Kenya community action

The aim of this page is to recognise, celebrate and encourage the self-empowerment of community agency networks (CANs) and community groups' activism for climate, environment and many other sustainability topics across Kenya. Kenya community resources is a separate page.

News

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‘Global weirding’: climate whiplash hitting world’s biggest cities, study reveals, theguardian.com (Mar 12, 2025)
To help save a species Mountain bongo antelope fly from Florida to Kenya, news.mongabay.com (Feb 27, 2025)
People already live alongside predators in India and Kenya – here’s how it could work in Scotland, theconversation.com (Dec 19, 2024)

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Video

Networks and sustainability initiatives

OTEPIC, Organic Technology Extension and Promotion of Initiative Centre
The Green Belt Movement, The Green Belt Movement (GBM) is an indigenous grassroots non-governmental organization based in Nairobi, Kenya that takes a holistic approach to development by focusing on environmental conservation, community development and capacity building. Professor Wangari Maathai established the organization in 1977, under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya.

The Green Belt Movement organises women in rural Kenya to plant trees, combat deforestation, restore their main source of fuel for cooking, generate income, and stop soil erosion. Maathai has incorporated advocacy and empowerment for women, eco-tourism, and just economic development into the Green Belt Movement.

Since Maathai started the movement in 1977, over 51 million trees have been planted. Over 30,000 women trained in forestry, food processing, bee-keeping, and other trades that help them earn income while preserving their lands and resources. Communities in Kenya (both men and women) have been motivated and organised to both prevent further environmental destruction and restore that which has been damaged.

In 2004, Wangari Maathai received the Nobel Peace Prize – becoming the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize – for her work with the Green Belt Movement.

Communities online

Ushahidi, youtube: Ushahidi's channel

Ushahidi, Inc. is a non-profit software company that develops free and open-source software (LGPL) for information collection, visualisation, and interactive mapping. Ushahidi (Swahili for "testimony" or "witness") created a website in the aftermath of Kenya's disputed 2007 presidential election that collected eyewitness reports of violence reported by email and text message and placed them on a Google Maps map.

The organisation uses the concept of crowdsourcing for social activism and public accountability, serving as an initial model for what has been coined as "activist mapping"—the combination of social activism, citizen journalism and geospatial information. Ushahidi offers products that enable local observers to submit reports using their mobile phones or the internet, while simultaneously creating a temporal and geospatial archive of events.

Community and voluntary action

Taka Nimali is a community action that rewards Kenyas to clean up plastic waste for recycling. The grassroots organisation provides recycling points, making it easy for collectors to exchange plastic trash for money.
Art Outreach Programme

Climate action

Solar Freeze, 2021 Winner, Humanitarian Energy Award, ashden.org

Biodiversity

Nashulai Maasai Conservancy, "community-owned wildlife conservancy—created, managed by and for the Maasai people who own not just the land but also direct the initiative." added 21:30, 19 October 2022 (UTC)
PORINI Welfare Association, Kenya based non-profit organization
Darwin initiative projects in Kenya

Trees, woodland and forest

Roots Movement

About Kenya

Environmental issues in Kenya include deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, water shortage and degraded water quality, flooding, poaching, and domestic and industrial pollution.

Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya (Swahili: Jamhuri ya Kenya), is a country in Eastern Africa. At 580,367 square kilometres (224,081 sq mi), Kenya is the world's 48th largest country by total area. With a population of more than 47.6 million people, Kenya is the 29th most populous country. Kenya's capital and largest city is Nairobi, while its oldest city and first capital is the coastal city of Mombasa. Kisumu City is the third largest city and also an inland port on Lake Victoria. Other important urban centres include Nakuru and Eldoret. As of 2020, Kenya is the third largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria and South Africa. Kenya is bordered by South Sudan to the northwest, Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the east, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and the Indian Ocean to the southeast.

Near you

Nairobi