Support Dee J Essy's Desert Regreening Site

Emily Kaminsky is organizing this fundraiser.

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Dear Supporters,

My name is Esther Njeri, known as "Dee J Essy" among friends. I'm a mother of two teenage sons, currently living in Nairobi, Kenya. With a deep passion for environmental sustainability, I became a certified Syntropic Agroforestry trainer and practitioner in 2021. I am now a consultant, providing advice, guidance, and training to other practitioners in Kenya and beyond.

Today, I humbly reach out to you for your support in raising $5,000. With $4,000, I aim to purchase a used four-wheel drive car. With the remaining $1,000, I will build a small natural house for my family and me on a 3.5-acre parcel of land that I purchased in Inyuu, Kitui County, Kenya. This land holds immense potential to serve as both my home and a demonstration food forest farm and training site.

Your contribution will help me expand my reach and impact. With my own transportation, I can extend my work to other dry areas of Kenya, offering vital training on Syntropic Agroforestry methods to local villagers, youth, and practitioners. Currently, logistical and cost constraints limit how far I can travel and how much work I can accomplish. I can only afford to rent a car and driver for one day.

Kenya faces extreme environmental degradation and ecological disasters as the result of climate change. The impact ranges from thirst-provoking periods of prolonged drought to the recent life destroying floods in Kenya. And it is only getting worse.

There is a way out of this ecological hell. My practical experience in Syntropic Agroforestry proves that we can regreen the desert and create abundance in the driest lands of Kenya. As the first certified Syntropic Agroforestry trainer of Kenyan descent, I have worked collaboratively with communities and fellow practitioners across my country and beyond to establish several promising “food forest” projects.

This work is more than work to me. It is my passion. It is my life. And, it is personal. I am transferring all my knowledge to my sons and my brothers so they can stay with me in the house that we will erect together on this land.

In order to make this farm a success, I need people like you. People who want to be part of the solution, to not only stave off the rampage of climate change in Kenya but move towards a more abundant, productive, and sustainable landscape.

Your generosity will not only support my vision but will also contribute to the collective effort to combat climate change and create a more sustainable future for generations to come. Together, we can regreen Kenya's deserts, create an abundance of food through food forests, and pave the way for a greener, healthier planet.

I ask you to consider my request with the future of the next generation in mind. The food forest concept is a proven one. It only needs more attention, application, and extension. I am committed to that cause.

With gratitude,

Esther "Dee J Essy" Njeri

Please read on for more details!

More about the Project Site at Inyuu

We have accomplished so much in just 9 months since purchasing the property in September 2023. Let me tell you more! But, first a video:

For more videos of our work on this site, please visit Roland Van Reenen, Forest Farmer, YouTube channel.

The main focus of our work on the site is “planting water”. This is an approach of successional agroforestry that has proven to be successful in the most arid of climates. And, this is what helps sustain efforts to "regreen the Kenyan desert."

For this reason, I first focused on planting biomass crops that retain water like spineless non-invasive nopal cactus, sisal and other succulents. We also plant vetiver grass to combat erosion.

Planting cacti first before planting other biomass and trees.

All of the site preparation work and planting to date has been accomplished in partnership with trainees.

Villagers from the nearby community are being trained on the site. They work alongside us and get practical experience in Syntropic Agroforestry methods.

We also train young people here as part of the Syntropic Youths Nairobi initiative. They, in turn, bring their knowledge back to the city to teach their knowledge to local youths.

Youth from Syntropic Youths Nairobi at the site learn methods for "planting water".

As the plants on the site grow and more of the land is worked it is our plan to use it as a teaching and demonstration site for more people.

The farm will ultimately be self-sustaining after several years of successional planting. My main cashcrops are dragonfruits, oranges, lemons, cashewnuts, tamarind and dates.

Dragonfruit will be one of several income generating crops on the farm.

Other “Regreening the Desert” Projects

I have worked and consulted on other projects similar to the site it Inyuu. For example, in Northern Kenya, we are working with the Samburu people to implement a silvopasture agroforestry system in a real desert. We are taking a measured approach: first, fencing to keep livestock and wild animals out. This has caused the grass to regrow. Then, we planted many succulents like sisal, aloe-vera and spineless Nopal cactuses as biomass. Recently, just before the rainy season started, we planted drought-resistant fruit trees like baobab, tamarind, cashew nuts and date trees. The local Samburu community is involved in the work and receiving training in Syntropic Agroforestry methods.

Also, in Southern Coastal Kenya in Kwale, on a farm serving deaf people, we were able to train the whole deaf community over several years to create a foodforest.

Full Bio: Esther Njeri (aka Dee J Essy)

I was born December 1, 1989 in Nairobi, Kenya. I went to Jehovah Jire primary school from 1998 to 2003. After that I joined Gatanga CCM in Thika up to 2008.

In 2012, I joined Homeboyz DJ Academy, graduated successfully and then worked a few years as a DJ and management of artists until 2020 when COVID-19 made it impossible to do that work anymore.

In 2021, I received intensive training in Syntropic Agroforestry from Roland van Reenen, now my partner.

He trained me to become the first Syntropic Agroforestry teacher of Kenyan descent. As his assistant I co-facilitated courses and workshops all over Kenya, in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Ghana.

In 2022, I established Agroforestry Regeneration Communities which is a nursery on my urban syntropic agroforestry farm in Nairobi. That farm is now completely self-sustaining and has thrived without any irrigation for more than a year.

In April 2022, I facilitated a workshop on Syntropic Agroforestry during an all women's permaculture training in Kendubay Kenya.

Currently, I run an urban agroforestry program for Agroforestry Regeneration Communities at Mwiki Primary School in Githurai Nairobi.

In September 2023 I bought farmland in Inyuu in Kitui County. It is my wish to transform this drylands farm into a training center for the local community and everyone interested in “planting water”. Currently my 2 sons who are part of Syntropic Youths Nairobi are involved together with all other SYN members in a practical training.