In our final episode for season 1, we share insights with two "Women of the Desert" from West and Southern Africa. Happy Earth Day 2021! #RestoreOurEarth.
Dr Birguy Lamizana-Diallo, is a Fulani woman from Burkina Faso (The Sahel), who is the incoming Coordinator of the UNCCD for the G20 Global Initiative on Reducing Land Degradation. She is joined by Ms Kulthoum Omari-Motsumi, from Botswana, who is the Special Advisor to the African Adaptation Initiative (AAI), the premier Climate Change Policy body on the continent, with a mandate from the African Union.

Watch the full video interview about Birguy's life as a woman from the Sahel on the 
Nawe 4Earth You Tube Channel.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRupN1WjMTATRcbRaDalyCA

Green Entrepreneurs start business ventures with a strong internal motivation related to a heightened sensitivity of environmental  needs. Sustainability  of the land is at the core of their business activity.  In this conversation our Landscape Guardian Siyabulela Siya Sokomani and Joshua Wanyama.
 
Siya  is a South African Restoration Leader, Green Entrepreneur and Co-owner of Nguni Nurseries in Cape Town, South Africa. They specialize In contract growing and supply of indigenous plants, tree saplings for sustainable landscapes, greening projects, horticultural Industry, and ecological restoration,  He is also a youth Ambassador for AFR100 – SOUTH AFRICA. He is also the co-founder at Township Farmers SA, a community organization that creates small-scale organic farms and environmental awareness in disadvantaged areas. Through his Running Tree initiative, Siya and other volunteers have run marathons with trees strapped to their backs to raise awareness and trees for the townships in South Africa. https://www.nguninursery.co.za/

Joshua Wanyama is the Co-founder of Farmsyde Organics Ltd, who grows and sells locally grown "superfoods" such as the Chia seeds , Flax, Black Seeds, Moringa and other related products sourced from  organic farmers based in Kenya.  The Farmsyde mission is to provide better opportunities for farmers, while providing consumers with healthier food choices. https://farmsyde.com/ 

In this episode we celebrate International Women's Day 2021 by discussing the importance supporting women to increase their financial strength, alongside mentorship to give women and girls confidence to tell their own stories.  Our guests are  H.E Mrs Rachel Ruto, Founder and Patron of Joyful Women Organization, wife of the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya, and Allen Asiimwe, founder of Girls4 Girls organisation which seeks to Empower young women to lead through mentorship.

About Joyful Women
Founded in 2009, JOYWO is a registered Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to empower Kenyan women economically. Over the past 10 years, it has grown tremendously with members spread across all 47 counties in Kenya.

The organization’s headquarters is in Nairobi but it has offices in the counties ran by county managers and program officers. JOYWO’S flagship project has been providing financial resources to women to engage in livelihood projects through a scheme known as Table Banking.

About Girls4Girls - https://www.projectg4g.org
Girls 4 Girls was born in 2017 when a group of Harvard graduate students from across the globe recognized that in every corner of the world, something is holding women back from leading in the public sphere. Inspired by each other, we decided to close the gap.

Girls 4 Girls provides young women access to mentorship through local mentorship circles; a repository of skill-based tools, including videos from key Harvard professors, and access to a global network.

About Allen Asiimwe
She oversees the Gender and Environment/ CC portfolios at TradeMark East Africa (in addition to Transport/ Infrastructure, ICT4Trade, Standards and Business Competitiveness). She ia slo doing a lot of work around the "lake economy" of Lake Victoria including Lake transport/ port reforms, and Safe Trade Zones to enhance inclusion of women and informal cross border traders.

We welcome two dynamic ecofeminists Oladosu Adenike (Nigeria) and Ake Mamo (Ethiopia) to a conversation about the motivations and passions which drive their environmental work.

Our Landscape Guardian - Oladosu Adenike Titilope is the founder of ILead Climate pioneering the green democracy initiative for peace building. She's an awardee from Amnesty International as an ambassador of conscience recipient. Adenike is one of the four youths that developed the first young engagement strategy for AmnestyInternational Nigeria, named as one of the 12 female leading climate action globally by global citizen, one of the ambassadors for the African Youth ClimateHub and passionate about youth involvement in climate action. She spoke at the first UN youth climate action summit in 2019.

Our Landscape Mentor - Akefetey Ephraim Mamo is an expert in agroforestry, and an aspiring documentary maker. Her life has centered around the practical aspects of environmental management, as well as the communications of environmentally friendly agricultural practices, especially relating to climate change in Africa.

This episode features Elizabeth Wathuti - The URBAN WARRIOR - one of the five NAWE Landscape Guardians. Her work with The Green Generation Initiative, has concentrated on  planting fruit trees in primary schools, especially those in lower income areas of Nairobi, to transform the landscape and also provide additional food and snacks for kids. Over 50,000 fruit trees have been planted in just four years.

Elizabeth Wanjiru Wathuti is  a recipient of the Wangari Maathai scholarship award. Regional Finalist for Africa for the UN Young Champions of the Earth Prize 2019. She is a 2018 Global youth in landscape leadership winner, recognized by the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF).

The conversation also by Dr Musonda Mumba, Director of The Rome Centre for Sustainable Development, Founding member of NAWE.

https://natureconnection.world/listing/green-generation-initiative/
The initiative focuses on nurturing young environmental enthusiasts, greening schools, environmental education, addressing food insecurity by planting fruit trees as well as inculcating a tree growing culture for forest cover increment through adopt a tree campaign.

This second episode features  Allen Ottaro - The Good Steward - NAWE Landscape Guardian Founder and Executive Director of the Catholic Youth Network for Environmental Sustainability in Africa (CYNESA). 

The conversation also includes Dr Isaac Kalua - NAWE Landscape Mentor, President of The Green Foundation Africa, Founding Chairperson of the Kenya Water Towers Agency (KWTA) and Dr Musonda Mumba, Director of The Rome Centre for Sustainable Development (RCSD) and founding member of NAWE.

Episode one features Professor Bettina Ng'weno, who is reflecting on the struggles of Nairobi River under the pressures of rapid urbanization, as the city grows to fulfill the ambitions of an expanding African Middle Class. 
Bettina applies the lens of a cultural anthropologist to the way the city is adapting to modernization, climate change and urban governance. She shares exciting insights from her forthcoming book "Growing Old in a New City."

This is the first episode of the podcast series by the Network of African Women Environmentalists (NAWE)