The Role of Development Partners in Kenya’s Landscape Restoration Towards Vision 2030

Abstract

Despite 80% of Kenya being arid and semi-arid (ASAL), much of the arable land is heavily degraded. The drop in Kenya’s forest cover from 10% to about 6.6% by 2008, prompted interventions to improve forest and tree cover. Grounded in Kenya’s Vision 2030, interventions are geared towards achieving Kenya’s Nationally Determined Commitments (NDC) and addressing effects of climate change effects. This Chapter examined The Role of Development Partners in Kenya’s Landscape Restoration Towards Vision 2030. World Vision and CIFOR-ICRAF initiated Regreening Africa Project to scale efforts towards increasing Kenya’s forest cover to 10% and restoring 5.1 Million hectares of degraded land by 2030 under the AFR 100 and the Bonn Challenge. Funded by the European Union, the Project sought to improve resilience of 500,000 smallholder households and restoring 1 Million hectares of degraded land by 2021 across 8 African countries. In Kenya, The Project worked in 9 counties, initiating a Kenya National Landscape Restoration Scaling Movement. In conclusion, climate change mitigation and adaptation measures should be promoted and developed countries compelled to compensate developing countries and allocate more funding for carbon credits. The current landscape restoration and climate change adaptation efforts should be enhanced and sustained.

1. Introduction

About 80% of Kenya’s total landmass is arid and semi-arid land (ASAL), characterized by heavy degradation. Of the 20% of Kenya’s landmass that is arable and supporting close to 80% of the population in terms of settlement and economic activity, a very large proportion is degraded [1]. Land degradation in Kenya could be attributed to two main factors; natural and anthropogenic. The natural factors include biophysical factors, such as droughts and floods; and catchment factors, such as steep slope and highly erodible soils. Anthropogenic factors include unsustainable land management practices, e.g. destruction of natural vegetation, over-cultivation, overgrazing, poor land husbandry and excessive forest conversion [2].

The most affected counties in Kenya are mainly those in the ASAL regions, where pastoralism or agro-pastoralism is the major economic activity. The counties are largely in the Northern, Lower Eastern, and parts of the Rift Valley regions of Kenya, and include: Samburu, Kitui, Garissa, Tana River, Mandera, Turkana, Marsabit, Baringo, West Pokot, Kajiado, Kilifi, Wajir and Makueni.

This Chapter makes recognition of the fact that Kenya’s forest cover has declined from 10% to about 6.6% by 2008 [3]; a fact that has made successive regimes make concerted efforts together with development partners to improve both forest and tree cover in the country. This would not have come at a better time, considering Kenya’s Nationally Determined Commitments (NDC) and the impact of climate change; which has seen several counties, especially in the arid and semi arid lands, experience repeated and more intensive and extensive episodes of drought.

2. Kenya’s vision 2030 and call to scale landscape restoration efforts

Kenya’s Vision 2030 seeks to transform Kenya into a newly industrializing, middle-income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens by 2030 in a clean and secure environment. Launched in 2008, there are three main pillars to achieving this vision. These include: Economic, Social, and Political pillars, but there are also enablers of the Vision. Aligned to the Sustainable development Goals (SDGs), Kenya’s Vision 2030, which is the blueprint of the country’s transformational development; recommends sustainable land use as part of the drivers to achieving economic and social transformation for Kenya’s citizens by the year 2030 [4].

The Vision made cognizance of the fact that something needed to be done, and done urgently if Kenya was to achieve the much needed social and economic growth it desires by the year 2030. This was not going to be possible with the current fragmented efforts by different government line departments of agriculture, livestock, fisheries, environment and forestry, land, and water; and several state and non-state actors. Even though almost all landscape restoration efforts require land, hence; logically thinking the Ministry of Agriculture would play a critical role, probably with a coordinating body or unit; this is not the case in Kenya. The restoration efforts are mainly domiciled within the Department of Environment and Forestry, where Kenya Forest Service (KFS) coordinates Forest and Landscape Restoration Plan (FOLAREP) and National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) regulates all organizations and entities in landscape restoration domain [5]. There would be a need for a coordination body or unit (probably under the Department of Agriculture) to bring the different stakeholders and players together. Moreover, some legal, policy and institutional reforms would be necessary if concerted efforts in the area of landscape restoration would be realized within a reasonable time frame. Nevertheless, first things first. There was to be a database of evidence of the baseline data regarding land degradation, and this data had to be converted to economic terms to show the need for urgent action. It is in this regard that an assessment of the land degradation status and landscape restoration potentials for various ecosystems was conducted in 2016 [2].

3. Landscape restoration efforts in Kenya towards vision 2030

As mentioned earlier, several state and non-state actors play a critical role in landscape restoration efforts in Kenya. These stakeholders undertake different sustainable land management (SLM) interventions for national landscape restoration scaling rehabilitation, all of which can be grouped into three broad categories:

1. Tree planting and reclamation of catchment areas;

2. Soil and water conservation on croplands; and

3. Rehabilitation of degraded rangelands.

Notable State actors involved in landscape restoration efforts at national scale include the Department of Agriculture, championing soil and water conservation on croplands, including agronomic practices. Others are the Department of Environment and Forestry, which together with Kenya Forest Service (KFS), Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA), Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), CIFOR-ICRAF, and several non-state actors, such as World Resources Institute (WRI), World Vision Kenya (WVK), Devolution and Climate Change Adaptation (DaCCA) Programme, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), World Wide Fund for Nature Kenya (WWF), One Vision Kenya; among others. These efforts have been supported by international bodies and several private players, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); Equity Bank, KCB Foundation, Family Bank, BAT, Safaricom Foundation, Trees for the Future, Trees Kenya, Just digit, etc., to create a restoration or a regreening movement in Kenya [6].

The efforts have found ground in the data from the Department of Environment and Forestry that showed that Kenya’s Forest Cover had dropped from about 10% to about 6.6% by 2008, hence; the need to bring the forest cover to at least 14%. Together with the immense goodwill from the Kenyan Government, both at the county and national levels, KEFRI came up with a 500 Million Tree seedlings planting challenge in 2019 to be actualized by 2022. This received a Presidential backing, with the Office of the Presidency’s Ministry of Interior and National Government Coordination being tasked to take lead in this venture. This saw each county hold stakeholders’ meetings to agree on how much of the challenge they would take up. County Commissioners (CCs), and by extension the Deputy County Commissioners (DCCs), Area Assistant Commissioners (AACs), Chiefs and their assistants took the mandate to coordinate the tree planting, taking stock of the available tree nurseries in their localities, their capacities, and what needed to be done in order to meet the county targets that had by now been sub-divided into sub-county, ward, locational, and sub-locational targets. KFS and KEFRI provided the technical support to achieving the targets. Thus, short-and long-rain tree planting sessions were launched and tree seedlings planted.

With the drop in forest cover and the changing climate, the focus changed from tree planting to tree growing; such that players begun to adopt forest restoration blocks in various parts of the Country. A number of local and International Non-Governmental Organizations begun to intensify fund-raising and programming around environment and climate change adaptation. Yet others begun to form consortia and obtain grants for scaling landscape restoration. This latter category is where World Vision Kenya (WVK) falls. With a strategic direction (2021–2025) seeking to contribute to improved and sustained well-being of 8,827,654¹ children, including 2,521,600 children reached directly out of which 1,4,87,744 are identified as most vulnerable children by year 2025 [7]; WVK has set out under its Child Learning and Household Resilience Technical programming to contribute to the holistic development of 358,000 children aged 0–6 years old through provision of quality care and education by 2025. Towards achieving this goal, the Technical Programme has supported the Resource Acquisition and Management (RAM) Department of WVK to fund-raise for projects in environment and climate change adaptation. One such projects was Regreening Africa, which was funded by the EU; and implemented across 8 African countries of Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Niger, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Somalia (Puntland and Somaliland), with CIFOR-ICRAF as the lead. WVK implemented this project as lead implementer in Kenya, across 9 counties of Homa Bay, Migori, Nakuru, Elgeyo Marakwet, Baringo, Laikipia, Samburu, Isiolo, and Marsabit [8, 9].

With a goal of improving livelihoods, food security and resilience to climate change by smallholder farmers and restore ecosystem services, particularly through evergreen agriculture; Regreening Africa Project targeted to improve resilience of some 500,000 smallholder households and restore at least 1 Million hectares of degraded land in Africa by 2021 [9]. In Kenya, the target was to improve resilience of 50,000 smallholder households and restore 150,000 hectares of degraded land by 2021. This project undertook ambitious landscape restoration scaling in partnership with key stakeholders, notably Ministry of Interior and National Government Coordination, KFS, KEFRI, CSOs (notably Farming Systems Kenya, One Vision Kenya, and DaCCA), County Departments of Agriculture and Environment, universities (notably Maseno, Rongo, and Moi), churches and faith-based organizations, and schools (through environment clubs) and the private sector (e.g. Habex Agro Limited) that saw its achieve about 95% of its targets in Kenya. The project directly contributes to the goals of the Great Green Wall initiative and the AFR100 commitments. Its success, and that of other similar initiatives in the region, implies that the ambition of the Great Green Wall (GGW) is gradually becoming a reality [10].

Key landscape restoration scaling models that were promoted by Regreening Africa Project included [11, 12]:

1. Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR)

2. Fruit tree based agroforestry

3. Enrichment planting

4. Nature-based Value Chain development-honey, fodder, and fruit trees (mangoes, avocadoes, and paw-paws)

5. Sustainable and green energy options

6. Financial inclusion-targeting women and youth through a savings for investment in landscape restoration model, known as Savings for Transformation (S4T)

7. Soil and water conservation

8. Reseeding with adaptable grass species (e.g. Cenchrus ciliaris and Eragrostis superba)

9. Public Private Partnerships

10. Advocacy and Policy influence targeting the local pressure groups, County Assembly Committee Members for the Environment, County Budget Committees, County Executives (governor, Deputy Governor, County Secretary, County Executive Committee Members and Chief Officers), Clerks to the County Assemblies, and Speakers of the County Assemblies.

Regreening Africa Project adopted an Implementation Model whereby 2 of the 9 counties in Kenya were picked as intensification or direct scaling sites. These were Homa Bay and Migori. These had Project Officers, and in these, trials of promising landscape restoration scaling models were jointly tested by WVK and CIFOR-ICRAF, and successful models scaled out in the remaining 7 counties. The other 7 counties were labeled leverage sites or indirect scaling counties. In these, WVK did not have resident Project Officers, but, rather; implemented through partners, notably Farming Systems Kenya (FSK) in Nakuru and Baringo counties; Habex Agro Limited (promoting contractual avocado farming) in Nakuru, Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet and Laikipia counties; county Department of Environment and KFS/KEFRI in Marsabit, Samburu, Isiolo, Laikipia, Baringo and Nakuru.

So, different approaches were used to scale landscape restoration in different counties. For example, in Migori, Nakuru, Elgeyo Marakwet, Isiolo, Laikipia, and Samburu counties, partners agreed to adopt sections of Nyatike-Mirema Hill (Migori); Mariashoni and Dundori Forests (Nakuru); Embobut Forest (Elgeyo Mrakwet); Kinna Forest (Isiolo); Marmanet Forset (Laikipia); and Kirisia Forest (Samburu). Grassroots organizations (e.g. Nyatike-Mirema CFA; Regreening Lambwe Initiative; Lambwe-Kaksingri Environmental Conservation Alliance [LAKECA]; Kinna Green Ambassadors, etc.) were also formed and capacity built to lead players in championing a regreening movement at the local level. The regreening movement saw a broad-stakeholder and inter-generational and gender and diverse social class involvement and participation in landscape restoration that brought together youth-in and out-of schools, people living with disability (PLWD), women, men, churches, faith-based organizations, schools, community-based groups and organizations, civil society organizations and the private sector.

Successful landscape restoration scaling models that Regreening Africa Project tested and and adopted for scaling include; Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR); Agroforestry Tree Nursery Establishment and Tree Growing; Fruit Tree Based Agroforestry; Community Forest Associations; and School Environment Clubs. Let us look at each of these briefly [10].

3.1 Farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR)

Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) is probably an old landscape restoration practice that is as old as mankind, but begun to gain ore prominence and to be documented as an approach to landscape restoration in the ‘80s following the work by one Right Livelihood Award Laureate, 2018; Tonny Rinaudo following his work that begun with restoring degraded lansacpes in the Sahel (beginning with Niger) using the approach. Since the year 2010, World Vision and several other organizations have increasingly begun to adopt FMNR as a sustainable landscape restoration scaling model. Based on the agroforestry principle of coppicing, FMNR recognizes the fact that underneath the earth surface is a forest of stumps, roots, seeds, and buds; which, if not disturbed (directly or indirectly) by humans and livestock, and with a little care and management by humans (farmers), would begin to sprout naturally and support to restore degraded arid and semi-arid landscapes (Figure 1) [13].

Figure 1.

Right Livelihood Award Laureate, 2018, Tonny Rinaudo demonstrates the concept of FMNR to stakeholders during one of his visits to Kenya in 2018 at Ochieng Odiere Primary School in Homa Bay County.

The success of FMNR as a sustainable landscape restoration scaling model in ASALs spans from the facts that it is [14]:

1. Low-cost,

2. Locally adaptable, using local materials,

3. Farmer-friendly,

4. Ecologically sustainable,

5. Technologically feasible,

6. Women-friendly, especially in ASALs,

7. An alternative source of livelihoods,

8. A source of food and nutrition security (indigenous fruit trees, honey, etc.),

9. A source of incomes (sale of pasture, fuel wood, charcoal & fencing from prunings),

10. Faster for landscape restoration when complimented with enrichment planting.

3.2 Agroforestry tree nursery establishment and tree growing

This landscape restoration scaling model capitalizes on Kenya’s ambition for achieving 10% forest cover by 2022 to inspire local community groups and key partners to participate and actively be involved in establishing model agroforestry tree nurseries as sources of accessing quality germplasm for players interested in tree-growing in the community.

Regreening Africa Project involved school environment clubs, faith based/community groups, Government (national and county), private society in tree-growing rallies during short and long rainy seasons. Broad stakeholder sensitization and awareness creation on the value of trees and need to grow trees with every opportunity was undertaken using public meetings, radio and television talk-shows, road shows, conferences, workshops and stakeholder meetings. Emphasis was laid on equal participation by boys and girls among school environment clubs; with the Project encouraging active youth and women involvement and participation. The focus was on tree-growing, not planting (Figure 2) [15].

Figure 2.

Dr. Charles Odhiambo of WVK participates in tree planting at Yokot Primary School in Elgeyo Marakwet County, 2021.

3.3 Fruit tree agroforestry

This landscape restoration scaling model focuses on large-scale production of high value fruits and then value addition. Regreening Africa Project particularly promoted paw-paws, mangoes, hass avocado, and grafted guavas in selected counties. Pawpawas and mangoes were promoted in Homa Bay, Migori, Isiolo, Samburu, and Elgeyo Marakwet counties; while hass avocadoes was promoted in Baringo, Elgeyo Mrakwet, Nakuru and Laikipia counties, in partnership with Habex Agro Limited through a public-private partnership arrangement. Guavas was promoted in partnership with KEFRI-Lake Victoria Region, in Homa Bay County.

Farmer groups were supported to establish own tree nurseries, including mother blocks (except for hass avocado) for sustainable access to quality planting materials (Figure 3). Then farmers were then trained in:

1. Fruit tree agronomy

2. Grafting, top-working, budding and other forms of vegetative propagation

3. Quality control

4. Marketing & linkages

5. Value addition

Figure 3.

Mr. Charles Odira, a paw-paw fruit tree farmer in Nyatike in Migori County, 2020.

3.4 Community Forest associations (CFAs)

Community Forest Associations (CFAs) are legally-recognized Community-based landscape restoration structures [16] that Regreening Africa Project has been using for scaling restoration of forest landscape, agricultural landscape, and rangelands. The Project’s focus was on supporting CFAs in terms of:

1. Capacity building to increase CFAs’ seedling production capacity for sustainability;

2. Supporting development of Participatory Forest Management Plans (PFMPs) to enable user groups within CFAs sustainably exploit non-woody forest products;

3. Linking CFAs with other stakeholders for greater support and sustainability;

4. Capacity assessment and capacity building in areas of organization leadership and management, strategic planning, visioning, financial management and record-keeping, resource mobilization, and marketing and linkages [17].

CFAs are an integral part of the County Landscape Restoration Coordination Committees, and are leading landscape restoration efforts, supported mainly by Regreening Africa Project, KFS, KEFRI, County and National governments, and the private sector. Notable success has been realized with Nyatike-Mirema CFA (Migori); Gembe, Ruri and Lambwe Hills CFAs (Homa Bay); Dundori CFA (Nakuru); Bisanadi CFA (Isiolo); and Naramat, Nkaro and Nailepiye CFAs (Samburu) (Figure 4).

Figure 4.

Nyatike-Mirema CFA Chair (Clapping Hands), Mr. William Odhil, leads CFA members and stakeholders in a tree-planting exercise at Nyatike-Mirema Hill as part of restoration efforts, 2020.

3.5 School environment clubs

The Regreening Africa Project’s focus on School Environment Clubs is on using youth of school-going age (girls and boys in schools) as agents of change towards accelerated landscape restoration. Towards this end, pupils and students were mobilized to form school environment clubs/existing ones are strengthened through trainings and linkages with other partners. Where feasible, schools were supported to establish own agroforestry tree nurseries and to prioritize tree species of choice based on need, e.g. fruit trees (notably bananas, paw-paws and mangoes) to improve nutrition security, shade trees to act as open classrooms (very useful during Covid-19 pandemic era) and as wind-breakers for schools situated in areas that are prone to strong winds, e.g. Bubisa in Marsabit County. The school environment club members were trained in key, suitable and adaptable regreening practices and supported to adopt the selected regreening practices for scaling.

Through school environment clubs, the pupils and students would act as agents of change to sensitize the school community on the value of tree-growing and general landscape restoration. The School Environment Club members take agroforestry tree seedlings and adaptable regreening practices back home and into the society, thereby becoming agents of change in the community (Figure 5) [6].

Figure 5.

Environment Club Members of St. Gabriel’s Primary School in Nyatike in Migori County plant trees in the school compound, 2018.

In order to catalyze a national regreening movement, World Vision Kenya in partnership with CIFOR-ICRAF organized a Kenya National Landscape Restoration Scaling Conference in 2021. The National Virtual Conference held between 9th and 16th July 2021 brought together a diverse range of people interested in landscape restoration to catalyze a national restoration movement. The Conference showcased different efforts towards the achievement of Kenya’s ambition to increase tree cover to 10% and restore 5.1 million hectares of degraded land by 2030 under the African Forest and Landscape Restoration Initiative (AFR100) and the Bonn Challenge.

The Kenya National Landcsape Restoration Scaling Conference was preceded by thematic virtual webinars that were launched in December, 2020. The Pre-conference thematic webinars covered youth engagement in ecosystem restoration; Farmer-managed natural regeneration as a key approach; Forest and landscape restoration monitoring; Private-sector engagement in landscape restoration and capacity building [6].

The Kenya National Landscape Restoration Scaling Movement builds momentum to be part of The Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration. The Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration is a worldwide network that unites governments, major UN and non-governmental organizations, companies, and individuals with a common cause. The rallying call is that ideas transform landscapes. The partnership provides the information and tools to strengthen restoration efforts around the world and builds support for forest landscape restoration with decision-makers and opinion-formers, both at local and international levels.

It is in this light that the Kenyan Government took a step to declare drought a National Disaster in 2019, and take up KEFRI’s Challenge of planting 500 Million tree seedlings by the year 2022 as a national project to be coordinated by the Office of the President under the Ministry of Interior and National Government Coordination. In 2022, Kenya went through a peaceful general election, and the regime that took over power has further committed to plant 15 billion tree seedlings by 2030. By this target, each Kenyan is expected to plant 300 tree seedlings per year. For these ambitious targets, counties must take up the challenge. Regreening Africa project working with partners, supported Homa Bay and Migori counties to meet their 17 Million and 15 Million tree seedlings target by 2022, respectively; this being part of the 500 Million tree seedlings target for Kenya by 2022. Even though the Project has transitioned, it has left a regreening movement that will continue to champion national landscape restoration agenda in Kenya towards the realization of Kenya’s Vision 2030 [18].

4. Conclusions

Despite the fact that developing countries contribute minimally to climate change, they suffer the impact more than their developed counterparts. This is largely due to the high levels of vulnerability and low adaptive capacity of developing countries to climate change effects. Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, is most vulnerable to climate change, hence; most impacted by climate change effects. Whereas climate change mitigation is desirable, the benefits would take a long period of time before they are realized, yet Sub-Saharan Africa continue to suffer greatly in terms of biodiversity loss, loss of livelihoods, loss of income, drought and the consequent food and nutrition insecurity, and biomass losses.

As such, mitigation and adaptation measures need to go hand-in-hand, even as developed countries that make the greatest contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and, hence; climate change, are pressurized to compensate developing countries and allocate more funding for carbon credits targeting the developing word.

Kenya, with its unique geographical location, whereby the Equator divides the country into two almost equal halves; stands to gain a lot from measures to step up climate change mitigation and adaptation practices, both at the micro (farm) and macro (national) level. Grassroots, national and regional regreening movements for land- and landscape- restoration would play a critical role towards the success of such climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes.

Acknowledgments

I acknowledge World Vision International and World Vision Kenya for the Landscape Restoration efforts discussed here, and am grateful to the European Union for funding Regreening Africa Project, and to CIFOR-ICRAF for being Lead in implementing it across the 8 countries in Africa. The views expressed in this Chapter, however, are neither those of World Vision Kenya nor World Vision International; CIFOR-ICRAF nor the European Union. Photographs used in this Chapter are by permission from the respective persons, and for which I am so very grateful.

List of acronyms and abbreviations

AACs

Area Assistant Commissioners

AFR100

African Forest and Landscape Restoration Initiative

ASALs

Arid and Semi Arid Lands

BAT

British American Tobacco

CCs

County Commissioners

CFAs

Community Forest Associations

CIFOR-ICRAF

Centre for International Forestry Research-International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (World Agroforestry)

Covid-19

Corona Virus Disease of 2019

CSOs

Civil Society Organizations

DaCCA

Devolution and Climate Change Adaptation

DCCs

Deputy County Commissioners

EU

European Union

FMNR

Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration

FOLAREP

Forest and Landscape Restoration Plan

FSK

Farming Systems Kenya

GHG

Green House Gas

GGW

Great Green Wall

GoK

Government of Kenya

IUCN

International Union for Conservation of Nature

KAPP

Kenya Agricultural Productivity Project

KASLMP

Kenya Agricultural Productivity and Sustainable Land Management Project

KCB

Kenya Commercial Bank

KEFRI

Kenya Forestry Research Institute

KFS

Kenya Forest Service

LAKECA

Lambwe-Kaksingri Environmental Conservation Alliance

MVC

Most Vulnerable Children

NDC

Nationally Determined Commitments

NEMA

National Environment Management Authority

PFMPs

Participatory Forest Management Plans

PLWD

Persons Living With Disability

RAM

Resource Acquisition and Management

SDGs

Sustainable Development Goals

SEI

Stockholm Environment Institute

SLM

Sustainable Land Management

S4T

Savings for Transformation

UN

United Nations

WVK

World Vision Kenya

WWF

World Wide Fund for Nature Kenya