How a scheme planned in Yorkshire is putting food on the table out in Kenya

KENYAN TEA farmers who travelled to Yorkshire to celebrate the landmark in the tree-planting programme have spoken of the huge impact that the eco-friendly initiative has had on their communities.

A group of five farmers flew into the UK for the celebrations at Thorp Perrow Arboretum yesterday after Taylors of Harrogate announced that it had far exceeded its target of planting a million trees in the African nation and the UK.

Among them was Mary Gitonga, a quantifier with the International Small Tree Planting Programme,

which is abbreviated to TIST.

She became involved with TIST in 2015 and her job has her visiting smallholdings to monitor tree-planting programmes to calculate the carbon offsetting.

The mother-of-four said: “It is wonderful to be able to come to

England to see all the work that is being done over here and to actually meet people who are involved.

“The tree-planting programme is Kenya has helped transform not only my life, but so many other people’s lives too.

“I now have an income from the planting of the trees, which is helping put food on the table for my children.”

Tea farmer Patricia Gichuru, who is from Nyeri County in central Kenya, added: “This is the first time I have travelled outside Kenya so it is a wonderful opportunity. To be able to meet people from Taylors of Harrogate to say thank you in person means so much.”

Ben Henneke, the co-founder of the TIST scheme and the president of the US-based Clean Air Action Corporation, was also at yesterday’s event.

He said: “Planting a tree is such a simple thing but the benefits are immense. I think the motto is for all of us to go out and simply do just that.

“The tree-planting programmes have obviously helped protect the environment but it is humbling to see how they also transform people’s lives.”