The issue of climate change and environmental degradation is a critical problem for the city of Mandera. This challenge affects the city broadly, encompassing both its natural environment and its urban population.

Mandera faces a semi-arid climate characterised by scorching temperatures, minimal rainfall and recurring droughts. The adverse effects of climate change, including prolonged droughts, have devastated the region’s ecosystem. This has led to soil erosion, loss of vegetation and degradation of the landscape. Without intervention, this environmental degradation would persist and worsen, leaving Mandera even more vulnerable to extreme weather events and desertification.

Without a greening initiative, the city’s liveability would remain compromised, affecting the wellbeing of its urban population. By strategically planting and nurturing trees, green spaces have been created that provide shade, cool the environment, and enhance the quality of life for our citizens. Additionally, this program offers stable employment opportunities to vulnerable individuals, boosting their economic wellbeing and reducing disputes within families and communities.

Nature Positive Solutions

The issue of climate change and environmental degradation is a critical problem for the city of Mandera. This challenge affects the city broadly, encompassing both its natural environment and its urban population.

Mandera faces a semi-arid climate characterised by scorching temperatures, minimal rainfall and recurring droughts. The adverse effects of climate change, including prolonged droughts, have devastated the region’s ecosystem. This has led to soil erosion, loss of vegetation and degradation of the landscape. Without intervention, this environmental degradation would persist and worsen, leaving Mandera even more vulnerable to extreme weather events and desertification.

Without a greening initiative, the city’s liveability would remain compromised, affecting the wellbeing of its urban population. By strategically planting and nurturing trees, green spaces have been created that provide shade, cool the environment, and enhance the quality of life for our citizens. Additionally, this program offers stable employment opportunities to vulnerable individuals, boosting their economic wellbeing and reducing disputes within families and communities.

Multi-Stakeholder Support

The initiative enjoys extensive support from a wide range of stakeholders, showcasing strong participation and cross-disciplinary collaboration.

 Indigenous communities within Mandera Municipality actively participate in the program. They have embraced tree nurturing and replication within their communities, demonstrating a deep sense of ownership and commitment. This grassroots support is pivotal in ensuring the program’s sustainability.

Youth, an integral part of the program, actively engage in tree nurturing. Local schools, including Moi Girls and Mandera Secondary School, have fully embraced the initiative, involving teachers and students in tree nurturing and replication. This engagement fosters environmental stewardship from an early age, promoting a culture of sustainability.

 Support has been garnered from local businesses and professionals who recognise the program’s transformative potential. Strong political support from County government officials and NGOs has been instrumental in the program’s ongoing success. They have allocated resources and advocated for its expansion, ensuring its continued growth and impact.

The initiative is built on a foundation of feasibility, with ongoing financial and logistical support ensuring the achievement of both short-term and long-term goals.

Consistent funding from local government authorities has been secured, which demonstrates their commitment to the program. These funds cover the operational costs, including stipends for participants, tree nurseries and water management infrastructure. Furthermore, our success has attracted additional funding from both governmental and non-governmental organisations, enhancing our financial sustainability.

The program inherently promotes cross-disciplinary collaboration by addressing environmental, economic and social dimensions. It integrates indigenous knowledge, water management, climate resilience and community engagement, bringing together various sectors and disciplines to achieve a common goal. Broad stakeholder support, ranging from local communities to businesses, professionals, government bodies and NGOs, underscores its multi-level, multi-sectoral and cross-disciplinary collaboration, ensuring its holistic approach to addressing Mandera’s challenges.

The initiative has profoundly transformed Mandera Municipality. The landscape is slowly changing from a dusty town to a lush, green hub. Trees provide shade, cool breezes, and a more pleasant environment for residents, enhancing their quality of life. Vulnerable individuals now have a steady source of income and indigenous communities have embraced the program, replicating it in their communities and schools. This sense of ownership ensures the initiative’s long-term sustainability.

A robust monitoring and reporting system has been established to track tree growth, water infrastructure maintenance and the economic impact on participants. This data-driven approach helps identify issues promptly and ensures efficient management.

The success of the initiative has influenced local policy and planning. The Mandera Municipality has incorporated our afforestation program into its official policy documents, recognising the significance of climate adaptation and sustainable development. This integration showcases the enduring impact of this initiative on the city’s future planning and policy decisions. The ongoing financial support of the initiative, robust logistical framework, and its influence on local policy and planning underscore its feasibility and long-term sustainability.

Mandera’s environment is unforgiving, with extreme temperatures, minimal precipitation and recurrent droughts. The need for change was evident. High poverty and unemployment rates also prompted the creation a program that not only addresses climate challenges, but also provides stable income opportunities for the vulnerable. 

Lessons Learned

Throughout the design and implementation of the Mandera Municipality Afforestation Program, improvements have actively incorporated based on monitoring and feedback from external stakeholders. These adaptations have been crucial in enhancing the initiative’s success.

External stakeholders, including local NGOs and community leaders, provided insights into enhancing community engagement. As a result, we expanded our awareness campaigns, targeting schools and youth to foster environmental stewardship from an early age.

 We recognised the importance of long-term funding for program sustainability. External funding agencies and partners have been instrumental in securing financial support and ensuring that our initiative remains well-funded.

Collaboration with external environmental experts and ecologists enriched our understanding of local ecosystems, helping us choose tree species suitable for Mandera’s climate. This knowledge exchange improved tree survival rates and overall program effectiveness.

Transferability

The Mandera Municipality Afforestation Program has garnered attention from other cities and regions, serving as a source of inspiration and a model for customised urban greening initiatives.

Neighbouring municipalities facing similar climate challenges have expressed keen interest in replicating our program. They recognise that our initiative offers a viable solution to combat arid conditions and extreme temperatures while enhancing climate resilience. The success stories emerging from Mandera have piqued their curiosity and motivated them to consider similar interventions.

The program is adaptable and can be tailored to suit the unique circumstances of different cities and regions. Whether addressing water scarcity, extreme temperatures or economic empowerment, the principles of our afforestation approach can be customised to align with local priorities. This flexibility makes it a compelling model for cities with diverse challenges.

The team actively share our experiences, knowledge and best practices with interested cities, facilitating a collaborative exchange of ideas and strategies. This knowledge-sharing fosters a network of urban areas committed to green initiatives, amplifying the collective impact on a regional and even global scale.

Video “Greening Mandera” Download