One of the major strengths of this project is its replicability in other settings within Malawi and beyond. Skills and education training in the area of waste management will foster increased innovation. The world over, there is an increase in innovation around products made from waste materials. Whilst this project focuses on the products relevant to Blantyre, there is scope to innovate and diversify on waste material products in order to achieve a circular economy across the country.

Samaritan Trust will develop monitoring tools to track and inform learning in the project through the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officer. The Samaritan has a database of partners in Africa and Europe; therefore, it will implement virtual south to south exchanges to learn, share and adapt ideas and best practices implemented by partners across the globe. The project will also Implement Midline and Endline studies for the programme in close collaboration with GEF SGP. The project will Produce a detailed quarterly and annual Monitoring Evaluation and Learning (MEL) reports and roll out impact studies. The Samaritan Trust will document the best practices and publish together with one of its existing partners i.e., Malawi of University of Business and Applied Sciences (MUBAS) to ensure sustainability and durable relevance.

TST require capacity strengthening in Project Monitoring and Evaluation.

The project address local drivers of ecosystem degradation in in Blantyre. It is believed that the socio-economic status of the inhabitants. Since drivers to poor waste management is local, compounded by different factors, such as poverty and also lack of knowledge and skills among the local inhabitants in waste management, the project target indigenous youths to participate in addressing the local challenges while improving their income status.

The project does not directly influence policy changes

The project is pro-youth. It primarily seeks to facilitate the participation of youth in climate change impact mitigation through establishment of community youth led enterprises in waste management. The expected results of the proposed project are enhanced public knowledge on solid waste management, 80(48F/32M) youth are trained in solid waste management entrepreneurship and 6 community youth led solid waste management enterprises are set up.

The project will train youths in waster solid waste management entrepreneurship. this will not only manage the wastes but also be a source of livelihood for youths.

The proposed project has built-in strategies to ensure financial sustainability beyond the project timeframe. By integrating the circular economy approach to the waste problem in Blantyre, the project will ensure sustained interest by the target group to continue acting as agents in climate change impact mitigation. Products made through the project can be easily sold to the public at a margin which will continue generating income for the youth and women, thereby financially sustaining the objective of the project. In terms of project?s ability to continue existing beyond the duration of the funding cycle, the ?Phindu mu Zinyalala: Youth enterprises for sustainable waste management? project will create structures that will enable youth to continue actively participating in the area of waste management. The first of such strategies is the mainstreaming of waste management through delivery of a skills and education program targeted at increasing youth knowledge and awareness of the issue. This will ensure ownership of the challenge by youth whilst building their capacity to champion the processes of projects geared toward climate change impact mitigation. By creating youth interprises, the objective of facilitating the participation of youth in climate change impact mitigation will be sustained beyond the project duration.

The results and lessons learned from the project will be the basis for scaling up to a medium-sized GEF grant

The results and lessons learned from the project will be the basis for scaling up to non-GEF grant

There are no direct linkages to GEF project

Traditionally, men are regarded as decision makers and provide for the homes. Women are burdened with day-to-day home chores. They are therefore hardest hit by the impacts of loss of ecosystem services, since most of the household chores and provisions depend on ecosystems services. this also affects men, who depend on the ecosystems to provide for the homes. There is generally power imbalance that lead to inequalities between men and women, especially in decision making and asset ownership. The project will promote women's participation by registering 60% women and 40 % men. The common theme among these marginalized groups is that they have poor/low access to education or training and remain voiceless even in pertinent issues that affect their lives. The Samaritan Trust will recruit both women and men through incentivization of waste collections and recycling.