Afforestation & Reforestation Project

The low forest cover has a negative impact on farm produce yield and endangers food security. More than two thirds of food produce is imported into the Siaya County. Based on land availability Siaya County should be able to provide for itself and, beyond that, supply other parts of the country with food produce. The families (smallholder farmers) and the community Sauti Kuu works with in Alego Nyangoma, Siaya County, have in the norm a lot of land. The expectation is that they subsequently have a lot of forest cover. But instead Siaya County, an area of about 2,496 km² with a population of close to 993,183, only has approx. 2% forest cover. The lack of forest cover is as a result of the felling of trees for firewood (charcoal) for domestic use. Sauti Kuu is working to reverse this situation through the initiation of the afforestation and reforestation initiative in Alego Nyangoma. The purpose of the project is to: 

• Influence the rainfall patterns in the area and increase crop yield;
• Create the traditional live (tree) hedges that originally surrounded Luo homesteads to increase forest cover in the area;
• Create the traditional live (tree) hedges to provide dry twigs and branches for use for cooking, as was done traditionally, and so discourage felling of trees for firewood.
• Create the traditional live (tree) hedges to act as security fencing, protect from intruders, and provide fruit for consumption and income-generation.