Jackson Kirkardi speaking during the panel, “Creating a Balanced Narrative on the Carbon Market” 

Soils for the Future Africa’s Country Coordinator Jackson Kikardi was part of a panel of experts exploring the importance of fostering a balanced, fact-based narrative around carbon market developments.  The panel, “Creating a Balanced Narrative on the Carbon Market” was part of the broader Kenya Carbon Markets Conference in Nairobi, Kenya, from 19-20 May, titled “Unlocking Kenya’s carbon market potential: Overcoming barriers and harnessing opportunities.” The panel’s focus was to investigate how best to address emerging challenges yet not sensationalize issues to the detriment of market confidence. The panel brought together media experts, nonprofit staff members, and Jackson - the only representative of a local carbon project. The session’s goal was to unpack how carbon market developments, policy shifts, and controversies are captured, framed, and disseminated across media and stakeholder platforms.

In relation to questions posed to Jackson Kikardi of the Soils for the Future Africa (SftFA) Initiative, Mr. Kikardi stated that continuous engagement with and hearing directly from those in the local communities helps protect against reputational harm at a local level from reporting that contains factual inaccuracies. Mr. Kikardi also mentioned that a misconception journalists and policymakers often make is to incorrectly state that community members do not understand the details of the carbon project or the agreements they are signing, and are therefore being taken advantage of. In reality, SftFA follows a detailed process to ensure community members are fully informed before making any decisions related to the carbon project. Appropriate communication is at the core of all SftFA engagements. To help ensure this transparent and collaborative process, all SftFA staff are from Kajiado (now over 60 full time employees) and therefore are an integral part of the local communities.  All meetings are held in local languages (Maa and Kiswahili) as well as English if needed.  All agreements are signed publicly at community gatherings like Annual General Meetings (AGMs) to increase transparency, and that many of these events have been televised nationally.