KEEPING EARTH
Working towards the preservation and restoration of critical environments to enhance biodiversity and promote sustainable development.
East Africa has among the most unique, breathtaking and diverse ecosystems on earth. Beyond their value to regional economies from tourist income and other resource utilization, is their intrinsic value. They form a critical part of the created order - humanity and the cosmos looses and is threatened when these environments are threatened as is increasingly the case.
Africa Exchange realizes there are many factors at play in environmental preservation and conservation. We seek to raise awareness of the relationships between poverty reduction, population growth, biodiversity preservation, consumption of natural resources, pollution and climate change.
Exposure to and conservation of unique environments
Through our partnership with The Maa Trust, we support community activities and networks that promote an awareness of the interdependency between people and wildlife in the Masai Mara region of Kenya. These objectives are achieved through environmental education, alternative incomes training for women and youth and support for appropriate technology initiatives such as off-grid solar power generation.
Trees for Life!
This is our flagship environmental program which facilitates tree planting at each of our Integrated Child Development Centers. Students enrolled at our ICDC units are provided seedlings from our tree nurseries and assisted to plant one tree per term (3 per year) on family or communal land. Seedlings provided are a mixture of mostly indigenous trees that are planted to stem erosion, preserve soil structure, sequester carbon and supplement nutrition. Instead of exotic mono crop varieties, we plant trees according to the following schedule - Term 1, mti was maana (significant indigenous varieties for timber or agroforestry; mti wa matunda (fruit trees that supplement nutrition); mti wa maridadi (ornamental flowering trees for beauty).Trees are geo-tagged at the time of planting and protected by the beneficiaries. Families are incentivized with a modest payment for each tree that survives one year.
Malisho Mazuri (Good Grasslands)
In some regions, due to climate, moisture, wildlife and other factors, we promote the rehabilitation of grasslands rather than tree planting. Malisho Mazuri (good grassland) sources indigenous seed varieties to plant in fenced paddocks that provide community members with thatch for roofing and hay for cattle during times of drought.
Bee Cause
In a few communities we promote beekeeping through the establishment of apiaries, honey collection and marketing for income generation. Honey is collected, packaged and sold under our “BeeCause” label with all proceeds going for the purchase of additional hives for additional apiary sites.
