From Conflict to Climate Action: Refugees Lead in Kenya

Lionel Ngukusenge (18), a Burundian refugee in Kenya staying at Kakuma refugee camp, has planted 70 trees at his homestead in the refugee camp in Kenya. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo/IPS.

For 18-year-old Lionel Ngukusenge, a refugee from Burundi forced into hiding by a repressive regime, life in Kenya’s Kakuma refugee camp has brought a new foe: climate change.
Against all odds, Lionel, a Grade 9 student at Future Primary School, has planted 70 trees around his homestead in the camp, which accommodates 300,000 refugees and has over 7,200 learners.There are only 23 teachers at Lionel’s school—each class has around 209 learners—after 48 teachers were retrenched this year following U.S. government aid cuts to refugee support organizations in Kenya.
In the arid Kakuma camp, 800 kilometers northwest of Nairobi, students come from South Sudan, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Afghanistan.“I’ve planted 70 trees at home because I learned their importance. While doing my homework, I sit under the trees I planted. The oxygen is fantastic. I feel proud,” Lionel told IPS.Lionel is one of many refugees “weaponizing” tree planting against climate change.It is a difficult task, according to Kenya’s Department of Refugee Services in the Office of the President, because the trees must be watered using the camp’s scarce water supply—rationed at just 18 liters per person daily, camp manager Edwin Chabari said.For 22-year-old Nema John Zechariah, who fled Sudan eight years ago, tree planting is nothing new. She began in Sudan, planting fruit trees to fend off hunger during the war.Kakuma, in Turkana County, is an arid region with extreme temperatures of up to 40°C. The Neem tree, known to thrive in such climates, is among those being planted.Since 1992, Kakuma—its name meaning “out of nowhere” in Turkana—has hosted refugees fleeing war and persecution.Organizations such as the Girl Child Network and Qatar’s Education Above All Foundation support the tree-planting efforts. “These youths can help reverse environmental degradation,” said Dennis Mutiso, deputy director of Girl Child Network.Tree planting has become both an environmental and educational tool, spreading from schools into homes, helping offset firewood consumption, and—locals say—bringing more rain to the area.Despite aid cuts, refugees like 17-year-old Baballa Samir from Sudan, 15-year-old Kenyan student Patrice Namwar, and 16-year-old Kenyan Sharon Ayanae are each planting dozens of trees, inspired by what they learn in school.For some, tree planting is also therapy. Sixteen-year-old Najila Luka Ibrahim from Sudan, who lost contact with her parents during the conflict, says joining her school’s environmental club “changed” her.And for others, it is a statement of hope. “We want peace in the world,” said 25-year-old Augustino Kuot Bol from South Sudan. “Without peace, we cannot have time to plant trees.”