Long-Term Food Security for 4000 Samburus in Kenya

Thank you to everyone who donated on “Giving Tuesday”. Together, you helped us raise over $4500 for the Samburu people! Those funds will go directly towards the goal of long term food security in Samburu County. Now here’s a bit about what we’ve been up to recently at Sadhana Forest Kenya.

Although we have fewer volunteers at this time, we have not slowed down on our important work but we have shifted our tactics in order to make the best use of this unusual dynamic. Not being able to travel too far from home has presented the opportunity to further develop infrastructure at the Community Agro-Forestry Learning Center. That includes increasing the output of our tree nurseries to ensure a variety of species are always ready to plant. Excitingly, we have begun to harvest seeds from some of our earliest planted trees.

We really miss collaborating with schools since the covid-19 closures, but we’re so grateful to be able to provide similar learning opportunities and practical experience to children safely at their homes. They are keen to get involved with planting trees and gardens as well as the subsequent care. It is encouraging to see this enthusiasm and to know that they will always have this knowledge – for their futures and to pass on to those who come after them.

With more rain recently, has come a burst of growth in the area and we are continuing to see great success with the intensive Permaculture plots that we have implemented. We will keep checking in on those as well as creating new ones. Depending on factors such as the size of the family’s land, these projects range from small kitchen gardens with a few food-producing trees to extensive Permaculture designs with over a hundred trees. When it comes to providing water for these gardens, we can only hope that the rain continues and we know to prepare for the inevitable drought. We are currently organizing the means to deliver substantial water to the surrounding community, free of cost.

FYI: To help grow our monthly support base, GlobalGiving is offering a 200% match on all new monthly donations set up between now and Friday (Terms and Conditions). This is a great way to make your donation go further!

As always, we would like to thank all of you for supporting the vital work of Sadhana Forest Kenya and we are grateful to GlobalGiving for this wonderful platform with which to reach you. If you are interested in providing us feedback concerning our project, finding out more about our activities or area of operation, or would like to volunteer with us, please email us at kenya@sadhanaforest.org. We also strongly encourage you to provide feedback at the end of this report.

Ashe Oleng! (“Thank you very much!” in Kisamburu)