Tukuze Kilifi – Growing Trees & Livelihoods in Coastal Kenya

GOAL

To improve the climate adaptation and environmental resilience of 12,500 smallholder households in 5 wards of Kilifi County by implementing a cashew agroforestry model, improving regenerative agricultural knowledge and skills amongst communities, and encouraging the cultivation of drought-resistant staple foods.

LOCATION

Kilifi County, Kenya

DURATION-

2024

-

2025

FARMERS

12,500

VALUE CHAINS

Cashew, Finger Millet, Moringa

PARTNERS

ETG Climate Solutions

FUNDING

USD 900,000

Tukuze Kilifi – Growing Trees & Livelihoods in Coastal Kenya

In January 2024, ETG Climate Solutions joined forces with Empowering Farmers Foundation (EFF) for the Kenyan launch of the ETG Emerging Farmer Carbon Abatement Program.

The new project, called Tukuze Kilifi (which means Grow Kilifi in Swahili), aims to plant one million trees in one year and improve the livelihoods of 12,500 households in the Kenya coastal region. Small-scale farmers are being introduced to a unique cashew agroforestry model, including moringa, indigenous trees and finger millet.

A visit by Global Head of Climate Solutions Ilya Tyuvildin in March coincided with extensive press coverage of the project in local and national newspaper, TV and radio channels, arising from the scope and scale of the initiative, which is closely aligned with the national government’s ambitious agenda of planting 15 billion trees across Kenya.

This holistic model provides both long and short-term benefits such as income through cashew, increased biodiversity, the food and medicinal values of moringa, the fertilizing effect of indigenous trees, and the nutritional benefits of finger millet. ETG Climate Solutions will sell the carbon credits from the CO2 sequestered by growing trees on the voluntary market, which will allow the project activities to be funded and scaled up across more wards and counties.

12,500 households have been onboarded and mapped. Fifteen community-based nurseries will raise 600,000 cashew seedlings and 500,000 moringa seedlings. 650 elected lead farmers will receive extensive training and extension, while they cascade this knowledge amongst their farmer groups to ensure that the land is suitably prepared and that households are equipped to plant and look after their trees properly.

Seedling distribution and planting is planned for the 2024 long rainy season (April – June).Farmers will receive more coaching on tree maintenance, water conservation and soil fertility as well as training and cooking demonstrations on finger millet, a traditional crop that is being reintroduced to the region because of its climate resistance and nutritional value. All households will also receive enough finger millet seeds to plant on a quarter acre each.

The launch serves as a proof of concept for ETG Climate Solutions as they scale up agroforestry in the coming years across Kenya, and build in interventions such as cookstove distribution, biomass collection, and the production of biochar.

Agricultural Productivity: Enhance agricultural productivity through sustainable and climate-smart practices, improved access to quality seeds, fertilisers, and modern technologies, and training for small-scale farmers. b. Irrigation and Water Management: Promote water conservation techniques, efficient irrigation systems, and integrated water resource management to ensure a reliable water supply for agriculture. c. Diversification: Encourage crop diversification to enhance food availability and household nutrition by promoting the cultivation of smart food crops and high-value crops for increased income generation. d. Storage and Distribution: Strengthen post-harvest management and improve storage infrastructure to reduce household food losses; and promote efficient aggregation systems for improved inputs distribution and access to markets. e. Market Linkages & Financial Services: Support the establishment or farmer cooperatives/ organisations for effective produce aggregation and market linkages, and provide technical assistance to enable small-scale producers to access domestic and international markets and financial services, fostering income generation and economic growth. f. Skills Training and Capacity Building: Facilitate agronomic training, entrepreneurship development, and business management skills to enhance the capacity of smallholder farmers and communities to generate sustainable incomes.
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