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The southeast region of Kenya is semi-arid and suffers from poor soil fertility and rainfall, making it a marginal agricultural area prone to food shortages. A January 2001 summary by the Red Cross emphasised the disadvantaged nature of this region: "The present drought in Kenya, which began in 1999, has been the worst in the last 60 years, placing Kenya second only to Ethiopia on the list of worst affected countries in the region. Three successive seasons of poor rainfall in parts of Kenya have resulted in between 2 and 3 million people being at risk of starvation after 20 million cattle died and 70% or more of their crops were lost.
Our tree-planting and dam-building programmes conserve and improve the local environment and provide protection against the impacts of droughts, as well as providing additional food, fuel and income capability. Joshua Mukusya, our project consultant in Kenya, explains: "What we have done over the years is worked in places where most experts and agencies won't go - because the roads aren't there. This is where the real need is, places like Mbukuni where we are working. Mbukuni is a place that isn't easy to get to, or get results quickly, so no one wants to work there. The difference is that Excellent Development is prepared and happy to work in these places."
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We work with the Kamba people of the Machakos and Makueni Districts of south-eastern Kenya. A combination of our previous experience in the region and the disadvantaged nature of the environment led us to choose this area for our activities.
"Small-scale subsistence farmers who depend on rain for their main livelihoods of agriculture and livestock have been reduced to a state of destitution. The Kamba people in Kenya's Machakos District had nothing to eat and nothing left to plant."