Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Humanitarian Services Sponsors Third Round of Trees for Food in Kenya

On Monday, November 4, 2024 the third round of Trees for Food was initiated in Kikuyu Town of Kiambu County, Nairobi.  Kikuyu is located next to Nairobi, Kenya.  Hundreds of people including a marching band, Kiambu County officials and employees, residents and representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came together to celebrate the donation of 68,000 fruit tree siblings by the Church.

Working in concert with national government officials, county officials, and arborists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Humanitarian Services provided 68,000 orange, mango, and avocado trees to the latest round of Trees for Food.  Over the past two years the Church has donated nearly 450,000 trees toward the government of Kenya’s goal to plant billions of trees by 2034.  The 68,000 fruit trees will be planted in five counties - Kiambu, Vihiga, Tharaka Nithi, Kajiado and Uasin Gishu.

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At the Monday morning launch 600 trees were planted on a scenic hillside above the Ondiri Wetlands.  600 holes for the trees were dug the day before by six hardworking volunteers.

In remarks to the gathering, Denis Mukasa, Manager of Humanitarian Services of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stated that the objectives of Trees for Food were to reverse climate change, provide food security, and move fruit sibling recipients toward self reliance.  He stated, “as a church we consider it a responsibility to take care of the earth.  The Lord gave it to us.  As one of the young speakers this morning said, ‘we must take care of the earth as it is the only planet that we have.’”  In outlining the environmental benefit of 68,000 new trees, Denis shared that a single tree absorbs 21kgs of CO2 per year and releases 112kgs of oxygen annually. In aggregate, the 68,000 trees will absorb 1.4 million Kgs of carbon and release 7.6m Kgs of oxygen per year.  The production of food will be similarly profound.  22,500 mango trees will be planted which will produce 2,250 tonnes of mangoes per year.  22,500 newly planted orange trees will produce 1,800 tonnes of oranges per season, and 23,000 new avocado trees will produce at maturity 5,290 tonnes per season of avocadoes.  In total the 68,000 trees will bear 9,340 tonnes of fruit per season

Alex Lemarkoko, the Chief Conservator of Forests in Kenya was an event speaker.  He spoke of the government of Kenya’s goal to plant billions of trees in the next ten years and the effect it will have on the landscape of Kenya and on climate.  Alex was followed by the Chief Guest at the event, Raymond Omollo, PhD, who is the Principal Secretary in the State Department for Internal Security and National Administration.  Dr. Omollo is the Cabinet Secretary of Interior and Administration of the National Government in Kenya.  In his remarks he noted that as a result of planting billions of trees, tree coverage of the land in Ken

ya will go from 12% to 30%.  The launch of Trees for Food was part of the commencement of government Chief’s Climate Action Day.  Dr. Omollo expressed specific appreciation to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for providing the trees to be planted as part of the Chief’s Climate Action Day.

At the conclusion of the formal program, guests were invited to take tree siblings from the event and to immediately plant them.  After the November 4 launch in Kiambu County, 10,000 tree seedlings were taken away by the event guests and immediately planted.