Turkana Drylands Initiative

After a series of successful projects across the world, NARA Climate’s team Yanik Nyberg and Christopher Eccles had proven the profound potential of halophytic plants as both agents of ecological restoration and valuable commodities to agri-food supply chains. Turkana County was identified as a region of Arid and Semi-Arid Landscapes (ASAL) that had suffered the effects of climate change, soil degradation and salinisation, and the invasive species Prosopis Juliflora. Communities in this area had been subject to reinforcing feedback loops of ecological degradation and economic marginalisation, requiring holistic solutions to ensure sustainable change. NARA Climate offered a synergy of experience, innovation, and community-centric values that sought to turn the tide on soil salinisation and desertification through functional ecosystem restoration.

The Turkana Drylands Initiative began in 2021 as NARA Climate Kenya initiated the establishment of Community-based Organisations (CBOs) as village-unit cooperatives in Kakuma and Kerio. Through Commercial Partnership Agreements, NARA Climate Kenya and each CBO entered a contract in which community land rights and ownership are upheld in accordance with Kenya’s Community Land Act, 2016.

Through a participatory mapping process, each CBO selected 100 acres of their own degraded land which had been dominated by invasive Prosopsis. These trees and scrubs were to be cleared by CBOs and transformed into biochar, sequestering carbon in the process and providing a key soil amendment. Funding to purchase equipment, operational training, and oversight were provided by NARA Climate Kenya as CBOs carried out biomass harvesting. NARA Climate Kenya and partners Criou Energy and Planboo then provided support for CBOs to carry out necessary dMRV processes to allow carbon credits to be derived from biochar production and sold on the international market. This further income enabled CBOs to purchase necessary inputs to develop agroecological systems on the now-cleared land.

Native species of trees such as Moringa and Acacia Senegal, salt-tolerant vegetables, and native grasses were planted to provide a myriad of agri-food food products as well as carbon credits from afforestation under Open Forest Protocol’s ARR respected standard. NARA Climate Kenya’s choice of this specific methodology foregrounds our commitment to transparency, accountability, and integrity in the carbon market. This agro-ecological approach specifically targets soil restoration through ecologically and culturally suitable species and practices. These 100-acre sites then provide the heart from which a wider landscape restoration will begin through half-moons and tree planting, providing semi-intensive pastures up to a few thousand hectares per community.

Concurrently, NARA Climate Kenya collaborated with CBOs to develop a Hub & Spoke model which decentralises supply chains by providing strategically located agri-processing and market-access hubs. Each CBO supplies their produce to local hubs and markets whilst also accessing global markets of carbon credits. This model emphasised the necessity for resilient and fair supply chains with the potential for scalability.

NARA Climate Kenya have since proven our model of CBOs, restoration technologies such as biochar, and Hub & Spoke supply chains as modular and scalable. The unique approach of ‘income stacking’ and agro-ecological approaches is fundamental to realising the multitude of values we derive from single ecosystems.