Both ENDS
This week, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima visited Thogoto Forest as part of their state visit to Kenya. They were able to see the impact of…
Historically, the Sengwer community has lived in harmony with their environment, relying on forest resources for sustenance and integrating conservation into their daily lives. However, recent government policies aimed at forest protection have limited their access to these ancestral lands. Although these regulations intend to protect the environment, they often disregard the traditional conservation practices of indigenous communities like the Sengwer, who have been natural stewards of these lands for generations. Faced with these restrictions, the Segerger Women’s Conservation…
The government of Kenya has officially terminated its bilateral investment treaty (BIT) with the Netherlands, marking a significant win for economic justice and environmental protection. Kenya’s decision reflects a growing global trend of rethinking outdated treaties that often prioritize corporate interests over public welfare. The Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development recently confirmed that Kenya unilaterally ended the treaty in December 2023, rendering it inoperative from 11 June 2024. Kenya now joins South Africa, Tanzania, and Burkina Faso as the fourth African country to…
and Kyra Pohlan
Communities throughout the Athi river basin rely on healthy and resilient semi-aquatic ecosystems, such as riparian and wetland areas, for their well-being and livelihoods. These habitats have become ever more important for local communities in adapting to the effects of climate change, in particular the more frequent and more extreme periods of drought and flooding. By conserving and re-establishing riparian lands and wetlands, groups from the…
"Water is life, water is food" is this year's theme for World Food Day. Our partners around the world know all too well that this is a very true sentence. To celebrate World Food Day 2023 this October 16th, we'd like to show a few examples of how our partners fight for the right to water and this way…
Minister Liesje Schreinemacher for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation recently made her first working visit, to Kenya and Uganda. With this visit, the minister made a flying start in honouring the pledge in the new government's coalition agreement to formulate a 'targeted Dutch Africa strategy'. Such a strategy is desperately needed as, too often, our foreign trade is conducted at the expense of people and the environment, including…
About 75% of Kenyans earn all or part of their income from the agriculture sector which accounts for 33% of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, agricultural productivity has stagnated in recent years. Various factors have contributed to low agricultural productivity, including an overall decline in soil fertility because of the continuous removal of nutrients by crops; poor farming practices; land degradation and overuse/misuse…
After many years of advocating for strong environmental policies at international platforms such as the UN, Kenyan Violet Matiru asked herself: "How does all this lobbying trickle down to our communities? How does this help our mothers who are still struggling with fetching water and cooking on wood stoves?" This is when she and her colleagues founded MCDI Kenya (Millennium Community Development Initiatives) and started to work with local communities. We talked to her about the historical and current power imbalance in water governance and her efforts to improve water governance in…