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. All SftFA staff are from Kajiado and part of the local communities, and all meetings are held in local languages (Maa and Kiswahili) as well as English if needed (the Kenya National language). When it comes to formally joining the KRCP, communities are encouraged to seek an independent legal opinion to ensure they are satisfied with the contents of the agreements before signing. Agreements are signed publicly at community gatherings like Annual General Meetings (AGMs) to increase transparency and many of these events have been televised nationally. Community members also fill out consent forms at SftFA meetings. These forms include ways to contact SftFA should any concerns or issues arise.
The FPIC process means that communities are not forced or coerced (Free) to engage with the project, that they are given time in advance (Prior) and sufficient information (Informed) to consider before making a commitment (Consent) to join the project, or any other significant decision during implementation. To join the project, the process includes multiple meetings, review of draft documents (e.g, MOU, agreements), and discussions on how the project works, what it requires from the community, and how benefits are shared. Nothing is signed until the community is comfortable with the terms and is willing to sign.
No. Agreements were signed in open public forums like AGMs that include elders, and with clear steps to ensure transparency and understanding. There are also many other meetings within communities where elders participate (e.g., grazing committee meetings) and SftFA thoroughly documents all meetings and engagement activities with lists of participants so that it is possible to check who attended.
All SftFA staff are from Kajiado, are Maasai, and communicate in Maa, Kiswahili, and English. Although legal documents are in English as required by law, they are always explained in Maa. During formal and informal meetings, staff describe the project in ways that are relevant and appropriate to the community. For example, SftFA hires grazing coordinators from the communities that are trained in the work of the carbon project, but then are the liaison with the grazing committees and the herders on the development and implementation of rapid rotational grazing plans. Through local staff, meetings, and materials, we ensure information is easily accessible and available through many different paths.
A primary point of contact with the communities are the Grazing Coordinators. Each village nominates Grazing Coordinators from which the most qualified are hired to join our staff. These local hires are trained in a variety of project activities, most notably how to record the outcomes of meetings to comply with FPIC principles, and how to track movements of livestock to meet with international carbon project standards. Collectively, SftFA staff attend hundreds of meetings a month, record discussions on tablets, and keep information open to all parties. To measure the baseline conditions of the communities at the start of the project, the independent firm Converge conducts household surveys that capture residents’ knowledge, concerns, and priorities. Community members are also involved in other fieldwork, which includes supporting biodiversity and soil surveys. At meetings that SftFA initiates, we distribute consent forms and fact sheets in both Maa and English, giving communities time to review details at their own pace. With more than 50 full-time employees from Kajiado’s rangeland communities, a substantial network is at work every day to help communicate about the project.
The Rapid Rotational Grazing (RRG) schedule asks herders to graze each pasture for a shorter timeframe before moving to the next area, giving grass time to recover. That approach is different from the more static grazing patterns many families have used in recent decades, but it echoes the traditional, nomadic Maasai system that allowed the land to rest between visits. Because carbon credits are awarded only for practices that are new and clearly measurable, the project must adopt this routine rather than continue business as usual. In normal years livestock will follow the rotation within community boundaries, yet herders remain free to drive their animals to traditional drought-refuge areas when forage runs low. The project area covers more than a million hectares so that most of those refuges lie inside its borders, keeping customary seasonal mobility intact while still meeting carbon-project rules.
No. The land remains community-owned and is free of fees, and the project openly encourages removing existing fences so herders can rotate their animals more easily. The new Rapid Rotational Grazing (RRG) schedule asks herders to keep livestock in one area for a short period and then move on, allowing grass elsewhere to regrow. As a result, some patches sit unused at any given time, which could be termed a “restriction,” but it’s a mutually agreed upon decision, and one that grazing committees are familiar with making especially during drought times. Eleven neighboring communities have already adopted the RRG approach and report heading into the 2024 dry season with noticeably more grass, proof that the rotation benefits both the land and the herds without adding costs or closing off territory.
No. All grazing decisions stay in Maasai hands. Every SftFA employee working on this project is Maasai from Kajiado, and each community already has its own grazing committee in charge of local pastures. The project’s role is to support those committees by offering training, carbon-finance funding, and local grazing coordinators who help with record-keeping and data collection.
The grazing plan is steered by local people themselves: each village has a grazing committee that decides when and where animals move, while project staff only offer advice. If a drought occurs, SftFA brings neighboring committees together so they can agree on a larger, shared pasture-use plan, which is something they have done informally for years, and is now supported with carbon-finance funding.
As demonstrated in northern Kenya, after a decade of rapid rotational grazing there, satellite images revealed much healthier grasslands. Herders were able to keep more and healthier livestock close to home, improving marketable prices.
There is a common misconception circulating regarding land ownership and how it relates to soil carbon projects. To clarify: communities must retain their land rights and continue managing the land with their livestock. This is essential for generating carbon credits. This management is what creates “additionality,” a key requirement in the carbon credit process.