This poster was presented as part of the East African Learning Landscape Regional Knowledge Exchange, at the African Institute for Capacity Development at Jomo Kenyatta University on June 2-3, 2015. For more information, see: http://bit.ly/1KtnN0S

1. Civic Education for Informed Public Participation:
The Experiences of the Lari Landscape Platform (2015)
Authors
S.W.Kiarie, D.Kuria and A. Kamanu - KENVO; S Gikonyo - Bathi Dairy,
J.W.Mugai - Ministry of Agricuture Livestock and Fisheries Kiambu County,
J Ouko - Kenya Forest Service - Kereita Forest, T M Njuguna - Lari Farmer
Introduction
Lari Landscape is one of
the Focal areas for the
Landscapes for People, Food
and Nature (lfpn) initiative
in Kenya. Located between
0o
50o
and 1o
40o
and 36o
35o
and
36o
43o
E in Kiambu County,
the Lari-Landscape is part of
the larger Kikuyu Escarpment
landscape that lies on the
eastern slopes of the Aberdare
Mountains of Central Kenya.
The Landscape is approximately 442km2.
Environmental and natural resources in the landscape, such as forests, land,
wildlife and water contribute significantly to the quality of life. Tha landscape is
known for its horticultural potential and is one of the main supply of agricultural
products to Nairobi City.
General Interventions and Innovations
• Ongoing capacity building
• Knowledge sharing among stakeholders
• Community natural resource management participation and planning
Recent LPFN activities:
• Multi-stakeholder platform strengthening
• Influencing policy at county level
• Civic education and policy interpretation within Kiambu County
• Resource mobilization (small grants)
Successes and impacts:
• Existence of strong partnerships
• Efficiency of resource use (due to synergies between partners)
• Improved service delivery by stakeholders
• Ownership and support to community projects
• Upscaling of best practices (grantees)
Challenges:
• Different perception and mistrust among stakeholders
• High expectations and donor reliance
• Conflicting and overlapping mandates of county and national
government
Future thinking:
• Expansion of civic education and policy advocacy
• Marketing of landscape products
Figure 1: Lari Landscape
Figure 2: Lari Location
Figure 3: Lari Stakeholders
Figure 5: Bee keeping in Lari Landscape
Figure 6: Cultural tourism in the Landscape
Figure 4: Lari Produce
Some of the Landscape Issues
• Loss of soil fertility due to continuous farming, soil erosion and poor
farming methods
• Lack of market information and exploitative market trends
• Unpredictable weather / climate change affecting the agricultural
production
• Siltation in rivers and decreasing water quality
• Loss of Biodiversity through forest destruction
• Limited credit and loan opportunities for farmin communities