs and eyes, causing persistent coughing, dizziness, and respiratory infections that quietly claimed lives. For mothers like Mrs. Chika, a farmer, mother of four, cooking was a […]
The traditional ruler of Okposi community, Eze (Dr.) Onyibe Agwu points at the towering trees of the ancient Egbu Forest from his compound, his voice softens. “These trees have stood for over 500 years. They are part of our history, our identity. To lose them is to lose ourselves,” he says. For generations, the people of Okposi protected sacred trees […]
In the bustling community of Koton Karfe, Kogi State, Bala Maryam Talatu, the Women Leader, has become a strong voice for environmental preservation and women’s empowerment. Armed with knowledge gained from the Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA2) Project, implemented by Women Environmental Programme (WEP) in partnership with Chachavivi Women and Girl Child Development Foundation, she has taken it upon herself to […]
For years, Saleh Bara’atu, the Secretary of Youth in Koton Karfe, Kogi State, carried a belief that many in her community shared: trees were more harmful than helpful. Their deep roots, she thought, destroyed houses, while their vulnerability to strong winds made them a threat rather than a blessing. “Whenever I saw a big tree near a house, I thought […]
For Aishatu Musa, a mother and resident of Osaragada Community in Kogi State, the sound of rain on the rooftops used to bring mixed feelings. While the rain nourishes the land, they also meant hardship for women in the kitchen. Cooking with firewood, the only option available to many families, became almost impossible once the rains began. “Sometimes, as soon […]
When Sadiku Otaru, a ward lead in Kogi State, first joined the training sessions under the Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA2) Project, he did not imagine how quickly the knowledge would transform his role in the community. The project, implemented by the Women Environmental Programme (WEP) in partnership with the Chachavivi Women and Girl Child Development Foundation, opened his eyes to […]
In a small corner of Kogi State, Mariam Mohammed reflects with gratitude and pride on how her community’s cooking culture is changing. For generations, women relied almost exclusively on firewood, enduring smoke-filled kitchens, blackened pots, and the exhausting daily chore of fetching wood. But through the Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA2) Project, implemented by the Women Environmental Programme (WEP) in partnership […]
Since 1997, WEP has impacted directly and indirectly over 20 million lives positively across the globe through interventions in Environment, Governance, Climate Change, Peace and Security. We have five offices across Africa with head office in abuja, Nigeria.
