Africans dig in against climate change

Ghanaian Michael Olusanya plans to plant at least 50 million trees across sub-Saharan Africa within 10 years.

To achieve the goal, his organization Greenway International Foundation, which he established three years ago, is partnering with environmentalists across the region.

Based in Accra, Ghana's capital, the foundation is a youth-driven environmental protection organization that provides alternative solutions to the problem of single-use plastic and has already begun planting carbon-sucking trees to aid in socio-economic development and go some way to easing global warming.

Olusanya, 33, said the project for 50 million trees will start in June 2020.

So far, he has partnered with 35 young environmentalists－from Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cape Verde, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Cameroon and Burkina Faso－to get the project off the ground.

"The youth have an opportunity to do what the older generation didn't do, to reverse climate change. If we don't combat climate change now the next generation will face a huge problem," he said.

Climate change effects are evident across Africa with extreme weather conditions－from floods to droughts. Many rivers are drying up and the levels of lakes receding, he said.

Olusanya also points to disease outbreaks, some of which have been linked to a lack of trees to absorb increasing levels of carbon in the air.

"Whatever small action that young people undertake, whether that be planting trees, cleaning beaches or rejecting the use of plastic bags to combat climate change, will go a long way," he said.

Trees in schoolyards

Olusanya said his foundation has been planting trees in schoolyards to get children to think about environmental conservation.

"Our interest is not just to plant trees. We want to focus mainly on climate education," he said.

Olusanya's organization uses the Global Positioning System and the Geographic Information System to track the development of the planted trees in various regions.

In addition to planting trees, Olusanya's foundation sells biodegradable bamboo straws to hotels in Ghana.

His vision is to see Africans change their behavior toward the environment as well as encourage young people to adopt sustainable practices, such as avoiding the consumption and disposal of unnecessary items.

"I'm envisioning a zero-waste future, where people focus on avoiding the creation of waste and instead manage resources," he said.

Similar to Olusanya's organization, Meforest, a Kenya-based youth initiative group focused on the environment, plans to plant 500 million trees across the country by 2021.

Douglas Kithyaka, the operations manager of Meforest, said the group has recruited 3,000 green ambassadors from across the country who will manage the tree nurseries.

Kithyaka said each green ambassador will be required to plant 16,000 trees seedlings, which Meforest will buy after six months at a subsidized price. Meforest will then organize a national tree-planting challenge.

"A third of the seedlings should be fruit trees, another third indigenous trees, and the remaining third will be commercial trees. This is aimed at ensuring that the local communities earn income in the future," he said, adding that they are targeting schools in the program.