By Jon Zirkle
Mennonite Men’s JoinTrees campaign is proud to support a project in Kenya from Wakulima ni Sisi (We Are The Farmers) called “Trees for Food, Peace and Ecological Healing”. Not only is this project generating native and edible trees and perennial crops but also providing education about regenerative agriculture to farmers, schools, and local communities in Kenya and beyond.
Samuel Lasiti and Ariana Perez Diener are the leaders of this project. I spoke with them a few months ago by Zoom to learn more about the project and their lives in Kenya. They shared that their location is quite dry and it is a challenge to retain the little moisture they receive from rainfall. Practices like mulching, using biochar, and digging swales help slow down and retain precipitation. Samuel and Ariana are promoting native trees and plants which are better adapted to the climate. They are certified in permaculture, are trained in coppicing and silvopasturing, and both have worked on diverse farms in the US and elsewhere. They also have been offering trainings to local farmers on sustainable practices for over a year now. They plan to grow many trees from seed for this nursery project. Clearly they care deeply about God’s creation and being stewards.
“We do a lot of seed collecting when we go on walks,” they told me.
Farmers in this part of Kenya face many challenges. Overgrazing is a problem, and it is tempting for farmers to graze their animals in areas where trees have been planted. Most tree nurseries sell exotic trees and the nearest tree nursery is over two hours away. And in this part of the world, it’s possible for elephants to come through the area, making it important to put up fencing on new plantings.
These challenges don’t appear to stop Samuel and Ariana and the We Are the Farmers group to have big ambitions. With help from the JoinTrees grant funding from Mennonite Men, they plan to plant over 24,000 trees, plant trees in partnership local schools, teach workshops for farmers for 50 farmers in the area selected for training. These farmers will receive 200-250 trees for their farms depending on how larger their farms are.
Mennonite Men is so excited to support this work and to be part of a growing community of Earth stewards to raise and plant native trees, increase food security, and be part of healing God’s creation around the world.
To learn more about We Are The Farmers and their impressive work, visit their website at https://wearethefarmers.org.