ENVIRONMENT TIMES WOULD LIKE TO LET YOU KNOW ABOUT OUR LONG TERM CAMPAIGN OF RECYCLING MOBILE PHONES TO HELP WOMEN FARMERS IN THE GAMBIA, WEST AFRICA - ESPECIALLY IMPORTANT IN THESE TIMES OF RISING FOOD PRICES. IF YOU THINK THE CREDIT CRUNCH IS HITTING YOUR FAMILY BUDGET HARD - SPARE A THOUGHT FOR THOSE FARMING IN THE TOUGH SAHELIAN ENVIRONMENT, JUST SOUTH OF THE SAHARA, WHERE STAPLE FOOD HAS RECENTLY MORE THAN DOUBLED IN PRICE.

The Gambian-run National Women Farmers' Association has successfully supported 48,000 women working in 74 co-operative village groups since the 1990's, increasing their wealth and food security to cope with and overcome a lack of national infrastructure, food dumping from countries with subsidised agriculture and adverse global financial and climate changes.

Environment Times has been helping support NAWFA since 2005 via a partnership with Regenersis (formerly called Fonebak), Europe’s largest mobile phone recycling and reuse provider to generate cash for NAWFA.

Regenersis set up a freepost account for us that is simple for you to use. You simply pop in your old mobiles into a padded envelope and write or label it up to:

FREEPOST
GREEN GAMBIA

It’s as simple as that! It would be great if company or organisations could collect their old mobiles en-masse after they have been upgraded.

This recycling can be carried out in confidence because Regenersis is a responsible company that is calling for improved industry standards to its own particular level.

They are demanding that every mobile phone reuse and recycling company clear the data from every handset received to protect consumers from the danger of identity theft, ban the export of non-working handsets which could end up as e-waste in developing countries, and to operate a zero landfill policy for all products which are not suitable for reuse.

In our high-tech throwaway society there's an estimated 18 million mobile phone handsets replaced each year and some 90 million sitting in desk drawers and toy boxes across the country. Regenersis currently process over 250,000 phones a month.

Our partnership with the National Women Farmers’ Association (NAWFA) goes towards supporting their existing work of :

• Provision of low cost seeds, tools and equipment
• Co-operatives and farm marketing, producing good prices
• Assistance with training and literacy
• Setting up of added-value food processing in small factories
• Efficient crop production in times of rising food prices
• Allowing the women farmers to re-invest back into their families

Njagga Jawo, the executive director of NAWFA, has sent Environment Times the prices of items that the recycled mobile phones can support in the area of seeds, tools and equipment. Thus with this information:

1 phone = 9kg rice seed, 28 kg maize seed, 14kg sesame seed, or 36 kg groundnut seed.

2 phones = 1kg of vegetable seeds (onion, aubergine 'garden egg', tomato; etc).

72 phones a draught animal (such as an ox).

86 phones would get a sine hoe.

108 phones an eco-seeder or a plough.

862 mobiles purchases a power tiller, and to further alleviate women's drudgery plus give added cash value to products, 1,436 phones would get an oil expeller/refiner.


2,154 old mobiles would buy a cereal miller.

So the more companies, organisations, schools and individuals that join our charitable initiative, the more difference can be made to the NAWFA organisation's women farmers, their livelihoods and families. Women hold the key to ending hunger in The Gambia. They assume responsibility for household food security, and NGO's like NAWFA are working with them for the required resources to grow sufficient food.

If you would like more information please contact Duncan Ashcroft, Editor of Environment Times: duncan@environmenttimes.co.uk