Tree Planting in Schools within Naivasha

BDP’s pilot project worked with government-owned secondary schools enabling the project to benefit learner populations in technology transfer of best practices in environmental conservation, re-forestation, and agri-business. Many participants in the school population are children from vulnerable economic backgrounds.

BDP also works with households adjacent to the schools especially girls many of whom drop out of school on account of early pregnancy, women especially widows and single mothers who are the main beneficiaries of small non-productive farms in the community, those with physical impairments, and orphans especially those orphaned by HIV/AIDS and the post election violence of 2007/2008. 

In 2013 BDP planted tree seedlings, herbs, and spice shoots in the schools benefitting from the tree planting pilot project. The mature trees help mitigate the low forest cover in the area caused by wanton felling of trees for wood fuel. Because these trees are in schools, they are better protected from loggers and thus help to keep a higher forest cover in Naivasha.

In addition to hardy trees, the pilot project also planted herbs and spices. Naivasha being semi arid and prone to prolonged dry seasons requires tree species that grow with minimum watering requirements for the shoot to take and grow. BDP focuses on herbs and spices that are mainly wild plants and therefore have an inherently higher resistance to drought. The presence of these shrubs adds to vegetation cover in the region.

The children benefitting from the technology transfer in the pilot Project are from surrounding homes where the community practices subsistence farming. The main crops in these small farms are maize and beans. These crops within this region often fail to mature when the rains fail. As the learners acquire the principles to plant, tend and grow the trees they will transfer technology to their families. This will cause penetration of the new crop options of the surrounding communities.