Community Climate Visit

We visited Easy Urban Green Growth, a group that practices urban farming techniques; Lucky Summer Environmental Waste Management Organisation, responsible for solid waste management in Mathare River and surrounding areas, as well as reforesting the river banks; and Kombgreen, who are reclaiming landfills along Nairobi River’s riparian land and transforming spaces into an urban green park.

Stanley Oguka, Chief Environment Officer, Ruaraka Sub-county welcomed the group and shared their activities  mapping out the effects of the flooding on communities and providing shelter for affected families at nearby schools. He thanked the team for visiting at such a time and iterated that supporting these local Community Based Organisations is what will scale their impact and build capacity for preparation and adaptation to climate change.

Easy Urban Green Growers

Easy Urban Green Growers is a collective of youths practicing urban farming in Baba Dogo, along the banks of the Nairobi River. They run hydroponic kitchen gardens, farm poultry, plant trees, and set up nurseries.

John Davis, the Youth Leader at Easy Urban Green Growers, shared the group’s dedication to improving food security in the area by providing training to the community in urban farming techniques on small plots of land. The group has also been gathering and recycling used milk bags, which they use for planting trees or selling, as well as supporting local artists.

However, their site was flooded during the recent heavy rains, resulting in the loss of 300 kilograms of recycled milk bags that were intended for planting trees. The well that provides water to the hydroponics farm was also damaged and the water supply compromised.

Lucky Summer Environmental Waste Management Organisation

Lucky Summer Environmental Waste Management Organization (LEWMO) is a collective of youth groups in Lucky Summer Ward dedicated to managing solid waste in the Mathare River area and its surroundings.

LEWMO is involved in various initiatives such as aqua farming, solid waste management including plastic and e-waste, and reforestation of the riparian land along Nairobi River.

NCN members had the opportunity to see a young forest planted by LEWMO and a solid waste sorting center where waste is segregated and value assigned to each waste. Malvin Ochieng, the founder and director of LEWMO, explained their approach to implementing a circular economy by ensuring that all collected waste is returned to the manufacturers for a fee as part of the new Extended Producer Responsibility laws in Kenya.

“Our efforts aim to reduce the amount of solid waste that ends up in landfills,” said Alvin Ochieng, Founder of LEWMO.

Despite their reforestation efforts, LEWMO experienced a setback when they lost 3000 bamboo seedlings, swept away by the recent flooding.

Kombgreen Solutions

Kombgreen Solutions is a community-based organization located in Korogocho. Its main focus is on rehabilitating the Nairobi River and reclaiming the surrounding riparian land. In 2018, Kombgreen mobilised the community to transform an old, unsafe dumpsite into an urban green park, which is now known as Korogocho People’s Park.

According to a report by the European Commission’s Joint Research Center on “Enhancing the Resilience of Urban Infrastructure through Green Infrastructure,” green spaces in urban areas offer numerous benefits, including improved air quality, reduced noise, and enhanced biodiversity. 

Projects like the People’s Park provide a wide range of social and environmental advantages. These include an improved quality of life, a heightened sense of safety and security, and reduced air pollution.

“The transformation of this area from a landfill to a green park saw the security of the area greatly improve. Women and children had a place where they could come to relax, enjoy some fresh air, and play,“ said Faris Kahuha, Chairman of Kombgreen Solutions.

However, the recent El Niño rains caused flooding of the Nairobi River, the destruction of Korogocho People’s Park and the disruption of Kombgreen’s urban farming hydroponics projects. The floods cut off their  electricity supply, preventing water from being pumped through the pipes and killing the plants.

NCN members shared a conversation with the local chiefs and community groups at the end of the visit. Through this visit, we aimed to build connections between our members and these community groups on the ground, as well as share their stories to a wider audience. All three organisations need funding to restore the projects destroyed by the floods and to expand their impact within their communities. To support their work, reach out to: Easy Urban Green Growers, LEWMO and Kombgreen Solutions. For any further questions or connections please email us at [email protected].

NCN would like to express our gratitude to our members who braved the rain and took part in the community visit. We want to especially thank Slum Dwellers International Kenya, with a special mention to Nicera Wanjiru, for their assistance in mobilising the community groups.