PES changing lives of rural families

Deep within Ainamoi village, Saoset location of Bomet County lives a “farming warrior.”
We meet Nancy Rono a widowed lady with three children. She is among the farmers under the Payment for Environmental Services (PES) scheme piloted in the Mara River Basin with support from the HSBC Water Programme.
Nancy tending to her farm
Nancy has proven against all odds that anyone can make it if they are focused and committed. Her story dates back to the year 2014 June, when she first joined the PES scheme. Nancy’s farm was identified as erosion hotspot and an urgent intervention was needed to reduce surface run-off.
Being an open and bare land on a steep slope she could hardly harvest enough food to feed her family. Her once bare land is now rich with fodder for her animals, maize, tea and cabbages guaranteeing her food security.
From her farm income she is now able to educate her children and fend for her family daily needs. With a daily routine that sees her up by 5am, she starts by milking thereafter prepares her children to go to school then embark on her other chores. Nancy discharges all these duties with tenacity of an ox.
“Since I joined PES scheme, I have greatly benefited because my farm supply has increased and we have been food secure. Now I’m able to plant a variety of food crops that we not only consume but sale the surplus at the local market thus have some income,” said Nancy. 
“My future plan is to set up a tea cafe business where I’ll use my surplus milk and sale to the locals,” she said. 
Nancy with her sons
Walking through the village her story is not isolated but one that many concur with because they are all benefiting from the WWF interventions in the location. Most families are now able to do sustainable agriculture hence conserving their farms for the benefit of themselves, environment and other water users downstream.
Payment for Environmental Services (PES) is an avenue whereby farmers and landowners in the upstream catchment are empowered to conserve their land to ensure that downstream water users are able to get clean water in high quantity.
With support from the HSBC Water Programme, WWF-Kenya has been piloting the PES scheme in the three villages of the Nyangores sub-catchment of the Mara River Basin in which Nancy’s farm is located.

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