Muranga — As the National Tree Growing Day kicked off, the private sector players led by several captains of industry joined the exercise geared at facilitating the planting and nurturing of more than 15 billion trees by the year 2032.
In Murang'a County, listed superfoods producer and agribusiness firm Kakuzi Plc staffers led by Managing Director Mr Chris Flowers joined Ithanga and Murang'a South Sub County residents in planting more than 400 indigenous trees donated by the company.
In addition, as part of the Nginye Valley rehabilitation campaign in Ithanga Sub County, the company confirmed plans to plant 500 more indigenous trees tomorrow (Tuesday, 14th November) as part of the rehabilitation initiative with a 10,000-tree planting target.
"To mark the National Tree Planting Day, Kakuzi team members have joined the communities in various locations to plant more than 400 indigenous trees in Ithanga and Murang'a South Sub counties. We plan to plant a further 500 trees tomorrow, specifically at Nginye Valley. All the trees donated from our agroforestry nurseries will be nurtured to maturity in close collaboration with the local community," Flowers said.
In Nandi County, Eastern Produce Kenya (EPK) leadership joined the local residents in planting more than 2,500 indigenous tree seedlings in Kamkong division.
The company also participated in a tree-growing exercise at Kapkongony Swamp in Chesumei.
In Makueni County, KCB is leading the greening agenda by donating 8,000 tree seedlings to Kiu Wetlands in Makindu.
This is part of KCB's broader initiative of planting and growing 100,000 trees at Kiu Wetlands and its ambitious plan to grow 1.2 million trees by 2026.
Through the Linda Miti initiative, the bank has collaborated with schools on tree growing.
KCB has surpassed this year's initial target by planting 281,864 trees against the set target of 256,000.
This strategic partnership ensures sustained care and nurturing of the trees planted.
"Today, we make history as we celebrate a day dedicated to tree growing. At KCB Bank, we actively support climate action aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 13 on Climate Action to increase forest cover and restore degraded landscape," said KCB Foundation Director Mendi Njonjo.
DTB Group CEO and Managing Director Nasim Devji led the staff to a tree planting exercise at Ngong Road.
She said the tree planting coincides with DTB's sustainability blueprint, which has seen the bank play its role against climate change.
Through our #Muchmorethantrees initiative, we plan to grow 10 million trees by 2030, and today's tree planting exercise marks an essential step in our marathon to achieve this ambitious goal.
"We also have DTB staff here today, keen to play their part in growing trees and contributing to the alleviation of future droughts and protecting livelihoods," Ms Devji said.
Unga Group Managing Director Joseph Choge joined the tree-growing initiative and said, "We support government efforts to restore and expand forest cover in the country. Such climate action will improve our food production fortunes and secure our country's food. Our new 2023-2030 strategy has a comprehensive plan for implementing our sustainability agenda. We seek to reduce our environmental footprint, implement eco-friendly practices, and support initiatives such as this by the government that positively impact society. We urge our farmers to embrace tree farming to boost tree cover and promote sustainable agriculture."
NCBA Group Managing Director John Gachora said: "As stewards of both financial and environmental capital, at NCBA, we believe in the imperative to sow the seeds of sustainability. Furthermore, as we join the whole country in Planting trees today, we do so as our responsibility to foster a greener future for generations to come. Indeed, as NBCA Group, we have identified sustainability as one of our priorities and have set, among other 15 ambitious commitments, to grow 10 million trees through strategic partnerships with private actors and government by 2030."
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In Kiambu County, over 200 Safaricom staff planted 10,000 trees at Kinale Forest, led by Chief Finance Officer Dilip Pal and Chief Channels Officer Nicholas Kamunyu, Ag. Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Fred Waithaka and Director of Sustainable Business and Social Impact Karen Basiye. "We have a partnership with the Kenya Forest Service to plant 5 million trees by 2025. While launching the collaboration framework in April this year, we planted an initial 10,000 trees in Kinale Forest, and we went back today with 200 of our staff and planted 10,000 trees in our conservation efforts as we work together to achieve the 15 billion forest cover envisioned by the government. Our partnership has an adopt-a-forest strategy that will see us reforest, protect, and conserve about 5,000 hectares to support the efforts to achieve 30% national forest cover. As a company, we are on a journey to become a net-zero carbon emitting company by 2050 by enhancing forest cover," said Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa.
