President William Ruto has announced government plan to incentivise Kenyans planting trees.
The president restated his ambition to have trees totalling 15 billion planted throughout his tenure in office.
Speaking on Saturday, July 1, at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Ruto said those with trees would soon start earning from them.
"We have agreed that we should all plant trees. Besides dealing with the climate change, planting trees is generally a good idea," said Ruto.
The president said the earnings would not be from logging but a government's token of appreciation to the Kenyans that heeded the call to plant trees.
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"I want to give you heads up; that soon, you will be paid for owning trees on your land. It is not that you will be selling them. The government will reward you for having the trees," said Ruto.
The president spoke while gracing the Ushirika Day held at the KICC.
Owing to the current state of the climate globally, Ruto's clarion call has been for Kenyans to increase the forest cover.
He has been rallying Kenyans behind the #JazaMiti initiative to fire up compatriots to plant more trees.
To back him in the initiative has been his deputy Rigathi Gachagua.
The deputy president in the meetings he has graces has emphasised on the significance of adequate forest cover in dealing with such calamities as drought which has posed threats to life.
"While Kenya is taking immediate and a few long-term measures in response to drought and famine, we cannot manage the situation alone. We need children in school otherwise they will be left behind. We need safe pregnancies and deliveries but malnutrition among expectant and lactating mothers and children threatens to erase gains made in suppressing mortalities in these vulnerable groups.
The ripple effect is that hungry people cannot escape poverty, they cannot be healthy, they cannot go to School, they cannot be peaceful. In short, there is a direct link between food security and achievement of all the Sustainable Development Goals in which we seek to leave no one behind," he said in a meeting a while back.
