From Crime to Green

April' 25

Their own site post training.

In the heart of Mathare, one of Nairobi’s largest informal settlements, a group of resilient young men embarked on a remarkable journey of transformation. In 2016, they took a barren, neglected piece of land and turned it into the thriving Mathare Green Park, a beacon of hope and a flourishing agricultural haven in their community.

Driven by a desire to transcend hardship and leave behind lives previously touched by crime, their goal was simple yet powerful, to inspire others, create opportunity, and grow change, literally.

Our Director, Sheena Shah-Reschke, met these inspiring individuals early 2023 through Jaclynn Ashly, a passionate journalist who has been documenting the challenges and resilience found in communities like Mathare. What Sheena witnessed was nothing short of extraordinary, young men, without formal training, transforming a challenged plot into a thriving green oasis producing food to sustain and nourish themselves and their community with the aim of selling the excess to earn a livelihood and invite more men and community members to participate in this work. The community here have had a lack of support post COVID-19 pandmeic, often running in to many obstacles on a daily, trying to survive.

Recognizing the immense potential of their work already in bridging the community, we at Harvesting for Good East Africa (HFG EA) began supporting their efforts. Our mission was to empower them with practical skills, tools, and knowledge, creating pathways to employment, improving food security, and strengthening community ties using permaculture long term.

Mathare Green Park is more than just a garden. It’s a living, growing symbol of hope, resilience, and community-led change. In 2023, with generous support from the International School of Kenya’s National Honor Society and individual donors, we facilitated a week-long permaculture training for the group. This immersive experience equipped them with essential skills to care for the land and further strengthen their initiative. Funding supported tools, seeds, stipends for their time, follow-up visits and communication for a full year, and scholarships for additional training alongside diverse groups across our programs.

The impact didn’t stop there.

One of the participants from Mathare introduced us to a group in Mukuru’s Wajukuu Art Project, another informal settlement. Though Wajukuu faced a very different set of challenges, especially with limited space, they were inspired by Mathare Green Park’s story and decided to start their own version. In an enclosed space that defies expectation, they built an incredible garden using raised beds and vertical growing methods (images above). It’s one of those places where, unless you’re shown, you’d never guess a lush food garden could exist there, but it does, and it thrives.

We visited Wajukuu, offering guidance, support, and seeds. Thanks to a generous donation, we also awarded them two scholarships to attend our permaculture trainings at Mlango Farm, which helped them deepen their skills and strengthen their efforts. The ripple effect of these locally driven, community-owned green spaces is powerful, showing what’s possible when people are trusted to lead and supported with the right tools.

What makes these models work is our bottom-up approach. We listen—deeply—and respond to their needs rather than prescribing solutions. That’s why these initiatives flourish. They are locally led, self-driven, and deeply rooted in community ownership.

Currently, our work in Mathare is focused on rebuilding. Life in informal settlements is unpredictable, with frequent shocks and stressors. Last year, a devastating fire swept through the area, displacing families who used Mathare Green Park as a temporary recovery center. Our team visited twice to assess the damage and support recovery planning. Fortunately, the group has now secured a new, untouched site within the same area to continue their farming efforts.

We’re raising funds to support the fencing, design, re-training, and strategic planning necessary for this next phase. Flooding is another major threat, so this time we’re designing with resilience in mind. Thanks to yet another generous donor, we’ve begun the first steps toward securing and preparing this new site.

These young men are trailblazers. They’ve stepped away from lives of instability and into roles as stewards of their community. Their work isn’t just about growing vegetables, it’s about growing futures. Mathare Green Park now spans nearly three hectares, with each of the 16 members tending to their own plot. It’s a symbol of what’s possible when people are given the tools to take ownership of their stories and spaces.

A visioning excercise in 2023 for the type of future they envisioned in Mathare and it was quite inspiring to provide this space.

As Jaclynn Ashly, who brought this project to our attention, beautifully put it,

“If transformative pathways start with the people, these men have already accomplished a lot on their own. Now, however, they need support in building on what they’ve already created.”

We’re calling on friends, funders, and partners to join us.

Let’s amplify this work. Let’s scale the hope and resilience that Mathare, Wajukuu, and others like them are cultivating. If you’re interested in partnering, funding, volunteering, or sharing your skills, we’d love to hear from you. Please reach out to us at harvestingforgoodea@gmail.com for any contributions.

Change has already taken root. Now it needs room to grow!

10 out of the 16 have already gone through the first set of facilitation. Read more here about their stories.