From the ground up: Community-led restoration in Kaani, Kenya
In the semi-arid village of Kaani, in Kenya’s Machakos County, we witness a story of erosion, prolonged droughts and generational struggles tied to food and water insecurity. However, that narrative is changing through the power of community-led action and a renewed commitment to agroecological restoration.
Through Kijani Mtaani, the grassroots initiative I founded, we’ve been working directly with small-scale women farmers, most of whom are young and are the heads of their households, to regenerate soils and strengthen food systems.
Our work in Kaani focuses on agroecology as the foundation for community-led land restoration. Agroecology goes beyond farming, it’s a way of life that emphasizes ecological balance, local knowledge and social equity.
At the heart of our recent community engagement efforts is a hands-on training series involving more than 15 young women. The trainings were designed to build capacity in regenerative agriculture, such as composting, water harvesting and restoring soil. But most importantly, with the intention of co-creating solutions that are practical and deeply rooted in their lived experiences as women farmers in a dryland ecosystem.
Kijani Mtaani facilitators and participants engage in a peer-to-peer learning session on soil restoration techniques. Photo: Courtesy of Kijani Mtaani
We hosted workshops on composting, creating carbon-rich garden beds, mulching, water harvesting and pest management using local materials. Together, we built raised kitchen gardens and restored small plots that had been unproductive for years. In some homes, we introduced the use of ash and charcoal dust, low-cost, locally available materials that can be used to amend the soil. These are simple techniques, but for many, they are transformative.
What stood out from these trainings was the energy of the women. Most of the women were in their twenties and early thirties, raising children, managing homes and still showing up with questions and notebooks in hand. They wanted to know not only how to grow food more sustainably, but also how to protect the land for future seasons. Their interest in regenerative practices like intercropping with nitrogen-fixing legumes or minimizing tillage was matched by a deep desire to reclaim their role as environmental stewards.
Workshop participants apply compost to raised garden beds during a training session on soil regeneration. Photos: Courtesy of Kijani Mtaani
This kind of community-led learning helped dismantle the idea that technical knowledge must come from outsiders. Many women took the lead in sharing techniques that had worked for them, like planting vetiver grass to slow runoff water or storing greywater for dry spells. Our team’s role was to validate and amplify these methods while introducing new tools that could support their goals. Restoration here isn’t a one-size-fits-all model; it’s built from the soil up, in conversation with local realities.
In many communities, land restoration is still viewed as a government or NGO-led process. In Kaani we are trying to demonstrate that the most effective and lasting change comes when local people,not just as beneficiaries but as decision-makers, are the ones leading restoration on their landscapes.
Women farmers in particular often lack land rights and struggle against cultural expectations that dismiss their leadership in agricultural spaces. Through our training sessions, these women are beginning to reclaim their agency and shift the narrative.
Beyond agroecological techniques, we facilitated open dialogues on land rights, gender-based barriers in agriculture, and the importance of women’s participation in decision-making spaces. We discussed access to land ownership, navigating inheritance systems and the value of forming cooperative groups to strengthen their collective voice.
By connecting restoration practices with rights-based knowledge, the women began to see themselves not only as food producers but as key stakeholders in shaping the future of their landscapes.
Hands-on training on how to create a homemade insect trap using recycled bottles and preparing organic fertilizer from locally available materials. Photos: Courtesy of Kijani Mtaani
We’ve seen small but significant progress. Young women are planting drought-tolerant crops, integrating agroforestry into their homesteads and collaborating to share resources like seeds and organic fertilizers. Some are forming local working groups to address issues like soil fertility and market their produce collectively. In these examples, we can see that restoration work is not just about planting trees, it’s really about rebuilding systems that work for people and the planet.
Seedlings prepared for transplanting as part of the agroforestry efforts in Kaani. Integrating trees into farms is helping restore soil health, provide shade and improve long-term resilience for smallholder women farmers.Photos: Courtesy of Kijani Mtaani
This year, I had the opportunity to share these experiences at the 2025 Global Landscapes Forum Africa Assembly, as the 2025 GLF Drylands Restoration Steward and a landscape leader. It was a profound moment, not just for me, but for the Kijani Mtaani community. Being able to speak on a global platform about our work in Kaani and the challenges and successes of young women farmers was meaningful because I got to bring our drylands directly into a larger conversation about climate and restoration.
At the Assembly, I participated in the Landscape Leadership Camp, Restoration Week and sessions with other stewards and restoration practitioners. I was able to showcase how we’ve approached land restoration in ways that center community knowledge and gender equity. What was most meaningful was connecting with like-minded participants doing similar work in different parts of Africa and realizing how much we can learn from one another when grassroots stories are taken seriously.
Snapshots from the 2025 GLF Africa Assembly, where Sydner engaged with fellow restoration leaders and shared insights from her work in Kaani. Photos: Courtesy of the Global Landscapes Forum
I also took part in a visual storytelling session, where I presented a short video of our community training in Kaani. It sparked discussions on how localized agroecological approaches are not just relevant but necessary if we are to build lasting resilience in drylands.
As we continue our work in Kaani, we are planning to scale up community outreach through local school clubs, introduce more indigenous climate-resilient crops and explore participatory mapping of degraded areas for targeted restoration. Our vision is clear: build a regenerative system where young women can lead, thrive and influence broader land-use decisions.
Restoration is not only about transforming the land, it is about transforming relationships. Restoration is about being one with the land and with each other. To do this we must rewrite the systems that have long excluded communities like ours from environmental decision-making.