In anticipation of the annual short rains in April, all the schools participating in the Green Initiative Expansion Project in Embu, Kitui and Machakos counties have received the seedlings of the trees of choice in the “greening” competition, March 2016.

The distribution was carried out to coincide with the long rains and after our monitoring officers had certified the schools were ready for the seedlings.

KenGen staff inspecting a school’s woodlot, Embu County. All the schools involved in the GIC have now received seedlings in preparation for the long rains.

The seedlings of Senna siamea and Melia volkensii, locally known as Muveshi and Mukau respectively, are now more than a foot in height, and have already started sprouting, while the 5,000 paw-paw seedlings are also ready for distribution.

“We are excited to begin the next phase of the Green Initiative Challenge”, said Amos Mbutu, the KenGen Environment Officer at 7-Forks. “ Some of the participating schools in Kitui and Embu had poorly prepared sites that did not conform to the recommendations and have to be redone”.