An inspired programme set up in the teeming refugee camps in north Kenya is working with the youth and local communities to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change while acquiring invaluable lifestyle skills. Bamuturaki Musinguzi was invited to the project for this report for New African magazine.
On a hot Monday afternoon when I arrived at the Blue State Secondary School in the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Turkana County in north-western Kenya, I found members of the Eco-Friendly Chairs Group under the shade of trees and sitting on chairs they have made from the destructive Mathenge tree.
The students are part of the Green Youth 360 Project, a ground-breaking initiative funded by the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation in partnership with Girl Child Network (GCN) that is transforming refugee and host communities in in one of the world’s biggest refugee camp, Dadaab and also the Kakuma Refugee camp in Kenya through climate action and green skills training.
I had been invited to observe the work that is being done and the impact it has on the lives of refugees and local communities and report on it for New African magazine which has the biggest and most influential media reach in Africa.
Awime Magellah Byabele, the leader of the Eco-Friendly Chairs group, is a 22 years old refugee from DR Congo, and a Form Four student at Blue State Secondary School, explained the project. He said that they had noticed that the mathenge trees were destroying the environment. “Because where the mathenge trees have grown, not any other plant can grow there. The tree is also poisonous to us and the livestock. So, we decided to use the mathenge trees to construct chairs so that they can help us in society.”
The mathenge tree (Prosopis juliflora) was introduced in the 1970s to rehabilitate degraded lands but the invasive tree causes more harm than good. It spreads aggressively, outcompeting native vegetation and reducing biodiversity. It forms dense thickets that are difficult to remove, turning fertile land into monocultures. Its extensive root system extracts large amounts of groundwater, thereby drying up local water sources.
The thorns and dense growth of the Mathenge make grazing and farming difficult, affecting pastoralist and agricultural communities. Some animals die from Mathenge toxicity when they feed on large amounts of the leaves, among other complications. Its net adverse effect is that it reduces biodiversity, strains water resources, and replaces more ecologically valuable species.
“We use these chairs at school. Our parents and visitors use the chairs when they come here. The communities buy the chairs if they want them. We give them out for free to those who are poor and disabled. So, we try to help the society in that way,” Byabele says.
As climate change disproportionately affects vulnerable populations, Green Youth 360 is equipping refugee and host community youth with sustainable skills in tree planting, renewable energy, organic farming, and eco-friendly waste management. The project aims to empower young people with the knowledge and tools to address climate challenges while actively enhancing their livelihoods.
The goal for the project is to attain inclusive and environmentally sustainable development through youth engagement in climate actions. The four climate action areas are Youth in Tree Planting (YTP); Youth in Renewable Energy (YRE); Youth in Agriculture (YIA); and Youth for Clean Environment (Y4CE).
The three-year initiative that started on July 2023 and set to end on June 2026 is worth $7.1m. It targets youth between 15-24 years from 120 public primary and secondary schools, including youth living with disabilities.
It is anticipated that by the time the project concludes in 2026, at least 76,800 young people from the displaced and refugee communities will be actively involved in eco-friendly activities that support sustainable development, increasing their capacity to respond to climate change.
Byabele explains the process of turning the products of a poisonous tree into useful furniture. “First of all, we go in the forests where the mathenge trees grow and cut them down. We then bring the wood to school. We measure and cut the wood into smaller pieces. We then use nails and hammers to construct the chairs,”
The Deputy Director of the Girl Child Network (GCN) Dennis Mutiso said it was decided to set up the project in Turkana and Garissa counties because “first, it’s because the project targetes refugee youths who are grossly affected by the effects of climate change and the target groups could only be found in Turkana (Kakuma Refugee Camp) and Garissa (Dadaab Refugee Camp) Counties.
“Secondly, the nature of environmental degradation is very serious and concerning given the high population in Turkana (Kakuma). Youths, who make about 65 – 70% of the camp population, are also the main triggers of environmental degradation as they fight for scarce resources to earn a living. Harnessing their energy, curiosity and creativity is key in reversing the current environmental degradation,” he added.
Tree planting and other activities
Turkana County falls under the Arid and Semi-Arid Areas group that receive very little to no rains. Sometimes the county goes for more than 3-5 years without experiencing a single drop of rain. As a result, it has the smallest forest cover due to the effects of climate change.
With the influx of refugees from different conflict countries, the surviving small forest cover is diminishing as the refugee population fights over the scarce and limited numbers of trees remaining for firewood and a source of livelihood.
The project is currently working with 60 schools in Kakuma refugee camp and the host community, training the youth in green skills and supporting them to take action in tree planting.
Frederick Lusungu, a student at Blue State Secondary School and the leader of the Tree Planting Group says, “under this project we have learnt how to use soil, manure and seeds to grow trees. We put a seedling in a paper which contains the soil then we start watering it. After some weeks, we start measuring the weight of the tree, and then plant it.”
“We have started benefiting from the trees that we planted in our school. We can study or rest under the shades of the trees. You cannot learn under a very hot condition. You need a very cool place so that your learning is made easier. Some trees like neem trees, are a source of medicine. We have planted trees in the community, schools and our homes. The trees are helping us in several ways,” he says.
Blue State Secondary School was founded in 2021, and currently has a student population of 1,593, with only 32 teachers.
Rachel Kibet, the Principal of Blue State Secondary School and who teaches maths and chemistry, says: “In Blue State Secondary School, we have embraced climate actions by tree planting to ensure that we reduce global warming, keeping in mind that Kakuma temperatures always go above 40 degrees. We are trying to ensure that we have a cool environment for learners to study even after classes.
“The tree planting exercise was started in 2021 when the school started, but it didn’t stop in 2021. It has been a continuous process whereby tree planting is done on a daily basis,” Kibet adds.
She says, “the trees planted within the Blue State Secondary School compound now number 1,796. Those are the trees that are surviving. The trees planted in the community are more than 2,000.”
Briquette making is an essential and sustainable way to manage waste and reduce reliance on charcoal and which has both environmental and social benefits. Traditional charcoal production involves cutting down trees contributing to deforestation in fragile ecosystems like Turkana. In contrast, briquettes are made from waste materials like paper, sawdust, and agricultural residues, thereby preserving forests and reducing carbon emissions. Youths collect and repurpose household and school waste to make briquettes.
Improved energy-saving jikos (cook stoves) made by the youth in Kakuma play a vital role in environmental conservation and community resilience. These jikos use up to 50-70% less fuel than traditional stoves. By easing pressure on trees and shrubs, energy-saving jikos also help preserve habitants for wildlife and maintain ecological balance.
The high population density in the camp generates large amounts of solid waste daily, including plastic, food, and non-biodegradable waste. Limited collection and disposal infrastructure make it difficult to manage this volume effectively. Open burning and anaerobic decomposition of organic waste in landfills release methane and carbon dioxide, potent greenhouse gases. Instead, the youth are recycling the waste and putting it into good use.
“The learners have also gained some skills about compost manure whereby they can sort different waste materials into biodegradable and non-biodegradable. They have managed to use the non-biodegradable materials to beautify the school compound through writing the school name. We have tried to recycle the containers which carry cooking oil for watering the trees,” Kibet says.
“The biodegradable materials are sorted and used in compost manure that can be used in the kitchen garden and tree growing because the soil in Kakuma is sand soil. Again, the students, make use of the locally available materials which is the mathenge tree to make the eco-friendly chairs. And that can be a source of livelihood to them after selling the chairs,” Kibet said.
According to Kibet, the majority of the students in Kakuma, specifically Blue State Secondary School, are very vulnerable. “They don’t have anybody. They don’t have any financial support. And with these skills, they’ll manage to earn a living. That is a livelihood that they can use to support and supplement what they are given by UNHCR.”
Byabele says “previously when we wanted to cook food like ugali (maize meal), the traditional stove was taking a lot of firewood. But now, we can put two or three pieces of firewood and two or three briquettes to prepare a sauce like omena.”
Byabele’s mother Etabo Tabwe said: “The jiko that my son has made is more efficient compared to the one that uses firewood. But most of the time I use both of them. I will prepare ugali on firewood, and use the other one to prepare vegetables.”
Milestones of the project
The Deputy Director of the Girl Child Network (GCN) Dennis Mutiso the project is contributing to the government’s priorities on education and also climate change. And the project design also aligns very well with Kenya’s current competence-based education system.
“So it is giving the learners skills that they can use when they get out of school. The project is designed so that there will not be a shock beyond the project funding window. This is the reason why we are working with the learners to make sure that they have those skills,” he says.
The Executive Director of Reach Out to Asia (ROTA), a programme of EAA, Abdulla Al-Abdulla, the Green Youth 360 Project has made a number of major achievements that include: 64,527 refugee and host community youths actively engaged in climate action initiatives; 45,361 youth trained in green skills including tree planting, organic farming, waste management, and renewable energy; 622,366 trees planted, contributing 26% towards the project’s target of 2.4m trees by 2026; and 91,623 kilogrammes of organic manure produced by youth through composting.
The 165,818 kilogrammes of briquettes made from organic waste, reduce firewood reliance; 3,658 improved energy-saving stoves support clean cooking practices; 2,782 beehives built, promoting sustainable apiculture and youth income generation; 2,819 tons of waste managed, including segregation, composting, recycling, and reuse; and 120 schools transformed into Green Sensitive Areas (GSAs) and Carbon Footprint Sinkers (CFSs).
“Youths and even communities have shown improved agency and aspiration in this area simply because its positive effects in reversing carbon footprint is tangible and is something that you can experience immediately. They also have lived experience on what deforestation has done to their environment and so they want to reverse this through planting,” Mutiso says.
The Kakuma Refugee Camp was established in 1992 following the arrival of the “Lost Boys of Sudan.”
According to the Manager in charge of the Kakuma Refugee Camp in the Department of Refugee Services, Edwin Chabari, the current population stands at 304,000 people. He says the biggest number of the refugees comes from South Sudan, followed by Burundi, the DR Congo, north Sudan, and Somalia.
“The local communities initially lacked awareness on sustainable use of trees, often engaging in harmful burning,” the County Forest Conservator, Turkana County, Lewis A. Obam says. “They are now being trained to collect dead and fallen trees along rivers and use them productively, such as for legal charcoal production.
“The community is encouraged to grow fruit trees such as avocados and mangoes as part of Kenya’s national 15bn tree-planting campaign. At least 30% of planted trees should be fruit-bearing to support nutrition and income generation,” Obam says.
Obam says that the Kenyan government is creating green jobs and community empowerment. “The youth and women are trained in nursery establishment, beekeeping, organic farming, poultry, and many more. Equipment, seeds, and water tanks are provided to help them launch and maintain income-
The wholesale cuts in United States aid imposed by the US President Donald Trump is already having a devastating effect on refugees. “The food rations were reduced from 80% when I arrived in this camp to around 40% currently. That tells you that most of the refugees and the asylum seekers within the camp are only getting enough food to only keep alive,” says Kakozi, a father of nine children.
“Currently, they are being given a cash handout of Kshs520 ($4) per person per month. And we are being told that that support will not come as from this June,” he adds.
The Head teacher of Future Refugee Primary and Junior School, Elizabeth Mukami says, “the US government aid cut has really affected our teaching because right now 7,221 learners being handled by 23 teachers (instead of 71). Even the teachers who are in school, are getting very low remuneration because of this freezing of the funds.”
Despite all these obstacles however, it was very impressive and inspiring to see how organisations like Green Youth 360 Project, the Education Above All Foundation and the Girl Child Network are working with the youth and communities in these dire situations to reduce the adverse effects of climate change while also transforming their lives for the better.
