Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Wiki Green In Northern Nigeria:Documenting Hausa Native Plants On Wikimedia Commons Through Photo Walks (ID: 23552780)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
M Bash Ne
- Organization
N/A
- If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)
N/A
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
Main Proposal
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Wiki Green In Northern Nigeria: Documenting Hausa Native Plants On Wikimedia Commons Through Photo Walks
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2025-11-10 - 2025-12-31
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Nigeria
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Not applicable
- 6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)
The change I am trying to bring with this project is to increase awareness, visibility, and preservation of Hausa native plants by documenting them on Wikimedia Commons. At present, there is very limited freely accessible digital content about indigenous plants in Northern Nigeria, despite their cultural, medicinal, and environmental significance. This gap limits knowledge sharing, educational use, and global understanding of the region’s biodiversity.
In Northern Nigeria, especially in regions like Taraba State, Kano State, Nasarawa State, Niger State and Plateau State, traditional medicinal plants and food crops play a vital role in community health and well-being. Yet, the lack of formal documentation and limited access to scientific literature means that much of this knowledge is only retained by local herbalists and farmers.
The main challenges include:
- Lack of quality images and accurate documentation of Hausa native plants on Wikimedia projects.
- Low participation of local communities in contributing environmental and cultural knowledge online.
- Risk of losing valuable indigenous knowledge as modernization and climate change threaten native plant life.
Additionally, climate change and deforestation threaten the survival of many of these plants, making it even more urgent to document them before they disappear. We will use available resources like A Hausa Botanical Vocabulary by John McEwen Dalziel and Roger Blench's book for Hausa plant names to find their scientific names, discover endangered species, and document them on Hausa Wiktionary. Then we will create new articles for them in Hausa Wikipedia, while for those with already existing articles, we will add their photos to improve their visual representation.
To address these challenges, the project will:
- Organize photo walks in selected areas to capture high-quality images of Hausa native plants.
- Upload and properly categorize these images on Wikimedia Commons with relevant descriptions.
- Engage and train new participants from local communities in Northern Nigeria to contribute to Wikimedia projects, thereby building local capacity.
This approach will help preserve indigenous knowledge, promote environmental awareness, and enrich Wikimedia projects with unique local content that can be used by educators, researchers, and the general public worldwide.
- 7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.
The primary goal of this project is to document at least 700 native plant species from Northern Nigeria, particularly those that have medicinal, cultural, or ecological importance to the Hausa people. The project will create multimedia content—images, descriptions, and videos—that will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons and Wikipedia, making it available to both local communities and global users. The project’s specific objectives include:
Document 700 Native Plants: Identify, photograph, and create detailed descriptions of native plants that hold ecological, medicinal, and cultural importance.
Multimedia Content Creation: Produce high-quality images, videos, and educational materials that highlight the plants’ importance and cultural significance.
Translation into Hausa: Ensure that the documentation is translated into Hausa to reach millions of speakers and bridge the digital language divide.
Photographers: we will be use two photographers during the project, because to capturing the high quality of images and videos for Hausa native plants in Northern Nigeria region like, Taraba State, Kano state, Nasarawa State, Niger State, Plateau State where the project will be taking place.
Community Engagement: Organize photo walks and workshops to engage the local community in plant identification, cultural storytelling, and knowledge-sharing.
Global Knowledge Sharing: Share the resulting content on Wikimedia platforms, making it freely accessible to the global community while empowering local contributors.
To achieve this we plan to host 2 physical training events and 1 online event.
- 8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.
Our project will be implemented by a committed team of volunteers with diverse skills in photography, content creation, and Wikimedia contributions:
- User:M Bash Ne (Organizer & Project Lead): is an active Hausa Wikimedia editor from Kano State, Nigeria. Since 2018, he has contributed across multiple Wikimedia projects including Hausa Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Hausa Wiktionary, with a strong focus on Hausa-language content, cultural heritage, and underrepresented communities in Northern Nigeria. I'm a certified degree holder in Hausa Language from Aminu Kano College of Islamic and Legal Studies, B.U.K Road, Kano State.”
I was organized, lead, facilitated and participated several projects in Northern Nigeria community. Passionate about open knowledge and youth engagement, Bashir works to preserve Hausa language resources, promote environmental documentation, and empower new editors through trainings and contests. He will oversee the overall coordination of the project, manage activities, and ensure smooth implementation of the grant.
- User: A Salisu (Facilitator & Photographer): is an experienced Hausa Wikimedia editor and community leader. She contributes actively to multiple Wikimedia projects including Wikipedia, Commons, Wikidata, and Wiktionary. A Salisu has led several Wikimedia Foundation funded projects, in Northern Nigeria, and has been recognized for her role in promoting open knowledge, human rights, and cultural visibility across Hausa communities. She also provides mentorship to new editors and supports initiatives that strengthen Hausa language content and underrepresented knowledge on Wikimedia projects. She is an experienced photographer who will lead the photo walks, guide participants on capturing high-quality images of native plants, and support the uploading process to Wikimedia Commons.
- User: Hamza DK : (Content Creation Specialist): is an experienced Hausa Wikimedia editor and facilitator who has actively participated and won several Hausa articles writing contest. He facilitated a number of both online and physical edit-a-thons and awareness events. He is particularly passionate about creating and enhancing Wikidata entries and Wikipedia articles. He served as a committee member of Programming and Content Committee where he worked in planning organised workshops and training sessions to introduce participants to Wikimedia projects and editing practices. He is a professional in content creation and will focus on providing accurate descriptions, integrating scientific names, and ensuring that images are well documented for use across Wikimedia projects.
- Musaddam Idriss (Commons Expert): is a experienced Wikimedia editor, writer, and community organizer. He co-founded the Wikimedia Fulfulde Community in 2022 and played a key role in revitalizing Fulfulde Wikipedia, helping the community create over 1,000 recorded words and more than 8,000 lexemes on Wikidata. Musaddam contributes actively to Hausa, Fulfulde, Karai-Karai, Naija Pidgin, and English Wikipedias, as well as Wikidata and Commons. Beyond Wikimedia, he is a multilingual poet, journalist, and cultural advocate, serving as president of the Writers Guild of Nigeria. His work focuses on promoting Nigerian languages and preserving cultural heritage through literature and open knowledge. He has strong experience contributing to Wikimedia Commons and will provide technical guidance on uploading, categorizing, and licensing images, as well as mentoring new participants.
- 9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)
The project will primarily engage Hausa-speaking, students, nature enthusiasts, and existing Wikimedians from Northern Nigeria (Taraba, Kano, Niger, Nasarawa, and Plateau States). We will also collaborate with local photography clubs, environmental groups, and community volunteers interested in plants and biodiversity.
Engagement before and during activities: Before the activities, we will use local outreach (social media, WhatsApp groups, university communities, and Wikimedia channels) to invite participants and introduce them to Wikimedia projects. During the photo walks, we will provide orientation sessions on Wikimedia Commons, plant documentation standards, and copyright policies. This will ensure participants not only take photographs but also learn how to upload and describe them properly.
Follow-up after the activities: After the events, we will create a support group add them to (WhatsApp/Telegram) for continuous mentorship, provide guidance on categorizing and improving uploads, and encourage participants to join Hausa Wikimedians User Group activities. We will also organize online follow-up training to strengthen their editing skills and keep them engaged in future environmental and open knowledge initiatives.
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
No
- 10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.
N/A
- 11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.
I have notified about the proposal via Hausa Wikipedia Discussion Page and contacted and discussed about the proposal with Em-Mustapha Co-founder Hausa Wikimedia community via email and WhatsApp chats. Then I have discussed and contacted different editors, we have shared ideas about the proposal in our community members via Whatsapp chats and Telegram chats. And I have notified about the proposal via Hausa Wikimedians User Group main Whatsapp group.
- 12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Geography
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Education
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Geographic
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Identify Topics for Impact
Learning and metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
By the end of the project, we expect to:
Document 700 native plants on Commons, providing the world with previously inaccessible information about Hausa Native Plants knowledge.
Translate content into Hausa, ensuring linguistic inclusivity for millions of audience and enhancing content accessibility.
Empower 50+ local participants through training and involvement in photo walks and workshops, fostering a deeper connection to their natural environment.
Raise global awareness about the ecological importance of Northern Nigeria’s plant biodiversity and contribute to the global movement for open knowledge. Then the Quality and Accuracy: Reviewing content for adherence to Wikimedia’s editorial standards and the accuracy of plant identification and descriptions.
Community Engagement: Assessing the level of involvement from local communities through participant surveys, interviews, and feedback sessions.
Content Reach: Monitoring the usage and impact of uploaded content through Wikimedia analytics to track how widely it’s accessed and used by global audiences.
Sustainability: Ensuring that local communities continue to contribute to the documentation and that the project creates lasting knowledge on Wikimedia projects. This project will be a vital step in preserving and sharing the indigenous knowledge of Northern Nigeria’s plant life with the world. By documenting this knowledge through community-driven photo walks and translating it into Hausa, we will ensure that millions of people have access to free and culturally relevant information, helping to safeguard biodiversity while fostering a deeper appreciation of local heritage. We look forward to the opportunity to collaborate with the Wikimedia Foundation to bring this vision to life.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 50 | This is The number of participants |
| Number of editors | 40 | This is the number of editors |
| Number of organizers | 4 | This is the number of organizers/experienced editors who will manage the project |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 500 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 700 |
| Wikidata | 150 |
| Wiktionary | 200 |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
We will create and improve Wikipedia articles and improving with an images to be added By the end of the project.
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
No
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
- 20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)
Wikimedia Foundation outreach dashboard
Financial proposal
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
2197725 NGN
- 22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.
1500 USD
- We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
Endorsements and Feedback
[edit]Please add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.
Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:
- Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
- Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
- Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
- Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
- Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).