Planetary nebulae (PNe) and HII regions provide a probe of the chemical enrichment and star formation history of a galaxy from intermediate ages to the present day. Furthermore, observations of HII regions and PNe permit us to measure abundances at different locations, testing the homogeneity with which heavy elements are/were distributed within a galaxy. We present the first results of NTT spectroscopy of HII regions and/or PNe in four nearby dwarf galaxies: Sextans A, Sextans B, NGC 3109, and Fornax. The first three form a small group of galaxies just beyond the Local Group and are gas-rich dwarf irregular galaxies, whereas Fornax is a gas-deficient Local Group dwarf spheroidal that stopped its star formation activity a few hundred million years ago. For most PNe (6 from 7 observed) and some of the HII regions in these galaxies we have obtained element abundances via the classic T_e-method based on the detection of the [OIII] λ4363 Å line.