World Environment Day Special: Celebrating at Cheptebo

This year's World Environment Day, marked globally on 5 June under the theme "Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future," was celebrated in Elgeyo Marakwet County at AIC Cheptebo. Save Kenya Water Towers (SKWT) was honoured to be invited as a partner in the celebration, joining county institutions and fellow conservation actors in marking the day.

A tour of Cheptebo's model farm

As a hosting partner, SKWT toured the various institutions within AIC Cheptebo, beginning with its fruit orchards. Rows of mango trees stood alongside avocado, grapes, and pixie citrus, a striking demonstration of what diversified, well-managed agriculture can look like on a single site.

The visit continued through the vegetable garden and on to the fruit processing factory, before taking in the dairy unit and its milk processing plant, facilities that double as a practical training ground for students of the Cheptebo Agricultural Technical Institute.

A shared platform

SKWT took the opportunity to express its support for advancing nature-based solutions in the county, and to introduce its FAO-supported programme to fellow partners and stakeholders present.

The celebration brought together a wide range of institutions, including the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the Elgeyo Marakwet County Assembly, the County's Environment and Land Court, Scope Intervention, and students from the Institute. Their presence reflected the collaborative spirit at the heart of this year's theme, bringing government, conservation partners, and the next generation of agricultural practitioners together on common ground.

For SKWT, the day was a chance to see, in practical form, the kind of nature-based, community-rooted approach that underpins its own restoration work across the county's water towers, and a reminder that environmental stewardship and agricultural livelihoods can, and do, grow side by side.