Green Initiative Kakuma
Community workshop participants in Turkana

About Us

Born in Kakuma,
led by community

A grassroots climate and environmental organization serving communities in Kakuma, Turkana County, and surrounding areas. Registered in June 2023.

Our Story

A grassroots response to a changing climate

Green Initiative Kakuma (GIK) is a legally registered community-based organization founded in June 2023 in Kakuma Town, Turkana County, Kenya.

GIK works at the intersection of climate education, community resilience, indigenous knowledge, ecosystem conservation, and sustainable food systems. The organization focuses on empowering youth, women, pastoralists, elders, and local communities to take active roles in climate action and environmental stewardship.

Through community-led programs, partnerships, training, dialogue, and awareness campaigns, GIK promotes practical climate solutions that are rooted in local realities while also incorporating modern scientific approaches.

Founders

Four young people, one climate vision

GIK was founded by four young people from Kakuma Town who shared a common concern about the growing effects of climate change in Turkana County. They saw how prolonged droughts, resource-based conflicts, food insecurity, land degradation, and limited access to climate information were affecting pastoralist and host communities.

Their original idea was to create a community-led platform that could use local talent, traditional knowledge, and available natural resources to build climate resilience and promote environmental responsibility. That vision led to the formation of Green Initiative Kakuma.

Mission

To leverage locally available talent and natural resources to advance climate education, strengthen climate adaptation, champion indigenous knowledge systems, steer ecosystem conservation, and promote agroecological practices.

Vision

To recreate a climate-literate, food-secure, and eco-steward society by blending traditional ecological knowledge with contemporary scientific knowledge.

Core Values

What guides our climate work

Six commitments shape every program, partnership, and dialogue we lead.

  • Community-Centered

    Sustainable climate solutions must be led by the communities most affected by climate change. Local people, their experiences, and their priorities sit at the center of every program.

  • Integrity

    Honesty, transparency, and ethical conduct in every activity, partnership, and community engagement.

  • Eco-Consciousness

    Environmentally responsible practices that protect natural resources, conserve ecosystems, and reduce harm to the environment.

  • Accountability

    Responsible use of resources, clear reporting, and openness to the communities, partners, and stakeholders we serve.

  • Empathy

    We approach our work with compassion and respect for the lived experiences of vulnerable communities affected by climate change, poverty, displacement, and resource scarcity.

  • Responsibility

    Shared responsibility among youth, elders, women, pastoralists, institutions, and partners in protecting the environment and building climate resilience.

Next step

See this vision in action

Explore the six programmatic pillars that turn GIK’s mission into community climate work across Turkana County.

See our programsGet Involved