Youths set to be recruited for tree planting jobs in the country will earn Ksh2,500 per week, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja has revealed.
Sakaja said the youths will be engaged for four days a week and paid Ksh625 per day in the programme set to be rolled out soon.
"We are soon launching a programme of tree planting that our young people will be engaged in. They will be getting Ksh2,500 a week for four days and help us plant and maintain the trees," Sakaja said after attending a church service at AIPCA Dandora on Sunday, November 13.
Sakaja's comments come days after President William Ruto confirmed the government's plans to convert Kazi Mtaani programme to a tree-planting initiative.
Speaking at State House, Nairobi county on Friday, November 11, 2022, the Head of State affirmed that the move will help mitigate the adverse effects of climate change being witnessed in the country.
“We have to initiate long-term resilience activities to cushion the people against drought and food insecurity,” he stated.
The President had last month indicated plans to scrap the Kazi Mtaani programme that offered unemployed youth environmental jobs under the administration of former President Uhuru Kenyatta. He said the work in which the young people were recruited to plant trees and collect garbage would be undertaken by county governments.
5 billion trees
Recently, the President said Kenya intends to plant five billion trees in the next five years through Special Presidential Forestry and Rangeland Restoration Programme.
Speaking during Mashujaa Day celebrations on Thursday, October 20, President William Ruto said the programme will be spearheaded by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, various experts and partners in government, UN organisations, NGOs, and academia.
"The objective is to grow 5 billion trees in the next 5 years, and an additional 10 billion trees by 2032. This will eventually lead to the rehabilitation and restoration of 10.6 million hectares in the 290 constituencies, as well as some specially selected ecosystem and water towers threatened by degradation and destruction," he said.
Ruto said to achieve the plan, the government will support efforts by the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) to produce high-quality tree seeds in their 18 tree seeds centres countrywide.
"Agro-forestry and farming of avocados, mangoes, and macadamia will also open new value chains for our export market, creating new green jobs in the sector. I, therefore, urge all Kenyans to support the government’s call to grow at least 15 billion trees in the next 10 years. To achieve this target, every Kenyan should grow 300 trees," he stated.
Youth, women plant trees
Reforestation in the presidential programme would be undertaken by youth and women groups, civil society, community, and religious organisations, leveraging on the private sector and government financing.
"To ensure sustainable funding, Kenya is developing policies and strategies to tap into the global carbon market opportunities, accessible through carbon trading," he added.
"Additionally, the Government will secure and protect public forests, rehabilitate and restore all degraded water towers and other forest ecosystems across the country,"
The government also stated that it intends to fence all fragile water towers and other ecosystems to protect them from encroachment.
At the same time, the government also revealed plans to recruit 2,700 forest rangers and 600 forest officers to augment interventions in the forestry sector.
"Shortly, I will also be inaugurating the Climate Change Council that will steer Kenya’s climate action through stakeholder engagements coordinated in the presidency, as required by the Climate Change Act, 2016," Ruto said.
