Anambra State is seeking to turn its worsening erosion, flooding and waste-management challenges into opportunities for investment, job creation and a new green economy, as government and environmental stakeholders push for stronger climate-resilience partnerships.
The shift was at the centre of the Anambra Climate Resilience and Erosion Greening Roundtable held virtually, under the theme ‘From Gully Sites to Green Assets.’
The roundtable, organised by the Anambra Waste Recyclers Association (ASWRA) in collaboration with SWEEP Foundation NG and the Anambra State Ministry of Environment, brought together policymakers, climate advocates, environmental professionals and players in the waste and recycling value chain.
The discussions pointed to a broader change in approach: environmental degradation should not be treated only as a cost to government but also as an opportunity to develop businesses around recycling, restoration, resource recovery and climate adaptation.
Anambra has long struggled with gully erosion, flooding, land degradation and poor waste disposal, problems that have damaged communities, roads and other infrastructure while increasing pressure on public finances.
But participants said the state could use these challenges to build a more resilient economy if government policies are matched with private investment, community participation and better environmental data.
Clem Aguiyi, Anambra’s commissioner for Environment, stressed the need for coordinated action between government, communities and private-sector operators.
Aguiyi also invited Yusuf Kelani, the special adviser to the president on Climate Change and his team to visit Anambra for an on-the-ground assessment of the state’s gully erosion crisis.
Kelani provided a national perspective on climate action and the growing opportunities in Nigeria’s green economy. He said subnational governments and local stakeholders needed to position themselves to benefit from the emerging climate-resilience value chain.
He also assured participants that his team was planning a visit to Anambra as part of a wider nationwide consultation on climate-change mitigation and adaptation.
Obuesi Phillips, executive director of SWEEP Foundation NG and lead consultant on Climate Change, Sustainability and Circular Economy, called for a stronger response to Anambra’s ecological problems.
He said the state, increasingly described as Nigeria’s erosion capital, needed more than temporary interventions and public commentary.
Phillips urged closer cooperation between the federal and state governments to tackle erosion and other environmental problems while developing economic opportunities around waste recovery, recycling and environmental restoration.
The central idea of the roundtable was that degraded land, erosion sites and waste dumps could be converted into entry points for environmental restoration and economic activity.
That would require Anambra to move from a largely reactive approach to one focused on prevention, early intervention and long-term investment.
Stakeholders identified nature-based solutions, climate-resilient infrastructure, recycling, waste recovery, green entrepreneurship, youth participation and environmental education as areas that could support the transition.
They also called for stronger public-private-community partnerships and data-driven planning to identify vulnerable areas before environmental damage becomes more expensive to reverse.
Waste recyclers emerged as a critical part of the proposed green-economy model.
Waste pickers, aggregators and recyclers already recover materials that would otherwise end up in dumpsites, drains and waterways. Participants said the sector could play a larger role if operators receive institutional recognition, access to finance, appropriate technology and stronger links to formal markets.
Safer working conditions and skills development were also identified as necessary to move the recycling sector from an informal survival activity into a more organised economic industry.
For Anambra, such a transition could create new opportunities for young people and small businesses while reducing the volume of waste entering the environment.
The discussions also placed climate resilience within the wider development agenda.
Investments in recycling, renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, green infrastructure, environmental restoration and waste-to-value businesses could create jobs while reducing the economic damage caused by environmental degradation.
That means climate policy could become part of Anambra’s enterprise-development strategy rather than remaining confined to environmental regulation.
Participants said government could provide policy direction, regulation and infrastructure, while private companies bring capital, technology and markets. Civil society groups could support advocacy and community mobilisation, with local communities playing a central role in implementation.
The partnership between ASWRA, SWEEP Foundation NG and the Ministry of Environment was presented as a model for this multi-stakeholder approach.
The key challenge now is moving from discussions to projects.
Stakeholders said the next phase should include community-based erosion restoration programmes, recycling hubs, green-enterprise initiatives, climate-awareness campaigns and mechanisms that connect environmental businesses with funding and investment.
The goal is to make climate action deliver measurable benefits to communities while reducing the environmental risks facing the state.
For Anambra, the ‘From Gully Sites to Green Assets’ approach represents a potential change in the economics of environmental management: from spending mainly to repair damage to investing in systems that prevent damage, recover resources and create new businesses.
The roundtable has opened the conversation. The bigger test will be whether government, investors, communities and environmental actors can turn the proposals into projects that make Anambra cleaner, greener and more economically resilient.