Our story
The idea for trees for our future was developed by the founder through long working experience with an integrated food security and sustainable development, INGO in Rift valley, Kenya 2009, where the passion for planting trees and conserving the environment came about. When he came back to his rural home in Lower Nyakach Division, he realized the harsh weather condition and lack of tree
s/vegetation cover as a major contributing factor hence impacting negatively on the social-economic condition of the people and community. This is when he realized the need to start the organization to advocate for tree planting and conservation of environment. The founders started by planting 2,500 eucalyptus trees in 2011 and 4,900 trees in May 2014 as a demonstration to the community that trees planting and environment conservation is possible. Rationale
In many rural regions in developing countries, the supply of modern energy carriers such as electricity and fossil fuels is very expensive and limited. The overall poverty level in the Kisumu County stands at around 47% of the County’s population. This means that more than a third of the population is in some state of poverty. Moreover, the county has only 14.9% of the households having access to electricity (2009). To meet their basic energy needs, households rely on locally available biomass fuels, mainly firewood. Focusing on the rural households, a report by the Beijer Institute (1984) clearly argued that cooking is the main use of energy and that the fuel wood is by far the most used fuel type; while the report by Mahiri (2001) acknowledges “In Kenya, it is estimated that 71% of annual energy consumption is fuelled by wood, mainly as fuel wood for cooking and heating in rural areas”
The energy saving stove is a biomass stove designed for burning wood that is transportable. The replacement of traditional stoves by energy saving stoves improves heat transfer, hence reducing the total amount of fuel required for cooking and reducing amount of green house gas emitted into the atmosphere. The current cooking practice in Kenya is the use of the “three stone” cooking stove, popularly known as traditional stoves and concerns around 90% of rural low-income homes. This kind of stove burns large amounts of fuel wood in a very inefficient way. The use of traditional stoves has negative impacts at different levels, both social and environmental. Indeed, the combustion of the non-renewable fraction of woody biomass of the cooking fuel generates Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and as a substantial amount of wood is needed, increases deforestation. Concerning the social level, large amounts of smoke are released when cooking with a traditional stove, which are harmful for the health. This has subjected women to increased labour and time in fetching fire wood, depletion of vegetation cover, indoor air pollution, fire hazards and prolonged cooking time. All these have impacted negatively towards household food security and livelihoods. The problems faced by women and the environment can be reduced and even avoided through sensitization on the wise use of the scarce resources using efficient technologies that will assist them work in harmony with the environment. Therefore, the adoption of trees planting and the Wood fuel Energy Saving Stove. Goal:
To enhance community environmental conservation for sustainable livelihoods in Lower Nyakach Division. Objectives
• To promote trees planting in Lower Nyakach Division.
• To promote awareness on best practices in environmental conservation by the end of 2020 period
• To promote initiatives that will reduce pressure on land use by 2020
• To mainstream of HIV/AIDs and gender as cross-cutting issues in development. Strategies
• Community mobilization
• Training/capacity building
• Tree Nurseries establishments
• Tree planting
• Energy saving stoves
Expected impacts
• Through the environment conservation and agro forestry farming systems there will be increased vegetation cover, rehabilitation of degraded lands and restoration of ecosystems and micro-climates and improved health to the communities.
• As a result of rehabilitation and conservation of environment and management of natural resources the community will be able to access clean water hence reduction of distances to water points and minimize the incidences of water borne diseases.
• Through mobilization and awareness creation and trainings, community members will own the process and this will lead to increased gender participation in community development and sensitization.
• With the adoption of appropriate skill, trees planting culture and energy saving stoves technologies there will be increased household incomes through sale of seedlings and woods products.
• Increased food production due to savings on man hours used to look for firewood by children and women. Sustainability
Through the training leaders and members on the appropriate skills on trees planting and environmental conservation, leadership and management, the same skills learnt will be extended to the general community members who in return will practice the same. Awareness creation on the importance of trees planting and environmental conservation will necessitate the adoption of the culture of environmental conservation which is expected to continue even when the funding is not forthcoming. Other neighboring communities will duplicate the same efforts in a copy cut model due to the realized benefits as a result of the projects successful implementation thus triggering of a multiplier effects and sustainability. Effects of restored environment will have a long lasting and multiplier effects to the community’s life such that they would not like to reverse back to the current situation. This factor will make the community naturally protect the project benefits and put efforts to multiply it.
