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Founder of Green Butterfly enstooled as Paramount Development Queen of Jamestown.

Multidisciplinary Artist, entrepreneur and founder of Green Butterfly – Yasmeen Helwani has been enstooled as the Ngleshie Alata Paramount Stool Develoment Queen – Naa Tsoolo Kakalor the 1st.

Madame Yazmeen, also popularly known as Yaz Meen, is a descendant of Ngleshie and is well known in Jamestown for her skills training and women empowerment programs. By linking her skills training programs to the Green Butterfly market, a breakthrough has been made, and marginalized women in Jamestown are now able to make a living.

When asked how she became active in Jamestown Naa Tsoolo Kakalor I says, “In 2019 I was approached by the JTNNK (Jamestown Ngleshie Noyaa Kpee) to participate in some interviews and activities in Jamestown. I eventually joined the group and participated in a sanitation project to build some biodigester toilets with the support of Soroptimist International. This is how I ended up walking into the Adanse House without realizing that this was the same house my grandmother had married into, and the same house my father Faisal Helwani had formed the musical group “Ebaahi” back in the early seventies. I re-connected with Adanse and began having soapmaking workshops there, teaching women in the community the art of soapmaking. I am also assisting some of them to develop and grow their small businesses in collaboration with the Green Butterfly Market.”

We congratulate Naa Tsoolor Kakalor on her grand enstoolment which happened on Monday 23rd December after days of confinement and the performing of traditional rites by the Kingmakers of Ngleshie.

For more photos and videos from the swearing in, enstoolment, and outdooring of Naa Tsoolo Kakalor the 1st, Subscribe to her youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@jamestowndevelopmentqueen

One website for everything Green Butterfly!

Find all Green Butterfly information now all on one page. We have completed our website integration, and you can now access all Green Butterfly information via this webste greenbutterflyghana.com. At Green Butterfly Ghana, we believe in making a positive impact on society, with many positive achievements over the past 14 years. Through our nonprofit organization, we strive to address pressing issues in our local communities. Our flagship projects include the Green Butterfly Market, Mother Earth Festival, and the Jamestown Soap making cooperative under our skills training and capacity building agenda.

Green Butterfly aims to make a difference in the lives of those in need, with special focus on aid to artisans. Our most successful initiative – the Green Butterfly Market is supporting many local Ghanaian (and African) artisans. On our new and improved website, we offer a wholistic view of the Green Butterfly brand, while providing useful resources like the Green Butterfly Artisan Directory, year-round event information, and information about our skills training and capacity building programs, all on one site.

Join us on this incredible journey by staying updated with our blog. Through regular updates, we aim to keep you informed about our projects, successes, and ways in which you can make a difference. Together, let’s create a ripple effect that transforms communities and brings hope to those who need it the most.

Stay Connected and Informed

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest blog posts and news about our nonprofit initiatives. By subscribing, you will be the first to know about our upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and ways to get involved. Help us spread awareness and inspire others to join our cause.

Join Our Community

At Green Butterfly, we believe in the power of unity and collective action. Follow us on social media to connect with like-minded individuals who are passionate about making a difference. By joining our online community, you can share our blog posts, engage in meaningful discussions, and inspire others to support our cause.

Washoku Foods is Green Butterfly Vendor of the Year 2024!

Every year the Green Butterfly Market awards the title of VENDOR OF THE YEAR to one of our outstanding vendors. As part of our initiatives to keep our communities clean and green, we encourage our vendors to engage in sustainable best practices for their businesses. The Green Butterfly vendor of the year displays innovation, hard work, team work, and a commitment to living a greener lifestyle. We are pleased to announce the Vendor of the Year 2024 award went to WASHOKU FOODS – a family business that has shown great loyalty to Green Butterfly Market, superb team spirit and dynamism.

Over the last few years we have seen Washoku Foods flourish in the Green Butterfly market with a great display of resilience and mindfulness. Green Butterfly is pleased to reward them with free participation in the Green Butterfly Market for 3 markets. We look forward to many more markets together.

Buy Local at the Green Butterfly Market

According to Forbes, small businesses are the bread and butter of our economy. Through the Green Butterfly Market, we connect talented artisans to potential clients from all walks of life. As a matter of priority, the Green Butterfly project focuses on Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) producing unique handcrafted products in Ghana. Sustainable business builds sustainable communities, and shopping local puts financial power in the hands of local businesses to in turn, fuel our local economy.

Take a walk through our colourful market every first and third Saturday of the month at the Department of Parks and Gardens Head office in Accra next to the Italian Embassy. You will surely be thrilled with the display of creativity and unique craftsmanship we present to you at each of our events. Find a wide array of clothing, accessories, home decor, snacks, various foods and beverages, skincare, haircare amidst other uniqe handicrafts.

Why shop local?

By shopping local, you are giving back to the local community and supporting the efforts of our community businesses. Making a commitment to shop local stimulates our economy positively by cycling money back into our community. You also reduce your carbon footprint by shopping local and reducing the amount of transportation needed to get the product to you. One visit to the Green Butterfly market presents so much gratification, as you are able to meet so many local artisans all in one place. A one stop shop, and a true cultural experience. You could also stumble upon some very amazing deals!

Make a date with us at the next Green Butterfly market on Saturday 21st September!

Addressing Sustainable Development Goals in Ghana.

Green Butterfly aims to address Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 5, 8, and 13.

  1. END POVERTY (SDG 1)
  2. GENDER EQUALITY (SDG 5) – Achieve gender equality by empowering more women and girls.
  3. DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH (SDG 8) – Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.
  4. CLIMATE ACTION (SDG 13) – Take urgent action to combatclimate change and its impacts.

The Green Butterrly Market has provided a stable income and economic opportunities for many small businesses in Ghana and cpntinues to do so. With more than 70% of our beneficiaries being women, we are proud to be a source of economic empowerment and a leading sales and networking platform for artisans in Ghana.

We have lots of exciting news coming up regarding opportunities for small businesses participating in the Green Butterfly Market. Be sure to subscribe to our blog to keep updated!

Co-designing a pact to phase out single use plastics in Ghana.

On the 20th of June, 2024, major retail outlets came together to participate in drafting a voluntary pact to reduce 70% of supermarket single use plastics used in Ghana by the year 2030.

A workshop was held at the Alliance Francaise Ghana, attended by major retail outlets like Melcom, Marina Supermarket, Max Mart and All Needs supermarket. The workshop was facilitated by Plastic Punch and GIZ in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation and the Environmental protection agency – “Co-designing a voluntary pact to phase down single use plastics in Ghana”.

The pact brings together major stakeholders in the retail sector to take collective action in the fight against single use plastics. All the supermarkets involved will soon be signing a pact to charge a fee for every plastic bag they give at their tills.

Green Butterfly was invited not just as a stakeholder but also as a case study and pioneering success story as single use plastics have been banned in the Green Butterfly Market since the year 2011. Notwithstanding the challenges, the Green Butterfly market has converted over 150 small businesses to use alternatives to single use plastics.

Director of Green Butterfly – Yasmeen Helwani presented valuable information based on Green Butterfly’s reduced plastics policy. “We look forward to presenting our vendors with multiple sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics. Already in the Green Butterfly Market our clients use paper bags, re-usable cloth bags, raffia bags, and baskets for their shopping. It’s high time all major retail outlets take measures to adopt a more responsible approach twards the use of single use plastics.”

Many thanks to Plastic Punch and GIZ! The prospect of seeing collective action by all supermarkets – where all supermarkets agree to charge buyers for plastic bags, is truly exciting. We look forward to bringing you more exciting news on this topic in the near future!

Green Butterfly – A pillar for our local economy.

THe Green Butterfly Market has come a long way in it’s 14 years of operation – supporting small scale local businesses in Ghana with a special focus on artisans who are making their own products locally. The project began in February 2010 and has now became the main source of income for many micro businesses in the artisanal economy.

To improve the quality of service delivery in our market, we are embarking on capacity building programs and workshops for our artisans to strengthen their reach and connections to the global marketplace. Areas of focus for our workshops will include basic business training sessions, skill development programs, strategic planning, time management, and client service training. These valuable tools will empower our artisans further by boosting their confidence and strengthening their business integrity.

Join hands with us In our mission to achieve Sustainable Development Goals 1 and 8 which are: No poverty, and Decent work and economic growth – promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

With your support we will be able to assist many talented artisans to reach for higher heights. Partner with us! Support this project in kind by offering your services, or support us with a donation . Donations towards this project will cover venue hire, resource personnel, and educational resource materials. We are grateful to business professionals who are willing to support us with their services.

Click here to volunteer as a resource person
Click here to donate

Waste Segregation at Green Butterfly

Our everyday choices have a huge impact on the environment. In collaboration with PLANET WAVES, we at Green Butterfly have embarked on a waste separation project at every Green Butterfly Market. Phase one of our project saw us separating PLASTIC BOTTLES from other waste. After 3 markets and after successfully diverting 13.5kg of plastic bottles from the landfill, we have moved into phase two – to start separating compost as well. Hurray!

Visitors and vendors may have noticed that we have started placing marked bins at vantage points in the Green Butterfly Market, to separate plastic bottles from other mixed waste. Phase one of our program aims to divert plastic bottles from the landfill. All the plastic bottles we collect are sent to a recycling station. So far here are the numbers (by weight) of plastc bottles we have diverted from the landfill:

4th May 7kg

18th May 6kg

1st June 7kg

which makes a total so far of 20kg of plastic bottles rescued so far from the landfill.

A big thank you to Planet Waves for making sure all our rescued plastic bottles are sent to the recycling station.

At the 1st June market we also set up a composting station at the Department of Parks and Gardens and encouraged all our food vendors to gather their organic waste separately. At the end of the market, all the organic waste was sent to our newly built composting station.

Soap making news

Green Butterfly: Driving Community Engagement through skills training.

At Green Butterfly Ghana, we believe that community engagement is essential for sustainable development. Through our engagement efforts, we aim to empower communities to become agents of change. We provide them with the necessary tools, knowledge, and resources to address their own challenges and create sustainable solutions. By building local capacity and fostering ownership, we contribute to long-term, transformative impact.

Last week Madame Yaz Meen began training women in Mayera (Ga East) in the art of soapmaking, as part of her Ga Dangme women empowerment program – the Jamestown Soapmaking Cooperative. This new addition to our soap making cooperative promises to increase production capacity, and to provide an income for more women under our soap making program.

Support our women by purchasing our traditional handmade soaps.

MOTHER EARTH FESTIVAL: The Power of Collaboration in Driving Positive Change

ABURI BOTANICAL GARDENS – APRIL 2024

The Mother Earth Festival was held at the Aburi Botanical Gardens on Saturday 27th April and Sunday 28th April 2024 under the earth day theme “PLANET VERSUS PLASTICS”. This year, the festival spun into a new level of success as we welcomed like-minded partners like PLANET WAVES, PLASTIC PUNCH, NETCYCLE, and BEATRICE BEE ARTHUR to strengthen the foundation and the creative power of the event.

In partnership with Planet Waves, we built composting stations in the Aburi Botanical Gardens, and worked all weekend educating the public about waste segregation -that is, separating plastics from cans, and organic materials when throwing away our trash. Planet Waves also sensitized festival attendees about choosing reusable cloth bags over single-use plastics.

Plastic Punch presented their new invention “Nsuo Pa” – a water purifying machine AND water dispenser, that works with the swap of an e-card. The machine purifies the water and then dispenses the water into a reusable bottle, eliminating the need for any single-use plastics.

“Plastic Present, Fluorescent Future” – Is the title given by Beatrice Bee Arthur to her Art installation, which drew in passers-by, inspiring them to think about theo cean and marine pollution. Discarded fishing nets used in the exhibition were provided by NetCycle , along with water dispensers provided to attendees who brought their reusable cups and bottles. Bee Arthur also styled the stage set and the outfit worn by Yasmeen Helwani a.k.a Madame Yaz Meen during her performance on Saturday night.

The Power of Collaboration: Driving Positive Change

Collaboration allows us to tap into new perspectives and ideas, leading to innovative solutions that can have a lasting impact. By bringing together individuals, businesses, and other nonprofits, we can create a network of support that amplifies our efforts. Through collaboration, we can pool our resources to tackle larger projects and initiatives. By sharing knowledge, skills, and experiences, we can maximize our impact and achieve greater outcomes than we could alone. There was a true sense of unity and shared purpose among stakeholders at the Mother Earth Festival. By working together towards a common goal, we can build stronger, earth-friendly communities.