1. Cabinet Secretaries Hon. Soipan Tuya (Environment, Climate Change and Forestry) and Hon. Ezekiel Machogu (Education) have this morning co-chaired an inter-ministerial meeting on the collaboration between the two Ministries in the 15 Billion National Tree Growing Programme.
2. With an estimated 17 million learners and 600,000 educators in institutions spread across the Country, and a target of growing 35 million trees and producing 300 million seedlings annually, the Ministry of Education (MoE) is one of the key drivers of the 15 Billion National Tree Growing Programme.
3. As you may all be aware, the 15 Billion National Tree Growing Programme, is a flagship Government climate action initiative anchored by the 10-year National Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Strategy that seeks to raise Kenya’s tree cover by 17.8% from the current 12.2% to 30% by the year 2032. In total, the Government seeks to restore 10.6 million hectares of degraded ecosystems and landscapes across 11 intervention areas.
4. Since the launch of the 15 Billion National Tree Growing Programme slightly over a year ago, the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry (MECCF) working within the ‘whole-of-Government, whole-of-society’ delivery framework has made tremendous progress including:
   • Developed the National Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Strategy 2023-2032;
   • Constructed 11 new seed centres to increase access to high quality tree seeds;
   • Distributed 100 metric tons of seeds estimated to produce 2 billion seedlings;
   • Established 15 Billion and Restoration Secretariat headed by the Coordinator and anchored at the State Department for Forestry;
   • Developed Forest Adoption and Tree Growing Incentive Frameworks; and
   • Overseen the growing of 300 million seedlings across the Country as recorded on Jaza Miti Application. Many more seedlings were planted but due to the low uptake of the Jaza Miti Application they were not recorded.
5. The climax of the 15 Billion National Tree Growing Programme last year was the National Tree Growing Day, Kenya’s first Green Holiday on 13th November 2023 during which over a record 150 million trees were grown on one day across the Country; led by His Excellency President Dr William Ruto at Kiu Wetland in Makueni County and overseen by Cabinet Secretaries and other Senior Ranks of the Executive and respective Governors in Counties.
6. Arising out of today’s inter-ministerial meeting, the two Ministries will enhance their collaboration in tree growing by:
7. MECCF will ensure timely provision of 15,000 Kilograms of tree seeds annually to enable the Ministry of Education meet its seedlings production target of 300 million;
8. Through Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), MECCF to provide MoE with technical support on seedling production and tree growing including site-species matching;
9. Jointly strengthen coordination of tree growing and seedling propagation in schools and learning institutions by cascading coordination framework beyond Focal Points in the State Departments to cover County and Sub-County levels;
10. Jointly integrate MECCF’s Jaza Miti Application and MoE’s ELIMU Application to enhance recording and reporting of tree growing activities by learning institutions;
11. Jointly develop an Award Scheme for recognizing best performing educational institutions;
12. Jointly design innovative ways of mobilizing resources for seedling production and tree growing by learning institutions including seeking approval from National Treasury to allocate 5% of the MoE’s budget to tree growing activities; tap from increased Constituency Development Fund (CDF); and donor a support among other sources; and
13. Design joint communication and awareness creation campaigns.

NAIROBI, 2^nd April 2024