First Climate Change Club Formed in Kenya as Dream Team Embarks on Mission Targeting Young People

The Dream Team in Kenya has rolled up its sleeves as it embarks on a full-fledged course to teach every young person, organized into formidable groups called Climate Change Clubs, ways of fighting the effects of climate change.

On October 5, 2022, research and extension officer Nancy Onyango and her agroforestry counterpart, Lyon Mushira, paid a visit to St. Aloys Buriya Secondary School in Butula Sub-county, Busia County, and met enthusiastic learners who decided to name their club "The Evergreen Club".

Agroforestry officer Lyon Mushira with students at St. Aloys Buriya Secondary School in Butula Sub-county, Busia County/PlantVillage

The students were taught about environmental conservation, climate change, agriculture, and how to use the PlantVillage SMS program to benefit from farming knowledge for free.

Later on in the day, they were guided through tree planting as an effective way of environmental conservation and food production and the use of biochar as a soil amender that regenerates its productive potential. 

Research and extension officer Nancy Onyango demonstrates to students of St. Aloys Buriya Secondary School in Butula Sub-county, Busia County on the proper way of planting a tree/PlantVilage

This idea, whose architect is PlantVillage founder and director, Dr. David Hughes, is one of the methods the organization is using to teach and train the African society on proper ways to adapt to climate change for the benefit of generations to come.

Climate Change Clubs are anchored on the concept that young people are apt to take up new knowledge, more energetic to implement ideas, and good propagators of agricultural knowledge.

The program will accelarate the progress of the African continent on matters food security and scale up resilience efforts to help communities shift from traditional and retrogressive methods of farming to using new and clean technologies.

- Written by Sam Oduor