Nasarawa State is taking steps to transform waste management from an environmental burden into an economic opportunity with the development of its first Integrated Waste Management Policy since the creation of the state 29 years ago.
The policy, developed by the Global Initiative for Food Security and Ecosystem Preservation (GIFSEP) in collaboration with the Nasarawa State Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, is expected to provide a framework for improved waste collection, segregation, recycling, resource recovery and safe disposal across the state.
The development marks a significant shift from conventional approaches to waste management, as the state seeks to link environmental protection with job creation, public health, climate resilience and the emerging circular economy.
The policy development was highlighted on Thursday at a Knowledge Management Workshop organised by GIFSEP in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State to mark the completion of its #BioWaste4Resilience project, supported by the United Nations Development Programme Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (UNDP GEF-SGP).
The workshop brought together the National Coordinator of the UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme, Dr. Ibironke Olubamise; representatives of the Nasarawa State Government; officials of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources; the Director-General of the Nasarawa State Waste Management and Sanitation Agency (NASWAMSA); community leaders; partner organisations and members of the Agwan Doka 2 Women Cooperative.
The Executive Director of GIFSEP, Dr. Michael Terungwa David, said the project had demonstrated that waste could become a source of livelihood and economic empowerment when properly managed.
He said the initiative was built around a simple principle: “Waste is not necessarily the problem. Poorly managed waste is the problem.”
According to him, the #BioWaste4Resilience project demonstrated how organic waste could be converted into useful products, including nutrient-rich compost and liquid fertiliser, while discarded coconut shells were transformed into reusable and attractive household products.
He said the interventions demonstrated the connection between waste management, environmental protection, livelihood development, climate resilience and the circular economy.
But David said the most important legacy of the project could ultimately be its influence on public policy.
He disclosed that GIFSEP, working with the Nasarawa State Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, had developed the Nasarawa State Integrated Waste Management Policy 2026, which he described as the first integrated waste management policy produced by the state since its creation.
According to him, the policy was recently presented in Lafia and would provide a broader framework for addressing waste management challenges across the state.
He said the policy was designed to promote waste segregation, recycling and resource recovery while improving disposal systems and creating opportunities for businesses and communities to derive economic value from waste.
David said the development demonstrated that interventions which begin at the community level could influence government policy and eventually produce wider institutional change.
The project also provided a practical demonstration of the economic potential of waste, particularly for women and vulnerable community members.
David said members of the Agwan Doka 2 Women Cooperative were not merely beneficiaries but active participants in the transformation of waste into economic opportunities.
He said the women had acquired knowledge and skills that could enable them to continue generating livelihoods from environmentally sustainable activities beyond the life of the project.
The GIFSEP executive director said the initiative showed what could happen when communities were equipped with knowledge, skills and resources to address environmental challenges themselves.
He urged the beneficiaries and other stakeholders not to allow the completion of the project to mark the end of the initiative.
Instead, he called for the continued application, documentation and replication of the solutions developed under the programme.
On her part, Olubamise said the sustainability of the project would now depend largely on the beneficiaries themselves.
She explained that the UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme supports pilot projects designed to demonstrate practical solutions to environmental problems, after which communities are expected to take ownership and expand them.
She urged the beneficiaries to treat the project as an opportunity that could grow substantially if properly managed.
Olubamise said previous projects supported by the programme in Abuja and other parts of Nigeria had shown that communities could initially overlook the economic value of materials they regarded as waste but later discover opportunities to turn them into products and sources of income.
She urged the Nasarawa beneficiaries to sustain and improve the initiative, stressing that the extent of their commitment could determine whether they attract further support and opportunities.
She also warned against concentrating the benefits of the initiative in the hands of a few people, calling for broader community participation and collective ownership.
The push for an integrated approach comes against the backdrop of the growing challenge of managing solid waste in Nigerian communities, where inadequate collection, poor disposal practices and limited recycling capacity have contributed to environmental pollution and public-health concerns.
For Nasarawa, the new policy could provide an opportunity to move beyond the traditional model of collecting waste and dumping it towards a system in which waste is increasingly viewed as a resource.
Under such an approach, materials that would ordinarily end up in dumpsites can be separated, recycled, converted into new products or processed into agricultural inputs, creating value while reducing pressure on the environment.
The #BioWaste4Resilience project has provided a community-level example of how such a model could work.
David said the experience had demonstrated that environmental protection did not have to be separated from economic empowerment.
He said the compost produced, women empowered, coconut shells transformed and knowledge generated through the project should form part of a wider movement towards cleaner communities, resilient livelihoods and a healthier environment.
He urged the state government, communities, development partners and other stakeholders to build on the gains of the project and ensure that the new waste management policy translates into practical action.
“The completion of the project is not the end. It marks the beginning of a new phase in which the knowledge and solutions generated must be documented, shared and replicated,” he said.
With the new policy providing an institutional framework and community initiatives demonstrating the economic potential of waste, Nasarawa now faces the bigger test of converting policy into sustained action — and turning what communities once regarded as rubbish into jobs, businesses and cleaner communities.
Michael Olugbode
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