A section of a food forest in Kilifi County
For years, many Kenyan communities have relied on donor funding and external support in order to solve the challenges facing their members. From sanitation, food security to climate change, Kenyans in many rural communities have largely benefited from the goodwill of foreign non profit organizations and individual philanthropists.
Kaembeni area, Magarini sub county in Kilifi County is one such community. For the locals here, financing of education and climate change has been boosted in a big way by charitable organizations. But 25 years ago, the community chose to drive local philanthropy to address their most pressing needs.
“We started the annual Iftar dinner’ that brings together diverse religious leaders, community leaders and ordinary members of the community to give towards the challenges facing Magarini sub county. Fortunately, we have seen the community and even political and religious leaders embrace this concept with a positive attitude,” said Emmanuel Jilo, head of programmes at Malindi Education and Development Foundation (MEDA-F) .
This year alone, the dinner raised Ksh 8 million. “We normally sit down with the board members, and the board of Trustee and plan and settle on the most prudent way to utilise what we have received and have the maximum impact for the community we serve. Through adopting the local philanthropy model, where communities own the projects and feel part of them, we are assured of sustainability,” he added.
Embracing local philanthropy for climate change and education
According to Jilo, the Annual Iftar Dinner is a very important event not just for MEDA-F but the entire community they operate in. He explained: “We take advantage of the month of giving. We reach out to local business people, political leaders, national political leaders, philanthropists, even ordinary locals. We meet, eat together, share ideas of how we can make our community better and raise funds for the community.”
“No amount is small for us. There are those who will give as little as Ksh 20, and we appreciate that alot. It shows that the community is embracing what we are doing and they believe in it. We also use this moment to advocate for harmony amongst community members.”
The organization’s focus on educational institutions is strategic, to ensure sustainability of the initiative. “The main reason we do this through schools is the security of what we plant. It is not just a matter of planting, but growing the tree. Taking care of the tree to maturity is a big factor for us. A school set up provides perfect environment to ensure what is planted is well taken care of. Through school set up, we are also able to reach locals in their homes. Sometimes, we have parents participate in these learning sessions and also planting sessions. Also, we have students who, after learning the tree planting concept in school, they go and replicate the same at home. We have schools that several years ago looked bare, but today they are very green and beautiful. The food forests are also helping schools improve their nutrition. For instance, the fruits are serves as part of the meal.”
The community philanthropy drives have seen key political leaders join the annual event, a gesture Jilo said validates their concept of having the community take lead in addressing their needs. “Our current President, William Ruto has come twice during our previous fundraisings. This year, our Chief Guest was the then Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua and the President had sent him with his donation. Our focus is everyone to be part of change, to participate in addressing the challenges facing our communities.”
Community-led solutions for climate change mitigation
From the proceeds of the annual Iftar Dinner, MEDA-F has implemented a climate change project, primarily focusing on clean cooking and tree growing within the area. The organization has provided over 500 seedlings to the schools who have in turn grown these trees within the school compounds and at the homes of the students. Kaembeni Secondary School is one of the areas of implementation. “We do our projects through established education institutions like primary schools, secondary schools and vocational centres. We started with 15 schools in Magarini, now we are dealing with 42 schools, both primary and secondary schools and 6 vocational institutions. One of the projects we have been having with these schools is the concept of Food Forests. Here, we work closely with students and teachers to plant fruit trees in schools,” explains Jilo.
Karisa Mohammed Koi is one of the tree growing champions through this initiative. He is the leader of Kaembeni Wildlife Club of Kenya. The Form Four student says he was inspired by the late Prof. Wangari Mathai who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in environmental conservation.
We have planted over 500 seedlings. “We were inspired by the effects of climate change in this area. Tree growing helped attract rains and keep the environment beautiful. Over half of the school is in the club. I am in Form Four and I am happy that I have inspired many students. It is my dream that this will be a model club to other schools in the country, to inspire more young people to take part in addressing climate change,” says Karisa.
While students like Karisa and his peers at the Wildlife club may not have financial resources to directly address the challenges facing their community, their way of giving through tree growing contributes to a safer, greener environment. This is the power of local philanthropy.
Jilo says that for a long time, there has been a notion that the challenges in our communities can only be addressed by foreign donors.
“We are a people who are the solution to our challenges. When it comes, let the foreign support only come to boost what we have already established as a community. Let this support find us already addressing our problems.”
In order to maintain the life of the trees planted, the students take full responsibility of taking care of the trees. In addition, they make the same efforts to grow fruit trees in their homes, educating their family members on the need for environmental conservation through tree growing.
Festus Mwasambu, a teacher at Kaembeni Secondary school is the Wildlife Kenya chairperson in Magarini sub county in Kilifi county. Mwasambu also teaches the community on how to maximise their available land resources to grow fruit trees to address food security in the region while keeping the environment beautiful. He added: “I believe that as a community, we are are reducing the carbon in the environment by growing fruit trees. I also want to ensure that communities fo not leve their land bare and that they can practice farming and agroforestry so that they can get food from their resources.”
As at May 7, 2024, Mwasambu had planted over 6,000 trees both at the school and in different farms within Kaembeni region of Kilifi County.
MEDA-F is partnering with the County Government of Kilifi to teach people on grafting. One fruit tree seedling costs about Ksh 350. Through training sessions the county government agricultural extension officers, parents are able to propagate their own seedlings through grafting. Once the locals acquire these skills, they teach more of their own.
This story was produced with support from the Africa Philanthropy Network
