What Trees for Kenya does

Trees for Kenya is a Kenyan non-governmental, non-profit organization founded in 2012 and headquartered operationally in Gkuuri Town, Embu County, with a mailing presence in Nairobi. Its mission centers on combatting climate change and restoring degraded landscapes through tree planting, agroforestry, and sustainable farming, with the 2025 opening of the Karurumo Farmers Field School formalizing a demonstration-and-training footprint in Embu County. The program portfolio spans Smart Agriculture/Agroforestry (integrating life fencing, woodlots, contour planting, fruit orchards, terraces, gabions, organic fertilization, and water harvesting), Livestock Farming (chickens, rabbits, goats, tilapia/catfish ponds, beekeeping, azolla cultivation), Tree Nurseries (community-owned nurseries with a modern propagator for accelerated germination and grafting), Greenhouse Farming with drip irrigation, Solar Drying, Value Addition processing, Energy Conservation Stoves, Farm Forestry, Forest Restoration in the Mount Kenya region, and a Greening Schools program.

Technology consists primarily of agricultural systems rather than software: greenhouses, drip irrigation, modern propagators, solar dryers, fish ponds, and apiary infrastructure, augmented by a monitoring and evaluation framework that supports a reported 98% tree survival rate. The integrated approach is the substantive differentiator: nurseries supply seedlings into agroforestry and restoration sites, the field school demonstrates best practices, and energy-saving stoves reduce fuelwood pressure on newly planted trees. There are no disclosed patents, software products, or AI/ML components.

The revenue model is donation and grant-based: Trees for Kenya does not charge farmers for seedlings or training and lists PayPal as its online donation channel. Funders referenced include the Embassy of Poland (water project plus donated stoves), the Embassy of France (project visit and ceremonial planting), the Peace Corps (beneficiary visit), the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, and KALRO, alongside individual donors. Reach spans approximately 30,000 trained farmers, over 400 partnered nurseries, and more than 8.2 million cumulative trees planted across four core counties (Embu, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Tharaka Nithi) plus the Mount Kenya region.

Name

Trees for Kenya

Legal name

Trees for Kenya

Website

https://treeskenya.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Trees for Kenya is a Kenyan non-profit founded in 2012 that combats climate change and restores degraded landscapes by training smallholder farmers in agroforestry, operating community-owned tree nurseries, and running school greening and forest restoration programs across Embu, Kiambu, Kirinyaga, Tharaka Nithi, and Mount Kenya.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Conservation Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Forestry (1153), Support Activities for Forestry (115310), Support Activities for Forestry (11531), Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products (1132), Forest Nurseries and Gathering of Forest Products (113210)

SIC

Forestry (800), Agricultural Services (700), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Forestry & Reforestation (BPAGAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Tree Planting & Establishment Services (Manual/Mechanized) (AFAMACAE), Agroforestry & Perennial Cropping Systems (EUABABAD), Tree Seed Collection & Processing (AFAMADAA), Monitoring, Survival Surveys & Carbon/MRV Services (Remote Sensing, Field Audits) (AFAMACAO)

Keywords

• Agroforestry services
• Tree planting programs
• Forest restoration
• Community nurseries
• Environmental conservation

Headquarters

HQ city

GKUuri Town, Embu

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: Trees for Kenya operates as a non-profit organization funded primarily through donations from individuals, organizations, and embassies. The website accepts PayPal donations for supporting tree-planting initiatives.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Trees for Kenya is a non-profit environmental NGO that runs tree planting, agroforestry, and forest restoration programs for smallholder farmers, schools, and forest-adjacent communities across Kenya. The organization supplies quality tree seedlings through community-owned nurseries, provides hands-on farmer training in integrated farming systems at the Karurumo Farmers Field School, distributes energy-saving cooking stoves, and operates a greening schools program.

Product overview

Trees for Kenya is an environmental NGO that offers a portfolio of interconnected programs centered on tree planting, agroforestry, and sustainable agriculture. Its core offerings include the Farm Forestry/Agroforestry program that integrates trees into smallholder farms, Forest Restoration projects in the Mount Kenya region, and the Greening Schools program for environmental education. Supporting infrastructure includes community-owned Tree Nurseries producing quality seedlings, and the Energy Conservation Stoves program reducing fuelwood demand. The organization operates the Karurumo Farmers Field School as a demonstration and training hub that showcases integrated programs including Smart Agriculture and Agroforestry, Livestock Farming, Greenhouse Farming, Solar Drying, and Value Addition processing. These programs work synergistically: nurseries supply seedlings for agroforestry and restoration; farmers receive training and implements; field schools demonstrate best practices; and energy stoves reduce pressure on newly planted trees.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Smart Agriculture and Agroforestry

Quantifiable outcome

• 98% tree survival rate
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor, major and core.

• Peace CorpsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPeace Corps visited Trees for Kenya project beneficiaries.
• Mount Kenya Reforestation PartnersmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with different organizations for a reforestation project in the Mount Kenya region to restore degraded forests within Mount Kenya National Park and support agroforestry in surrounding tea and coffee farming communities.
• Ministry of AgriculturecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture attended the first Farmers Field Day at Karurumo Farmers Field School on June 26, 2025.
• KALRO (Kenyan Agricultural & Livestock Research Organization)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKALRO representatives attended the first Farmers Field Day, providing expertise and support for agricultural extension activities.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• One Acre Fund: Large Kenya-headquartered social enterprise serving over 1 million smallholder farmers with inputs, finance, and training, operating in overlapping counties and addressing similar farmer livelihoods though with a broader input-financing model.
• Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI): State-owned research institute developing forest technologies and seedling varieties for Kenya, adjacent to Trees for Kenya's nursery and tree-planting activities as an upstream supplier of species and methods.
• Kenya Forest Service: Government agency responsible for forest conservation and tree-growing in Kenya, including delivery of the national 15 billion trees target — a natural policy and implementation counterpart for Trees for Kenya.
• World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF): International CGIAR research organization driving agroforestry science and implementation globally, including in Kenya, with overlapping smallholder agroforestry programs but a research-and-policy mandate rather than grassroots NGO delivery.

Direct peers

• Vi Agroforestry: Swedish NGO implementing agroforestry and farmer livelihood programs in East Africa, directly overlapping Trees for Kenya's smallholder agroforestry training and tree integration model.
• WeForest: International NGO funding forest restoration and agroforestry projects across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, with overlapping activities in smallholder training and landscape restoration.
• Eden Reforestation Projects: Global NGO using an employ-a-local model to plant tens of millions of trees through community nurseries, directly comparable to Trees for Kenya's community-nursery-driven reforestation approach.
• Green Belt Movement: Founded by Wangari Maathai, Green Belt Movement is a Kenya-based NGO focused on community-led tree planting and environmental conservation, with a comparable grassroots mobilization and smallholder farmer engagement model.
• Trees for the Future: US-headquartered NGO running agroforestry and tree planting programs with smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa, including Kenya, using a nearly identical nursery-and-farmer-training model.
• Justdiggit: Netherlands-based foundation funding large-scale landscape regreening in East Africa, including Kenya, with farmer-led restoration activities comparable to Trees for Kenya's agroforestry work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/treesforkenya

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Trees for Kenya