Gudfala Fly: The Norman Family Foundation Supports Composting, Livelihoods and Community Resilience in the Solomon Islands
In island communities, waste is not just an environmental issue. It affects public health, local livelihoods, food systems, coastal waters and the reefs that communities rely on every day.
In the Western Province, Solomon Islands, Positive Change for Marine Life’s Waste to Wealth (W2W) program is working to strengthen locally led circular waste systems that keep materials out of coastal and marine environments while creating practical livelihood pathways.
A key part of this work is Gudfala Fly, PCFML’s organic waste-to-compost initiative.
Gudfala Fly supports the recovery of organic waste and its conversion into compost through community-based systems. The program sits within PCFML’s broader W2W model, which integrates waste collection, segregation, aggregation, data monitoring, circular products and women-led livelihoods.
To date, W2W Solomon Islands has supported 32 livelihoods; with more than 90% of roles led by women; reached 1,512 individuals through regular waste collection and improved sanitation; targeted approximately 275 households and businesses through the weekly Waste Collection Service; diverted more than 4 tonnes of non-organic materials; and processed more than 1 tonne of organic waste into compost through community nurseries.
For small island communities, this kind of practical waste infrastructure matters. Organic waste recovery can reduce pressure on local waste systems, support compost production, improve local growing capacity, and create paid community-based roles linked to environmental recovery.
The Australian-based Norman Family Foundation has supported the Gudfala Fly composting work, helping PCFML continue building a practical model for organic waste recovery in the Solomon Islands.
“The Gudfala Fly composting program is simple by nature, but high impact, which is an impressive combination,” said the Jo Norman of the Foundation. “It’s the science and government backing that provides real opportunity for scaling, which will dramatically change the community’s future. Our family is particularly interested in providing improved outcomes for women and this does just that, securing economic empowerment and improved health outcomes, driving flow-on effects throughout their families and whole communities. We are delighted to be partnering with PCFML through this program.”
PCFML’s Waste to Wealth model has also been validated through long-term work in India, where the organisation has been operating since 2017. Lessons from this work are now helping inform the adaptation of circular waste systems for small island contexts, including the Solomon Islands.
As funding conditions remain challenging across the sector, support for practical, community-led systems like Gudfala Fly is critical. These programs are not abstract solutions. They are locally delivered, operational systems that create jobs, recover waste, produce useful materials, and protect coastal ecosystems.
With continued support, Gudfala Fly can help demonstrate how organic waste recovery can become part of a broader circular economy approach for island communities – strengthening livelihoods, improving community health, and reducing pressure on some of the world’s most ecologically diverse marine environments.
PCFML is grateful to the Norman Family Foundation for its support and partnership in helping bring this work to life.