Kilifi is a county found in the Coastal region in Kenya. It is rated as an arid and semi-arid location where the rainfall that is received is not enough to enable farmers to plant crops and keep their livestock all year in. After spending over four years in Kilifi and visiting one hundred schools in the County I discovered that the leaders in the schools located in the deep villages in the County still suffer from Malnutrition. This is due to the fact that the community cannot be able to provide a balanced diet to the school going children. One reason being the crops planted and the ones which are affordable in the food market is mostly starch that is Maize and Cassava. The students  not only suffer from malnutrition but also lack a safe space from the hot sun to rest during the hot sun in Nov to  Feb. Most of the schools do not have shade and fruit trees for the students to sit under and eat. 

Onemilliontrees4kilifi seeing that Kilifi County should  be at per in  achieving SDG 1 (No Poverty) , SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 4 ( Quality Education) and SDG 13 (Climate Action), we started the goal of planting fruit trees in over 400 schools in the region. We choose schools because schools have vast land which is not to be used, they also have students who will help in looking after the trees and lastly the most of them have water sources which will be used to water the trees during the extreme harsh conditions . Schools make this project very sustainable.

The importance of microclimate schools include :

• The fruit trees will provide fruit in future to the school going children, this will help reduce the rate of Children suffering from Malnutrition thus helping the region achieve SDG 2 ( Zero Hunger)
• By having fruits from the planted trees in schools, the children will be motivated to go school thus increasing the rate of children attending school. Most of the students fail to attend school due to lack of something to put in their mouth. We therefore will achieve SDG 4 (Quality Education)
• Fruit trees will help to restore the degraded land and restore the damaged ecosystem in the region. Fruit trees are known to have flours which attract bees and butterflies which are the main agents of pollination. More pollination results in more trees growing thus increasing the level of rainfall in the region. We refer to it as calling back the rains 
• By involving the young generation in tree planting we are able to shape the future generation in the matters of environmental conservation and ecosystem restoration.

Afforestation and Reforestation 

Afforestation is the planting of trees in regions where trees were not there and reforestation is the planting of trees in regions that had forest but were destroyed either through natural sources or through human activities. Kilifi County has been losing its forest cover over the last years. In 2010 the forest cover was 173kHa which translates to 14% of its land cover. In 2022, it lost 590 ha of the tree cover equivalent to 180 kt CO2 emissions according to Global Forest Forest. From 2001 to 2022, Kilifi lost 26.8kha of tree cover. 

 The loss of this forest cover has been due to economic activity and settlement of the new residents. Magarini, leading in the rate of forest cover, is caused by charcoal burning in the region which is the economic activity in the region. 

As onemilliontrees4kilifi  we are engaging the residents mostly from Magarini in reforestation, this is done through training of the community members in setting up of the  seedlings beds. After the community members have acquired the skills of tree planting we educate them on the best strategy of planting the trees and the importance of doing so. We are targeting to plant 150 Ha in 5 years which will help in increasing the forest cover which was lost. We also encourage the residents who have cleared their land in order to build structures and do farming to also plant trees in the homestead. Small regions which have trees when combined will help to get more forest cover. 

Because the residents in Magarini do charcoal burning as a way of earning their daily bread we create awareness on alternative  ways of earning. One of them being setting up seedbeds and buying the seeds from them for planting. A shift in the economical activities in this region ill help to protect the remaining area covered by the forest. The importance of afforestation and reforestation include 

• Improving air quality. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and other pollutants from the air, which can help to improve air quality.
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Trees store carbon dioxide, which helps to mitigate the effects of climate change.
• Protecting water quality. Trees help to filter water and prevent erosion, which can help to protect water quality.
• Providing habitats for wildlife. Trees provide homes for a variety of animals, including birds, insects, and small mammals.
• Reducing the risk of flooding. Trees help to absorb rainwater and prevent flooding.