NBSSI trains 13,366 artisans under its Sanitation Marketing Project

By Rashid Mbugri, GNA

Yendi (N/R), Aug. 28, GNA - The National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) has trained about 13,366 artisans on sanitation businesses and entrepreneurship through its Sanitation Marketing project being undertaken in five regions.

The training would increase easy access to basic sanitation facilities as well as create business space in sanitation to serve as sources of livelihoods to the youth.

The beneficiary regions include, the Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Central and Volta.

Mrs Kosi Yankey Ayeh, Executive Director of the NBSSI, said this at a Sanitation Exposition held on Tuesday in the Mion District and the Yendi Municipality in the Northern Region.

The NBSSI in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) implemented the Sanitation Marketing project, with the aim of improving on the formal and informal supply chain products and services in sanitation.

The Sanitation Business Exposition brought together latrine artisans, financial institutions, technical advisors, traditional authorities and community members.

Mrs Ayeh said the project was not only to help improve on the sanitation situation, but it was also to train young people with innovative skills to empower them to see sanitation as a business to improve on their livelihoods.

She commended the citizens for making efforts to practice good sanitation in their communities, especially the Mion District which chalked 98 per cent in the Open Defecation Free (ODF) measurements and urged them to keep it up.

Mrs Ayeh said the NBSSI would continue to support the districts to enhance good sanitation practices as well as facilitate the access of households to financial services to establish sanitation facilities in their homes.

She said the support would further strengthen the Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLA) in the various communities.

She commended UNICEF for the continuous support to the project adding that there is the need for Non-Governmental Organisations and other donor agencies to partner the NBSSI effectively to support Ghanaian entrepreneurs achieve these goals.

Mr Mohammed Iddrisu Wanzam, a latrine artisan in Yendi, told the Ghana News Agency that the project has trained the artisans with skills on various innovations to construct good and less expensive latrines which serve as sources of employment for them.

"Some of us were sitting idle without jobs, but through the training, we now know how to construct less costly latrine facilities for interested individuals and communities to earn income to support our families", he said.

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