Reimagining urban systems through community-driven approaches that reduce pollution and extraction, protect public health, and advance circular models rooted in reuse, repair, and shared responsibility.
GAYO supports Korle Bu vegetable farmers
AMA and GAYO join forces to tackle Accra’s waste crisis
GAYO holds Ecopreneur Summit and Training for youth in waste management
Water 4 Adaptation is GAYO’s integrated, gender-responsive climate adaptation programme in northern Ghana, designed for communities facing intensifying drought, water stress, and livelihood shocks. Building on the growing recognition that climate resilience depends on climate-resilient WASH systems and inclusive services, we deliver a dual-impact model that expands access to safe, climate-resilient water for households and schools while tackling period poverty through menstrual health education and access to reusable sanitary products. This approach responds to persistent gaps in menstrual health and hygiene in schools and the proven role of school WASH in safeguarding health, learning, and dignity, especially for girls. Beyond domestic and school needs, the programme establishes mechanized water systems that can also support smallholder farmers, strengthening climate-smart agriculture, stabilizing food production, and protecting incomes. With Ghana facing measurable climate-related water and agricultural losses, Water 4 Adaptation offers funders a highly investable package with clear, measurable outcomes, strong community ownership, and scalable delivery across vulnerable districts.
GAYO is building a pan-African Urban Heat Resilience Programme guided by our 5-Year Urban Heat Resilience Strategy, to protect cities and the people most exposed to extreme heat, especially informal workers, women, and young people whose livelihoods depend on long hours outdoors. The programme turns heat adaptation into an investable, scalable model by combining community-led cooling infrastructure (“Heat Smart Zones”) with innovative finance solutions, including micro-insurance, cooperative savings, municipal co-financing, and evidence-to-finance tools that unlock capital for resilience. In parallel, we strengthen the enabling environment by supporting cities and institutions to embed heat risk into planning, public health systems, budgets, and Heat Action Plan annexes, ensuring heat resilience is institutionalized rather than temporary. Through cross-country partnerships and peer learning, the programme is designed to generate replicable approaches that African cities can adapt and scale over time.
Our nature-based adaptation program focuses on reducing climate risk and strengthening livelihoods by restoring degraded ecosystems as critical resilience infrastructure.
With project presence in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Botswana, Tanzania, and South Africa, the programme advances community-led disaster risk reduction by regenerating and planting indigenous tree species across savannah, riparian, urban, and coastal landscapes. To date, GAYO and its partners have supported the planting of more than 50,000 indigenous trees, improving soil stability, local cooling, water protection, and biodiversity, while fostering community stewardship and creating youth employment opportunities. In Ghana, mangrove restoration strengthens natural coastal defenses against flooding and erosion, supports fisheries and food security, and contributes to blue carbon sequestration aligned with national climate commitments. By embedding restoration within local governance systems, long-term stewardship models, and robust monitoring frameworks, GAYO offers funders a scalable, high-impact adaptation program with clear resilience outcomes and durable environmental and social returns.
