The Kenya Forest Service (KFS), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) will collaborate with the Trans Nzoia and Bungoma County governments under a program called the Integrated Landscape Management for Conservation and Restoration of the Mt. Elgon Ecosystem.
Trans Nzoia Governor George Natembeya, following a meeting with the leadership of these organizations, announced that the program has been allocated over Ksh 683 million and will run for the next five years.
The initiative aims to empower farmers to engage in agroforestry, allowing them to farm within the forest while planting trees to create mutual benefits.
Kenya Forest Service representative Charity Muthami said that the program will also contribute to the national goal of planting 15 billion trees by 2032. She added that the program targets 7,000 hectares and aims to benefit 10,000 community members in both Trans Nzoia and Bungoma counties and “by the end of five years, the program will have benefited 60,000 farmers.”
