Combating Climate Change with Agroecology

Dear Supporter,

With climate disasters escalating around the world, Kenya, as a bread basket country is threatened with a draught that leads to famine. There is a lot we can do and it's happening with your help. 

We are excited to announce that our primary goal to plant 250,000 native and endemic trees across Trans Nzoia County by 2025 is underway!

In order to achieve this goal, a team of local forestry, agroforestry, and climate experts are guiding the project as volunteers and pledge to continue to do so for the next 3 years through Joshua Machinga and Common Ground for Africa. Under their guidance, nurseries are being developed in all the 5 sub-counties across the county with funds from a small grant. Saplings of carefully selected trees and plant species are raised in these nurseries during the non-planting season between May thru Oct.

Mass plantation of saplings is taking place right now. This will go on throughout the short rains between Oct and early December by the farmers, volunteers, NGOs, school children, and the general public. Planted saplings will be effectively monitored and nurtured by providing optimum conditions for growth to ensure a high survival rate.

We have already conducted a successful mass planting drive in the month of September that covered 5 sub-counties, planting 15,000 trees.

We are looking forward to your support for more plantings. We are taking a stand on doing something that tackles climate change and we ask for your support. Anything helps and best of all, small monthly donations provide momentum and provide the farmers with hope for the project's future. 

Thank you!

Shana

What is our goal?  Well, simply put, we are doing what we can do to reduce the severity of global climate change by planting trees to remove excess carbon from our atmosphere. 

Science journals say that we need 25% more forested area than we have now but realistically we need to plant more than a half-trillion trees.  If we did, we would capture 205 gigatons of carbon.  That’s enough to negate about 20 years of human-produced carbon emissions at the current rate or about half of all carbon emitted by humans since 1960. Planting trees will never be a substitute for decreasing fossil fuel emissions but it will provide food and shade for our parched earth. 

Joshua Machinga of Common Ground for Africa and I are teaming up for our love of the natural world and a legacy for children and their children. We know that a half-trillion trees will take a lot of us and a lot of organizations. For us, we focus on trees that are food-producing doing double duty. 

This first phase of the project set up demonstration plots in five sub-counties in Trans Nzoia County to demonstrate the production of food crops using GROW BIOINTENSIVE farming methods that use a fraction of resources to grow more food. This training was combined with business training leading to increased income and employment creation for rural communities. 

We hope you join us in helping these farmers plant trees. Whatever you donate for the month of July will be matched to plant trees. 

Thank you!

Dear supporter,

Yes, the world is upside down. It's painful to think of the suffering around the world. It's hard to know how to move forward in a positive way but we supporting farmers yields positive results. 

Dear supporter,

Whether it’s articles popping up on your newsfeed or a discussion with friends and coworkers, there is seemingly endless information available to you about climate change. With so much information swirling about and climate catastrophies affecting us all over the world, its hard to get a handle on what we can do as individual citizens of the earth. 

With our 19-year history of promoting sustainability planting trees and adhering to our core values, we are going to continue to to plant moringa trees but also add the focus of Agroecology and Restorative Farming - Simply put, we are committed to the support and training of smallholder farmers to apply ecological principles to their agricultural systems and to restore degraded soil.

In Kenya and in farming communities all over the world. people are having to contend with the profound and accelerating impact of climate change, from drought to flooding, from locusts to crop pests. Since industrial farming is responsible for nearly 30-50% of global greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable food systems are essential to our survival on earth.

We are working with long time partner, Joshua Machinga and Common Ground for Africa (CGA) who promotes smallholder farming, conservation, market based, local economics and entrepreneurship in Kenya. Almost half of Kenya’s extreme poor live in rural villages and lack means and skills to boost their agricultural efforts for their livelihood. Agricultural yields and profits are only a fraction of their potential since the region is full of opportunities for growth, including labor, land and thousands of smallholder farmers who are eager for change.

In breaking down the particulars, it will only costs $45 per household for a beehive that provides a food source and essential pollination of their crops, $20 buys garden tools for a family (machete, spade and hoe), $40 buys 400 tree seedlings and $5 per person in a family to be trained and mentored.

We are still supporting the womens' groups who grow moringa but are compelled to create a holistic program that also works in soil regeneration and drought farming.  CGA  our partner has been working in five Sub Counties of Trans-Nzoia County. It covers an area of 2,496 Km2. The five Sub-Counties are Endebess, Cherangany, Saboti, Kwanza and Kiminini. The sub counties are further sub divided into 39 locations, 63 sub locations and 1,610 Villages.

Thank you for your support in the past. We do hope that you will join us in assisting farmers in their efforts after COVID has had a devastating impact on the well being of this area. 

Thank you! 

Shana Greene

.

• eplacing chemical herbicides with farm produced herbal sprays to enhance and enliven crops
• Replacing chemical pesticides with farming practices that encourage healthy predator / prey balance through plantings
• Replacing chemical fertilizers with natural farm produced compost to fertilize soil
• Planting cover crops in the off season, which draws carbon back out of the atmosphere and improves soil vitality and nutrient content

Dear friends,

I don't know where you live but we are experiencing unprecedented hot weather and a drought is upon us in the US. In Kenya, this has been an ongoing threat to life and health for a while. Around the world, people cut down trees for use in building and casket making, and the limbs are used as firewood. Unless trees are planted to replace the loss, the stripping of trees from the environment creates larger issues.

Trees are not just a resource, but they mean clean air, water, shade and food in Africa. Trees help to conserve soil and water but also reduce the vulnerability of land in drought and climatic stress.

If there is a viable solution, then planting trees is the best. We have been planting moringa trees because they are drought resistant and provide shade and high nutrition food. We may also start planting other drought resistant trees that produce food because we see the need to step up our tree planting and moringa does not grow everywhere.

We thank you for your past donation and always make sure that there is benefit provided for your generosity. It is our intention that we can report back an increase in the health of communities through trees.We believe that a tree planted anywhere helps everyone. 

Thank you,