Seedwater Projects in Kenya
Maai Mahiu is a truck-stop town at the base of the Rift Valley escarpment in Kenya. Home to more than 60,000 residents, the area is rich in trade, agriculture, and showcases a kaleidoscope of cultures. Here, you can enjoy a steaming plate of nyama choma (roasted meat) or a slice of fresh mango. Amid the traffic, poor farmers and pastoralists coalesce with long-haul truck drivers and small business owners. Poverty is a daily reality here, where garbage lines the roads, collecting in waterways and rotting on corners.
The buildup of garbage in Maai Mahiu is more than just an eyesore. Due to a lack of adequate services, trash has been accumulating on streets, around homes, and in the natural environment - causing concern for the health and wellbeing of the community. Not only is there a huge need for proper sanitation services and waste removal, but there is an untapped market for waste collection and recycling – especially plastics – to keep trash off the streets, and when possible, out of the landfill.
Rocky Muuri, a community leader and expert in waste management, has a vision for a greener, healthier Maai Mahiu. He’s been making this dream a reality since 2012, when he led a local NGO project bringing waste collection to Maai Mahiu for the first time. He is now expanding this project into a private enterprise to ensure long-term sustainability, and to offer these essential services to the whole community – not just a small slice. Realizing this vision for all of Maai Mahiu starts with a cargo truck.
Rocky needed funds for a truck to transport waste and recyclable materials to appropriate processors, which would also add new jobs and expand key services to community members. Rocky has seen the detrimental impacts of waste on the community and the environment since he was a child. Maai Mahiu residents are currently not afforded the right to a clean life, as the government and private waste haulers have historically neglected them.
Seedwater Consulting supported Rocky's community leadership through business development services, technical assistance, and fundraising through grants and a crowdfunding campaign.