The National Government has stepped up efforts to achieve the 15 billion tree-growing target by distributing assorted quality coffee and avocado seedlings to farmers in Trans Nzoia County.
Speaking in Kitale after overseeing the distribution exercise, Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Dr. Deborah Barasa challenged Kenyans to take advantage of the current heavy rains to help the government achieve the 15 Billion tree cover target by 2032.
Dr. Barasa said the programme that aims to restore 10.6 million hectares of degraded land and increase the country’s tree cover from 12 to over 30 percent has was progressing very well.
She emphasised that every Kenyan had a role to play towards the achievement of the target.
“If learning institutions, farmers, households and all government departments were to go out in full gear during this planting season, an estimate of 533 million trees will have been planted by the end of it,” she said.
She said among efforts being made by the government to realise the goal is the strategic distribution of assorted high-quality seedlings specifically coffee and avocado to farmers, either through cooperatives or individually.
She revealed that since July 2025, Trans Nzoia County has received a total of 157,250 coffee and 28,570 avocado seedlings from the national government.
“Since the inception of this distribution, we have witnessed a transformative shift in the rural economy which has resulted in diversification of income, empowerment of youth and women and strengthening of cooperatives being some of the positive impacts,” she said.
In an effort to enable farmers to fetch more from the local and international market, Dr. Barasa said the government was out to ensure value addition to coffee and avocado by opening up more processing and packaging factories in the country.
“To our farmers, the government has provided the seedlings, but the hard work of nurturing them lies with you. To the cooperatives, let us remain transparent and professional in our management to ensure farmers get the best returns from their investment,” she advised.
Trans Nzoia Coffee Union Chairman Alfred Musa noted that farmers in the region are gradually shifting from over-reliance on maize to cash crops such as coffee.
Musa hailed the State for providing free coffee seedlings, adding that the cost of one seedling from private nurseries was about Sh50. He thus termed the government’s support a big relief to farmers.
By Isaiah Nayika
