• CS Barasa alongside Forestry PS Gitonga Mugambi  have unveiled a comprehensive 10-year National Agroforestry Strategy. The strategy aims to integrate tree cultivation into farming systems nationwide, turning every acre into a dual engine of food and forest.

The Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Dr Deborah Barasa alongside Forestry Principal Secretary Gitonga Mugambi have unveiled a comprehensive 10-year National Agroforestry Strategy. The strategy aims to integrate tree cultivation into farming systems nationwide, turning every acre into a dual engine of food and forest.

“This strategy is built on six pillars: policy, financing, innovation, value chains, climate action and social inclusion,” she explained. “We’re targeting five million acres of woodlots, supporting youth-led briquette enterprises, and embedding trees into agricultural practices. Our goal is clear—30% tree cover by 2032.”

She has urged counties to embed the strategy into their development plans and called on the private sector to invest in agroforestry markets and value addition. Development partners, she added, must step up with financing, while researchers should bring practical knowledge directly to farmers.

“Land restoration is a shared responsibility,” CS Barasa said. “By working together across ministries, counties, NGOs, investors, communities, we can accelerate restoration, enhance resilience and fulfil our global commitments for a greener, more sustainable Kenya.”

The CS hails President William Ruto’s 15 Billion Tree Growing Campaign as far more than a planting exercise. To her, it’s a sweeping national movement, one that restores degraded lands and watersheds, anchors livelihoods, and builds climate resilience across the country.

Speaking during a high-level media and development partners’ roundtable for the Mau Forest Complex Integrated Conservation and Livelihood Improvement Programme (MFC-ICLIP), held on September 17, 2025, CS Barasa joined the Environment and Climate Change Principal Secretary Dr. Festus Ngeno to spotlight the campaign’s transformative scope.

“Key restoration areas include the Yala-Isiukhu Watershed, Mount Elgon, the Mau Forest Complex, Tsavo and the ASALs,” she said. “These ecosystems are critical for biodiversity, water security, food systems, energy access and sustainable livelihoods. Restoration here isn’t just ecological—it’s economic and generational.”

CS Barasa has emphasized that restoration is no longer optional, it’s existential. She has framed the 15 Billion Tree Campaign as a strategic lifeline for Kenya’s future, one that will safeguard the environment, generate employment, and uphold peace, dignity, and prosperity for generations to come.



CS Barasa alongside Forestry PS Gitonga Mugambi have unveiled a comprehensive 10-year National Agroforestry Strategy. (Photo credit: X)