By Patricia Nanteza
Four years ago, WePlanet Africa was little more than a passionate group of volunteers who took to the streets of Nairobi and Kampala to publicly support agricultural biotechnology. Today, WePlanet Africa is becoming a recognized voice in Africa’s climate and technology conversations – invited to meetings, quoted in policy discussions, and increasingly trusted to convene difficult conversations.
I am proud of that progress.
As I begin another year leading WePlanet’s work in Africa, my ambition is bigger than delivering campaigns. I want to build an institution that I will be proud to hand over when my time at WePlanet eventually comes to an end – one that will continue to shape public discourse and policy for many years to come.
❓One question we are frequently asked is whether we can provide funding to other organizations.
The answer is ‘no’.
WePlanet Africa is not a funder. We are not an implementing organization. As much as we campaign for clean cooking, nuclear energy, and biotechnology, we don’t sell LPG, GMO seeds or build nuclear power plants.
What do we do?
We create the public and political conditions that enable evidence-based climate solutions to succeed – so they are adopted at scale and impact humanity. Our client is the planet and the people who inhabit it.
Why public support?
Because good technologies do not change societies on their own. Public acceptance, political leadership, and social legitimacy determine whether advanced science is trusted, funded, regulated, and ultimately deployed.
We do that by mobilizing public opinion.
Our Public Opinion Mobilization Framework is: Awareness → Understanding → Support → Influence → Action.
We mobilize public opinion by:
📌 Naming and framing the issue.
📚 Building the evidence base.
❤️ Humanizing the story.
🗣️ Shaping the public narrative by amplifying it through media and activating trusted voices.
👥 Enabling meaningful public participation.
🔄 Sustaining momentum until change happens.
🚀 Over the next year, I want to deepen our work in three areas where I believe Africa has the greatest opportunity to accelerate climate resilience and economic and social development:
- Clean cooking
- Agricultural biotechnology, including gene editing
- Nuclear energy
And perhaps a fourth.
4. Solar Radiation Management is beginning to move from academic debate into global climate policy discussions. Should Africa begin engaging the public on this issue now, or is it too early? I’d love to hear your thoughts.