{"id":122972,"date":"2025-10-13T07:13:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T07:13:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/10\/13\/shofco-leads-16-cbos-in-tree-planting-dive-across-7-counties-to-mark-mazingira-day\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T07:13:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T07:13:07","slug":"shofco-leads-16-cbos-in-tree-planting-dive-across-7-counties-to-mark-mazingira-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/shofco-leads-16-cbos-in-tree-planting-dive-across-7-counties-to-mark-mazingira-day\/","title":{"rendered":"SHOFCO leads 16 CBOs in tree-planting dive across 7 counties to mark Mazingira Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 13 \u2014 Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) on Friday led a large-scale community-driven tree-planting exercise across seven counties to mark Mazingira Day, reaffirming its commitment to environmental protection and grassroots climate action.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The coordinated activity, held under the theme \u201cCitizen-Centric Tree Growing and Environmental Stewardship,\u201d brought together more than 16 community-based organisations (CBOs) in Nairobi, Siaya, Homa Bay, Kakamega, Busia, Kisumu, and Mombasa.<\/p>\n

The goal was to plant over 10,000 indigenous and fruit trees in public spaces, schools, riverbanks, and community grounds.<\/p>\n

SHOFCO Founder and CEO Kennedy Odede said environmental protection must begin at the grassroots, where the effects of climate change are most deeply felt.<\/p>\n

\u201cTree planting is not just a one-day activity; it\u2019s a movement of hope and resilience. When communities take charge of their environment, they not only fight climate change but also restore dignity and health to their neighbourhoods,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMazingira Day is a reminder that protecting the earth starts with us \u2014 in our homes, schools, and local streets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Odede added that SHOFCO\u2019s environmental initiative integrates job creation and education by providing training for youth in nursery management, waste recycling, and environmental monitoring in partnership with CBOs across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to empower local champions to protect their own environment. These are the people who will water and guard these trees long after today,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Community ownership <\/h2>\n

Samuel Otieno, a member of the Lucky Summer Environment & Waste Management Organization (LEWMO), said the partnership with SHOFCO demonstrates community ownership in climate action.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, environmental work has [been] left to government agencies and NGOs, yet communities live with the daily effects of pollution, poor drainage, and deforestation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy joining hands with SHOFCO, we\u2019re showing that local people can drive lasting change. We\u2019re cleaning our neighbourhoods, planting trees, and making waste management a community business, not a burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Ruaraka, hundreds of residents, schoolchildren, and youth volunteers turned up with hoes and watering cans, transforming once-dusty fields and roadside spaces into green corridors.<\/p>\n

The seedlings planted included indigenous species such as croton, acacia, and podo, alongside fruit trees like mango and avocado to boost food security and shade cover.<\/p>\n

Ruaraka MP TJ Kajwang joined residents for the exercise and praised the CBOs for demonstrating how citizen-led initiatives can complement government efforts such as the national 15 Billion Trees by 2032<\/em> campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat these community groups are doing is the real meaning of Mazingira Day. Environmental change will not come from top-down orders alone \u2014 it must be powered by the people who live here,\u201d Kajwang said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government must now step in to support such groups with resources, tools, and protection for the planted areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kajwang urged county authorities to integrate community-based environmental programmes into local planning, noting that informal settlements often lack green infrastructure despite being most vulnerable to climate shocks.<\/p>\n

Across the seven counties, SHOFCO\u2019s Urban Network (SUN) volunteers coordinated similar activities.<\/p>\n

In Nairobi, SHOFCO partnered with Kio Cha Jamii CBO in Kawangware, Andolo Bridge Community (Kibera), Kamukunji Environmental Conservation Champions (Kamukunji), and Amplify Hope Africa (Kibera).<\/p>\n

Residents expressed pride in taking part in an initiative that merges environmental protection with local empowerment.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 13 \u2014 Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) on Friday led a large-scale community-driven tree-planting exercise across seven counties to mark Mazingira Day, reaffirming its commitment to environmental protection and grassroots climate action. The coordinated activity, held under the theme \u201cCitizen-Centric Tree Growing and Environmental Stewardship,\u201d brought together more than 16 community-based organisations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122972\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}