Ruto promises billions of seedlings as Kenya marks Mazingira Day
National
By
Denis Omondi
| Oct 10, 2025
President William Ruto has announced plans to revive tree nurseries across the country to produce at least two billion seedlings annually.
Speaking during a tree-planting exercise at State House, Nairobi, on Friday, Ruto said the initiative will be spearheaded by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) in partnership with 15,000 National Youth Service (NYS) officers.
The plan includes re-establishing 300 nurseries across the KFS network and setting up 17 mega nurseries.
“We have agreed that KFS and NYS will work together to mobilise 15,000 NYS personnel to restart 300 nurseries in all our forest stations and forested areas so that we can have two billion seedlings available to the people of Kenya every year,” said the president.
The government has also enlisted the military, prisons, community forest associations, and the private sector to support the nationwide reforestation effort.
Members of Parliament will be required to allocate 5 percent of their Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to tree planting in schools.
The nurseries will produce fruit tree seedlings and other species suited to different ecological zones as Kenya races to achieve its target of 15 billion trees by 2032. About 100 million trees are expected to be planted today.
“I must commend the people of Kenya that in the last two years, we have planted 1.06 billion trees. Given the target we have, we must up our game,” he stated.
The president added that the tree-planting campaign is not only part of his administration’s climate agenda but also crucial for food security, job creation, and sustainable development.
“Climate change is real and is undermining the development of countries and communities. It has caused frequent floods, droughts, wildfires, and so many other disruptions.”
On Thursday, Basic Education Principal Secretary Julius Bitok directed all 35,570 public and private primary schools to plant at least 2,000 fruit trees each on Mazingira Day.
“Learners are expected to be in school to take part in the activity as part of their contribution to national environmental goals,” Bitok said.
First Lady Rachel Ruto, Environment Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa, and PS Bitok were among dignitaries who attended the State House event, joined by pupils from State House Primary School.
Cabinet secretaries and senior government officials are leading similar exercises in their former primary schools across the country.