Help Women in Kenya Confront Climate Change

Thanks to your generous gift through GlobalGiving, MADRE continues to support our Kenyan partner, the Indigenous Information Network (IIN), to train Indigenous women in the production of high-quality seeds and help organize community seed banks that conserve local crop varieties. Thanks to your support, Indigenous women have been able to multiply seeds of local varieties—which are rare or becoming less obtainable—and make them available every season. Your generosity also supports IIN’s efforts to not only protect biodiversity but provide women and families with nutritious food. 

Over the past year, IIN produced 70,000 seedlings for planting, helping to significantly combat fertile land from becoming unsuitable for agriculture and promote reforestation. IIN and their network of Indigenous women leaders have worked with local youth to plant trees at schools and around their communities to encourage children to play an active role in environmental conservation, preserving cultures and traditions for future generations to come!

In Kenya, the women farmers of the Indigenous Information Network (IIN) have worked to improve community resilience in the face of the climate crisis, which has worsened droughts and limited water access for Pastoralist communities even before this pandemic, which has made access to water for handwashing all the more important.

Despite these challenges, IIN’s ongoing efforts to promote the harvesting of rainwater are helping to offset COVID-19’s impact on Indigenous communities. Thanks to the meaningful support of advocates like you, Indigenous women now have access to water tanks and storage containers, which they use to collect and store water for handwashing and sanitation -- vital practices for life-saving hygiene efforts. Because of your generosity, IIN is now expanding their reach to other rural Indigenous communities through a network of women’s centers. Thank you for standing with us, especially in times of uncertainty!