4HMT-KENYA Project

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The 4-H Million Trees Project has partnered with Trees for the Future (TREES) and the Wide Rescue Initiative Organization (WIRIO) to support tree nursery projects in rural villages in southwestern Kenya. The pilot project consists of 10,000-seed nurseries in ten villages. If the pilot project is successful, additional villages will be added to the project. Thanks to the expertise of Dickson Omandi, the 4HMT-KENYA Country Coordinator, and the villagers who care for the trees, the plants are thriving and many have already been planted in the ground.

4HMT-KENYA is a service-learning project, and the National Wildlife Federation has contributed its excellent “Trees for the 21st Century” curricula so the youth in the villages can learn about the importance of trees, both from Dickson, and from their school teachers. The youth also participate in the project by planting seeds, and caring for the plants. These kids will also help plant the trees and can be proud as they watch them grow strong.

Paulino Damiano of TREES has selected a variety of super-trees for this project. They can provide food, shelter, building materials, habitat for animals, medicines, fodder, nectar, nitrogen fixing, and much more.

Please learn more about:

Moringa oleifera, Leucaena diversifolia, Vitex Keniensis, Casuarina junghuhniana, Senna Siamea, Cordia Abyssinica, Grevillea Robusta, Acrocurpus Fraxinifolius, Sesbania Sesban, Sesbania Grandiflora, Leucaena Leucocephala, Azadirachta Indica, Markhamia Lutea, Croton Megalocurpus, Spathodea Nilotica, Acacia spp, and Senna Spectabilis.

4HMT youth project members are working hard to raise grant funding to extend 4HMT-KENYA. It is critical to plant more trees in Kenya because over 98% of the forest has been cut, primarily for cooking fuel. Loss of forest leads to soil loss, and desertification. We want these trees to continue to grow for many years to help slow global climate change. Therefore we hope to introduce solar cookers into the villages so the trees are not harvested for cooking.

4HMT-KENYA shares many of the goals of the famous Green Belt Movement founded by Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai. The kids in these villages can feel proud to follow in her footsteps and do their part to help conserve their environment.

Below are two videos showing the work being done by the KENYA-4HMT Project.