Green Belt Movement


The Green Belt Movement is an indigenous, grassroots, non-governmental organization based in Nairobi, Kenya that takes a holistic approach to a development by focusing on environmental conservation, community development and capacity building. Professor Wangari Maathai established the organization in 1977, under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya.
According to an annual report done in 2003, ‘‘the mission of GBM is to mobilize community consciousness for self-determination, justice, equity, reduction of poverty, and environmental conservation, using trees as the entry point’’. The Green Belt Movement also aims at organizing women in rural Kenya to plant trees, combat deforestation, restore their main sources of fuel for cooking, generate income, and stop soil erosion. Maathai has incorporated advocacy and empowerment for women, eco-tourism, and overall economic development into the Green Belt Movement.
Since Wangari Maathai started the movement in 1977, over 51 million trees have been planted, and over 30,000 women have been trained in forestry, food processing, bee-keeping, and other trades that help them earn income while preserving their lands and resources. Communities in Kenya have been motivated and organized to both prevent further environmental destruction and restore that which has been damaged. The Green Belt Movement’s mission is to "mobilize community consciousness for self-determination, justice, equity, reduction of poverty, and environmental conservation, using trees as the entry point".
Wangari Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt Movement, was born to peasant farmers on April 1, 1940 in Nyeri, Kenya. She grew up in rural community, called Kikuyu in Kenya, raised by her mother and father. "My parents raised me in an environment that did not give reasons for fear or uncertainty. Instead, there were many reasons to dream, to be creative, and to use my imagination. Maathai’s first memories are of life on the farm helping her mother, working in the fields, planting, tilling, plucking, and harvesting." Eventually in the late 1940s, Maathai was able to begin school as a young adolescent. She later went on to earning a bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from Mount St. Scholastica College in Atchison, Kansas and a master's degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh. Then she pursued her doctoral studies in biology at the University of Nairobi, and in Germany, which led her to obtaining her Ph.D. in biology in 1971 from the University of Nairobi. Maathai was the first Eastern African woman to receive a PhD from the University College of Nairobi, and was a leader in the ecofeminist movement.
Maathai went on to serving as an active member in the National Council of Women in Kenya from 1976 to 1987. During her time as a member she served as the chairman for several years and she began introducing her ideas about "community-based" tree planting. From her continued work, she eventually developed her ideas into an organization, known as the Green Belt Movement. She began the movement as a grass-roots organization and it bloomed from grew from there. She focused the movement on poverty reduction and environmental conservation through encouraging tree planting. While also spreading education about tree planting and how it benefits and contributes to the community.
Later on, Maathai's book, The Green Belt Movement was published by Lantern Books. Maathai received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her work with the Green Belt Movement, becoming the first African woman to win. Although formal institutions, such as the Nobel Peace Prize Committee, recognized Maathai's work, her work was not intended for legitimization but rather as a form of radical action against systems creating and reinforcing rural poverty.
This non-governmental organization uses the direct action of planting trees and facilitating community education to change the current system of oppression that prevents women in rural Kenya from accessing education, resources, and land. This form of activism, as direct community empowerment, has been replicated around the world. The Green Belt Movement functions to support and provide resources to communities for the purpose of demanding democratic space and accountability from national leaders. For example, on the Green Belt Movement Website, a news link will update visitors on current cases of activism. On February 23, 2016, a press statement on the Karura Forest was published to the Green Belt Movement's official website. This article calls for the public's help in addressing the current issue of land grabbing within the Karura Forest that violates the 2016-2020 strategic forest management plan created by the Kenya Forest Service and Friends of Karura Forest.

The movement

Divisions, programs and structure

Divisions

There are two divisions that make up the Green Belt Movement including:
  1. Green Belt Movement Kenya
  2. Green Belt Movement International.

    key Focus Areas

The Green Belt Movement works in five principal areas;known as "core programs"
  1. Civic & Environmental Education
  2. Environmental Conservation/Tree Planting
  3. Green Belt Safaris
  4. Pan African Training Workshops
  5. Women for Change
Each of these programs is aimed at improving the lives of local inhabitants by mobilizing their own abilities to improve their livelihoods and protect their local environment, economy and culture.

Organization structure

The organizational structure of the Green Belt Movement includes four key departments:
  1. Project Management
  2. Administration
  3. Finance
  4. Coordination
Each component of the Green Belt Movements structure includes a wide range of organizational factors that keep/have kept the movement going. These departments have fostered/allowed the GBM to continue working and growing as an organization/movement. The function of these departments has overall played a key part in maintained the success and spread GBM.
The Project management department of the GBM includes employees such as the project officer, assistant project office, and a wide array of support staff. The project officer is responsible for overseeing the development of projects, and the formulation and execution of strategies and objectives for a project. The assistant project officer is in charge of supporting and attending to the project officer. The support staff is the largest sector of the department and involves the implementation and evaluation of projects, events, any other projects/relations related to the GBM. The support staff provides and contributes a wide range of support to the growth and success of the GBM. The support staff is responsible for regional tree monitoring, organizing tree nursery groups/events, promotion the GBM, educating under-privileged communities, and attending to current tree-nursery. Moreover, there are several advisors hired to help educated and attend to any community concerns, problems, questions, and emergencies.
The administration department of the GBM, is responsible for the management of all and any GBM employees, scheduling, billing, contribution management, and various other key aspects of the movement and organization. The administration department also maintains key donor, community and international relations. Some of the key employees apart of the administration department include the GBM Board, the Executive committee, and the secretariat.
The finance department of GBM has many responsibilities and is a big part of the sustainability of the movement and organization in general. The finance department of the GBM is responsible for the management of all the GBM assets, funds, business relations, and any other money related concerns, payments, contributions, etc. The finance department additionally produces a variety of annual reports, contributions, and overall audited reports of any and all donated funds towards the GBM.
The coordination that must be done by the GBM includes providing direction towards its visions, projects, meetings, and various international relations. The GBM also writes proposals for projects to benefit rural and poverty-stricken communities. The GBM even evaluates current projects that are being managed and done by companies or individuals who are not benefiting or contributing to helping the communities its serving. Additionally, the coordination of the GBM involves convening meetings and being present at meetings internationally and locally. Through coordinating meetings and international relations they are able to/have established a wide network of associates and benefited many communities.

Areas of activity

The Green Belt Movement is involved in four main areas of activity that foster the improvement of the natural resources and ecosystems surrounding communities throughout the world. The four main areas of activity the GBM includes:
  1. Tree Planting and Water Harvesting
  2. Climate Change
  3. Mainstream Advocacy
  4. Gender Livelihood and Advocacy
Tree planting and water harvesting activities are arranged, designed, installed, and overall monitored by the GBM. However, it also fosters communities to help conserve the natural resources and ecosystems around the world. The tree planting and water harvesting activities are conducted by the GBM through using a "watershed based approach". Which involves the GBM getting communities to contribute to conserving the biodiversity surrounding them, to restoring local/public ecosystems, and to reducing the impact of climate change.
A major area of activity for the GBM is focused around there Climate Change Program. The program that the GBM created focuses on reducing climate change, by providing educational resources/information to impoverished and rural communities. The program also focuses on raising awareness throughout the worldwide, targeting rural communities with educational resources, programs, and various other resources.
The mainstream advocacy activities of the GBM includes advocating "for greater political accountability and the expansion of democratic space in Kenya. GBM has called for, time and time again, an end to land grabbing, deforestation and corruption".
Furthermore, the Gender Livelihood and Advocacy the GBM is includes a combination of international and grassroots advocacy tactics. The GBM on a grassroots level focuses on creating "climate resilient communities through restoration and protection of forest watersheds, and the creation of sustainable livelihoods for communities in Kenya and across Africa. GBM’s approach empowers communities to take action against climate change, the impacts of which are already being witnessed across Africa, through food security and water harvesting activities and planting the appropriate trees in appropriate places. At the international level, GBM advocates for environmental policy that ensures the protection of natural forests and community rights, especially communities living close to and in forest ecosystems in sub-Saharan Africa and the Congo Basin Rainforest Ecosystem".

History

Prior to the Green Belt Movements founding, specifically during the 1970s, there was a restricted political opportunity structure within Kenya because the government at the time was very politically repressive. The Kenyan government was dominated by men and their patriarchal and repressive views, which created many issues for women. Many women throughout Kenya were struggling with feeding their families, getting access to natural resources. Moreover, many Kenyan women didn't have any form of legal protection or say when it came to the politics in Kenya. Women were so repressed and treated so poorly that they weren't allowed to be in government or sit in on political meetings. Eventually changes within Kenya and its government occurred. The Green Belt Movement specifically played an essential role in changing the ways women were treated, excluded from, and used in Kenya. The framing of the Green Belt Movement as a non-threatening environmental conservation effort made an enormous impact on the government and communities during a time that many other forms of activism were seen as threats to the government. However, by encouraging women to question their place and challenge social and political institutions that keep women compliant the Green Belt Movement was eventually founded officially. :
The Green Belt Movement began with Maathai founding the organization in 1977, but she founded the organization because of what she studied, taught, witnessed, learned, and wanted to change. She began with founding the movement, but prior to founding the movement she was involved she was a part of another environmental organization. Maathai served as chairwoman of the UNEP's Environment Liaison Center board, which today is called the Environment Liaison Center International. From serving as a chairwomen with the UNLEP, she later on in 1974, switched gears, and began focusing her time and energy on mitigating environmental issues. Maathai focused for efforts on battling deforestation issues, and how to fix various other forest-related issues in order to improve the overall quality of life for the women and children in Kenya.
Maathai began with introducing tree planting programs and regimes into local communities/ targeting communities with little access basic natural resources such as water or rice. The first tree planting the GBH facilitate occurred on June 5, 1977 and involved seven ethnic tribes being honored through the planting of trees. It took place in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, and trees were planted, marking the beginning of what would become an internationally influential movement that challenges the hegemonic structures of that oppress rural communities in Kenya. However the tree planting programs and regimes took a significant amount of time for involvement to occur within communities. There were several trials done and eventually Maathai and the various employee apart of the GBM established successful programs. "Maathai often told her coworkers in the GBM, "we are on a track that has not been explored before. We are on a trial-and error basis. If what we did yesterday did not produce good results, let’s not repeat it today because it is a waste of time".
However though, during the implementation of the tree planting program, the GBM also experienced many setbacks because of its lack of funding and support. This led to Wangari Maathai joining the National Council of Women of Kenya as a member of the Executive Committee. From Maathai joining the council the Green Belt Movement was able to get international attention and support from women and governments. The GBM also was able to gain much more help when it came to facilitating tree planting initiatives and educational programs. Maathai even was able to further the Green Belt's movement through expanding its public outreach, gain more funding towards tree planting projects/ climate change initiatives, and overall more support to ensure the success of the organization.
After joining the National Council of Women of Kenya, Maathai then went on to consistently educating communities and facilitating permanent outreach programs. Eventually the GBM was let to implementing throughout Kenya its widespread tree planting program. The program they Green Belt Movement implemented and facilitated thousands of tree seedlings being planted in long rows to form green belts of trees, and thus marking the very beginning of the Green Belt Movement. "These "belts" had the advantages of providing shade and windbreaks, facilitating soil conservation, improving the aesthetic beauty of the landscape and providing habitats for birds and small animals. During these local tree-planting ceremonies, community members usually turned out in large numbers. To conceptualize this fast-paced activity of creating belts of trees to adorn the naked land, the name Green Belt Movement was used." From the GBM gaining support and funding from the National Council of Women of Kenya, the GBM was able to successfully continue its work and efforts throughout Kenya.
Moreover, through Maathais attitude, persistence, and overall efforts to the cause, the movement began gaining a large amount of traction within Kenya, and throughout the world. Eventually, the second tree planting occurred in 1979 and involved the planting of trees by hundreds of women, on a rural farm in Kenya. After the second tree planting the GBM was able to continue to grow is organization and they also were able to conduct a significant about of research and studies on Kenya and its environmental problems. From the amount of research and activism the GBM continued to do, they were able to identify the need that rural communities and women especially needed. From their research, they started to consistently pass out seedlings to women and rural communities. The GBM also facilitated the implementation of income generating activities, and taught communities about environmentally sustainable practices.
After its second tree planting, and the establishment of several other projects and initiatives led to the GBM participating and facilitating a wide range of political activism. Specifically during the years of 1989–1994, the Green Belt Movement maintained its non-confrontational goals, while Wangari Maathai openly challenged the political arena. Maathai and the GBM partnered with organizations and community members throughout Kenya to advocate for environmentally sustainable practices, women's rights, and various other environmental problems. Moreover, throughout the Green Belt Movement, the organizers of the movement had been able to educate community members on non-violent resolution practices. Through educating the community on non-violent problem solving practices and on politics, the GBM in combination with international organizations and community members have been able to initiate changes within the Kenyan government, and social, political, and economic norms in Kenya. Moreover, women throughout Kenya have been able to participate regularly within Kenyan politics, which has forced changes in Kenya to occur.
Throughout the establishment of the Green Belt Movement, the movement faced a variety of problems and harassment. Specifically in the 1980s, the Green Belt Movement was being harassed significantly, at the grassroots level within communities and at the central office. For example, the Green Belt Movement was evicted from their government-owned office they had worked in for 10 years. The harassment and oppression the Green Belt Movement has faced has been horrendous throughout its founding. But nowadays, the Green Belt Movement now highlights the focus on direct social and economic transformation of communities to ensure they are not identified as having a political agenda. By highlighting the lack of direct threat, this organization is able to function without alarming the decision-making elite who currently benefit from the inequities in Kenya. Moreover, the movement has made immense strides in helping local rural communities, restoring and improving natural resources and ecosystems, and educating/ empowering women throughout Kenya.

Political context of women involved

"African women in general need to know that it's ok for them to be the way they are to see the way they are as a strength, and to be liberated from fear and from silence." - Wangari Maathai
Before founding the GBM, Maathai had done a variety of traveling, studying, teaching, and volunteer work, which allowed her to take notice of major issues occurring in rural communities from a global perspective. But when Maathai returned to Kenya in 1969, she began working with civic organizations. She joined the board of the Environment Liaison Center and became a member of the National Council of Women of Kenya. Both these organizations allowed Maathai to gain knowledge, do research, and understand the issues taking place within her community. "While serving in the Environment Liaison Center, Maathai was exposed to conversations regarding the environmental degradation occurring in her own backyard. In the NCWK, Maathai listened to the voices and stories of hundreds of rural and urban women who suffered malnourishment and poverty. The decline in available firewood meant mothers could not cook their traditional foods. Instead they began cooking enriched white rice and other imported products that, although high in carbohydrates, lacked vitamins and minerals. Children were inflicted with diseases and malnourished". From seeing the horrendous conditions women throughout Kenya were facing, Maathai connected the dots between environmental degradation causing and forcing large communities to suffer. The large number of issues surrounding Kenya's forest included deforestation, extinction of vegetation, harmful agricultural practices, and high amount of soil degradation. These issues impacted the people of Kenya so significantly that women and children were starving and dying consistently. Maathai took it upon herself to do something about it, which is what led to the Green Belt Movement being formed in 1977. From the Green Belt Movement being formed, it initiated women to become involved in the politics and in the various politics surrounding Kenya's natural resources and ecosystems.
At first the involvement of women began with the tree planting program and it slowly grew into even more than just the tree planting program. The GBM started passing out seedlings to women and teaching groups of women how to properly plant and grow trees on their own. The GBM also provided free lessons to women in rural communities so they could grow their own food and feed their starving children. Through the GBM taking a very hands on and invasive approach to improving the rural communities within Kenya, many women were able to get the natural resources they needed/need to survive and continue to grow their families. From the GBM involvement within Kenya, women continued to go to the GBM and seek help and resources. The amount of resource and support the GBM provided especially to women, allowed for women to become activists for the movement. It also allowed women to gain access to a variety of educational resources and join the GBM's efforts, activism, and overall contributions to rural communities. The variety of activism and political awareness that was sparked and continues to grow from the GBM can be evaluated through the lens of Black feminism.
Black feminism addresses the realities of intersectionality related to identity and the multiple forms of oppression, Black women specifically, experience. The concept of black feminism though was sparked and begin with Maathai. Maathai is responsible for initiating and growing the GBM, and overall spreading feministic views, knowledge, and educational materials throughout Kenya. She spread her feministic views and knowledge due to the fact she witnessed and endured a variety of discrimination, racism, and gender inequality throughout her life. Through her experiences, and everything she had witnessed in Kenya, she made it a goal for the GBM to incorporate empowering women and fostering their success. This in turn, initiated, Black feminism which has become a known concept and a movement of its own. Since Maathai incorporated black feminism within the GBM, the number of women getting involved in their local communities politics, state-wide politics, and politics related to the GBM has increased dramatically since 1977. Women would typically not be aware or have access to political information or resources, but through the GBM, African American women have become involved with politics.
Specifically through the GBM, Maathai continued to foster black feminism. She did this through the GBM allowing women in Kenya to be key stakeholder in the organization. Being a key stakeholder has allowed for women to discuss and bring awareness to more communities and educate more women throughout the world. Moreover, it has helped to educate the leaders and organizers of the GBM so the GBM can effectively help and access communities that especially need help. The GBM also continues to foster black feminism through organizing seminars, speaking engagements, and various community based meetings/discussions. The organized seminars facilitated by the GBM, allowed women from various rural Kenyan communities to discuss their experiences of environmental degradation, political views, discriminatory experiences, etc. From the variety of discussions and seminars that take place, women are able to create solutions from subjugated knowledge to resist marginalization and cultural knowledge about their communities. The strategies used by the GBM and initiated by Maathai have contributed to benefiting women in Kenya tremendously and have allowed women to stay involved with the politics occurring in their rural communities.
However, even after the variety of support and momentum the GBM has gained throughout the years, the politics the GBM, and all women in Kenya face, are extremely controversial and patriarchal. For example, women are prevented from obtaining equal capital by the social and political restrictions in land ownership for women and being prevented from joining decision-making meetings. Luckily, the Green Belt Movement overall is an organization that facilitates and functions to mitigate oppressive practices by ending land grabbing, deforestation and corruption. The GBM also focuses on educating women on politics and encourages women to participate in leadership roles within the GBM. The GBM even provides legal services and advice to women who are in need of help of any kind. Through the amount of activism and education the organization has spread, there is an immense about the politics and patriarchal norms changing and shifting. Specifically, nowadays, the network consist of over 4,000 community groups in Kenya, who volunteer to protect their natural environment, practice day to day liberation for women, which is a key aspect of Black feminism work. The number of people who have joined the GBM has made the roles of women and males' views toward women change in Kenya. The more the GBM influences and educates Kenya and its people in general, the more changes in Kenya's laws, women's roles, and overall environmental laws/regulations will occur.

Projects

The Green Belt Movement since its founding in 1977 has been involved a wide variety of projects. The projects that have been completed by the GBM are listed below.
Tree Planting Projects:
Advocacy and Climate Change Projects:
Community Empowerment and Education:
Tree Planting Projects:
Advocacy & Peace Building:
Tree Planting:
Advocacy and Climate Change:
Community Empowerment and Education:
Tree Planting Projects:
Corporate Partnership Projects:
Climate Change:
Gender, Livelihood, and Advocacy:
Tree Planting & Water Harvesting Projects:
Community Partnership Projects:
Gender, Livelihood, and Advocacy:
Since the establishment of the Green Belt Movement they have participated in a variety of activism throughout the world. They have gone from doing a very little amount of activism to expanding worldwide. The GBM does their activism through the Community Empowerment and Education program. The CEE allows community members from all over Kenya to come together and learn about human activities and how they affect the environment and cause environmental degradation. Moreover, the CEE provides a space for individuals to unite and discuss gender inequalities towards women in Kenya. The GBM from their outreach and activism has been able to get involved a variety of advocacy since their founding.
In the early 21st century, the Green Belt Movement is now vibrant and has succeeded in achieving many of the goals it set out to meet. It's also achieved at providing a wide range of protection to natural resources and ecosystems around the world. The protection of the environmental and natural resources was achieved through the GBM practices of tree planting, soil conservation measures, sustainable management of the local environment and economy and the protection/boosting of local livelihoods. In addition to helping the environment and local-communities, the movement also has succeeded at helping local women generate their own sources of income. The GBM has facilitated women to generate their own income through the production of seed sales. Moreover, the Movement has also succeeded in educating thousands of low-income women about forestry and has created about 3,000 part-time jobs. The movement has even succeeded at reaching and spreading its roots throughout a wide range of countries in the world. They continue to spread their message and help to communities and women throughout the world.