Sanitarian Dr. Tope Akinwumi, FWAPCEH, has called on environmental health professionals and young practitioners to embrace entrepreneurship as a means of creating employment, improving professional practice and contributing to sustainable environmental health services.

Dr. Akinwumi made the call while delivering a lecture titled “Entrepreneurship in Environmental Health: Unlocking Opportunities for Youth in Environmental Health Practice.” He emphasized that environmental health professionals possess skills that can be transformed into viable businesses and services.

According to him, opportunities exist in areas such as waste management, cleaning services, fumigation and pest control, decontamination, water treatment and vending, air-quality monitoring, industrial hygiene, environmental auditing, occupational health and safety, food management, and environmental impact assessment.

Dr. Akinwumi  noted that environmental health entrepreneurship, also known as ecopreneurship, can provide innovative solutions to environmental problems while creating opportunities for practitioners to become self-reliant and employers of labour.

The environmental health expert identified determination, self-confidence, continuous learning, creativity, curiosity, mentorship and an independent mindset as important qualities for aspiring entrepreneurs.

He also highlighted challenges affecting entrepreneurship in environmental health, including inadequate funding, government policies, lack of appropriate equipment, limited knowledge and skills, poor motivation, inadequate research capacity and insufficient access to information.

Dr. Akinwumi further encouraged practitioners to prepare proper business plans, understand their target markets, invest in appropriate equipment and training, register their businesses and maintain good relationships with clients and partners.

He stressed that entrepreneurship can provide financial independence, professional growth, increased competence, job creation, specialization, research opportunities and improved standards of living.

He concluded by urging environmental health professionals to become self-reliant, self-employed entrepreneurs and employers of labour, stressing that entrepreneurship is important in every profession and that environmental health professionals must continually build their capacity to remain relevant.