Eco Community

Environmental Stewardship in Kibera

ETCO recognises that a healthy community starts with a healthy environment. In informal settlements like Kibera, solid waste is a daily crisis. Waste that is not properly collected ends up in water channels flowing into the Ngong Rivers and ultimately accumulates in Nairobi Dam. Researchers estimate that only 33% of waste in Kibera is collected, leaving approximately 2,690 tons uncollected each day.

Monthly Community Clean-ups

As part of our Environmental Care Programme, ETCO organises community clean-up campaigns in Kibera at least once a month, mobilising residents to tackle waste in their own neighbourhoods. Our target is to control at least 70% of uncollected garbage through sustained, community-led effort. These are not token gestures — they are disciplined, regular operations that build habits and ownership.

We work alongside partners including Victory Farms Kenya, whose support extends beyond our children's feeding programme into hands-on environmental action. On one occasion, 216 community members cleared 800 metres of tributary in a single day.

Tree Planting and Urban Greening

On National Tree Planting Day, ETCO and partners planted 350 seedlings across Nyayo Highrise Ward — linking neighbourhood effort to Kenya's bold national tree-planting targets. Tree planting is not a one-off for us; it is woven into our regular programming as a practical response to erosion, flooding, and the loss of green space in densely populated areas.

Learning and Partnerships

ETCO participated in the 2024 Annual Circular Packaging Conference hosted by KEPRO in Nairobi — two days of dialogue on sustainable packaging, stakeholder engagement, and a circular economy tour visiting recyclers and the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute. These learning experiences inform our local practice and connect our community work to national and international environmental policy.

We also host visitors and partners who want to understand Kibera firsthand. Our community learning visits give stakeholders an honest look at the settlement's strengths and challenges, building the relationships that sustain long-term environmental work.

Why It Matters

The uncollected waste in Kibera clogs drainage channels and tributaries, degrades biodiversity, and directly threatens public health — particularly when rains cause flooding. ETCO believes that caring for the environment is caring for people, and that informal settlements deserve the same standards of cleanliness and environmental dignity as any other neighbourhood in Nairobi.