Compost, Job Creation, and Youth

This webinar will present different examples of ongoing work in different parts of the world that promote composting as a means to create local jobs for youth. 

The webinar is co-organised by CCAC and GAIA to highlight other co-benefits of composting. 

The webinar will take place from 14:00-15:30 CET.

There will be presentations of three case studies from Ghana, the United States, and India. Below are the bios of each of the invited speakers, Betty Osei Bonsu, Marvin Hayes, and Zulkif Shaikh.

• Betty Osei Bonsu is a Ghanaian circular economy enthusiast and climate activist serving as the Uganda Country Manager for the Green Africa Youth Organisation (GAYO). She has over 5 years’ of experience leading the implementation of sustainable community projects and youth engagements in climate policies. This is providing green jobs for rural communities, diverting waste from landfills, and amplifying the voices of young people in climate change actions. Betty is currently pursuing her master's with the United Nations University studying Environmental Risk and Human Security. Following her passion for public speaking and advocacy, she founded the platform B.ISA (B. Inspired with Stories from Africa) where she is bringing stories on community values, passion and environment to life.
• Marvin Hayes represents the Baltimore Compost Collective, United States. The Baltimore Compost Collective is a local service that collects food scraps from residences in Baltimore neighbourhoods and composts the material at the Filbert Street Community Garden in Curtis Bay, where it is used to grow fresh produce and build urban food security. It is also a youth entrepreneurship program that employs local teenagers and trains them in workforce skills, food access programming, and community-scale composting. Youth workers are gaining guided, hands-on experience managing a small-scale composting operation and its expansion.
• Zulkif Shaikh is the co-founder of Sanjeevani S3- a solid waste management social enterprise based in Mumbai. Sanjeevani S3 helps citizens, businesses and city governments to manage their waste in a smarter way. He holds a Masters degree from the Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly UDCT), Mumbai. Zulkif has been honoured with various awards by the state government of Maharashtra. He has also been covered widely by local, regional, and national media for his work in the field of solid waste management. Started in 2015 by a group of M. tech. Green technologists (UDCT) with the goal of improving the health of Mumbai and its residents through an efficient sub-urbanised waste management system with composting, bio methanisation and dry waste recycling at its forefront.