Kuki Njeru’s eyes sparkle as she discusses her bamboo business. “There’s immense potential in restoring the gullies with bamboo,” she says. “Not only does it grow well on degraded land, it helps stabilize soils and prevent erosion as well.”
A co-founder of GreenPot Enterprises, Kenya’s first integrated bamboo company, Njeru is the face of a rapidly emerging new restoration economy in Kenya. Founded in 2014, GreenPot has shown there is profit in rehabilitating degraded land with bamboo, a fast-growing plant with versatile applications in the energy, construction and textile industries. In the past 18 months, the company has become profitable, managing about 400 hectares (1,000 acres) of bamboo and bringing in more than $2 million in sales.
Originally published on the World Resources Institute (WRI) website
As countries shift from mitigation commitments to action in the 
Dr. Dennis Garrity talks about the collaboration between World Agroforestry Center, Kenya Forestry Research Institute and Better Globe Forestry Ltd to reduce poverty in Kenya by helping farmers earn an income through dryland tree planting.
Rwanda has been confronted by the vagaries of a changing climate in recent years. Hailstorms, floods, strong winds, heavy rains leading to landslides, prolonged droughts and changed weather patterns have become more recurrent, making seasons increasingly unpredictable and traditional indicators no longer suitable. This has many implications for the mostly rain-fed agriculture sector in Rwanda, which is also the main source of subsistence for the majority of the country’s population. Agriculture contributes to 30% of the GDP, whereas pastoralism, practiced only in small pockets of dry areas in the country, contributes to 10% of the GDP.