By Ilong Dane
World Soil Day is celebrated annually on 5 December to raise awareness about the importance of healthy ecosystems and human well-being.
It focuses on addressing the growing challenges in soil management and increasing public understanding of soil’s vital role in sustaining life.
This year, the Ngandu community in Mathira constituency, Nyeri county marked World Soil Day by gathering in their newly established tree nursery. Activities included grafting avocado seedlings, learning about the principles of regenerative farming, rediscovering ways to work with nature to improve soil year after year, and discussing the dangers of harmful farming practices that strip soil of nutrients and life.
The Ngandu community’s regenerative farming project began in spring this year, when 3,000 climate-resilient fruit tree seedlings were donated to local farmers by international aviation cargo company HAE Group, headquartered at East Midlands Airport in the UK, with a regional office in Nairobi and their customer Fresh Handling Kenya.
The initiative was inspired by Catherine Miriri, a HAE Group employee from the Ngandu community, who passionately believed that such a project would create meaningful environmental and social benefits.
This project holds symbolic and practical significance for both HAE Group and the Ngandu community, as it links two seemingly different industries, aviation cargo and agriculture through a shared commitment to reducing their carbon footprint.
According to The STAT Trade Times (2024), air cargo currently accounts for around 2–3% of global emissions, while the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that agrifood systems are responsible for about one-third of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions.
Despite operating in different sectors, both industries are deeply connected through global trade and face common challenges posed by climate change.
Few people realize that healthy soil can store more carbon than all the world’s forests combined.
The FAO reports that, with proper management, soils could sequester up to 2.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide annually. For this reason, scientists often call healthy soil a “secret weapon” in the fight against global warming.
The Ngandu community’s regenerative farming project aims to restore soil health, enhance biodiversity, and renew natural cycles positioning the community as part of a global climate solution.
By supporting the project, HAE Group not only helps Ngandu farmers but also contributes to global carbon reduction. Regenerative farming in Ngandu creates a natural carbon sink that benefits the planet while generating both environmental and economic gains for the community.
This initiative underscores a profound truth about our global interconnection: when we harm the planet and others, we harm ourselves but by empowering communities to restore the Earth, we also heal ourselves.
In doing so, we unlock the transformative power of kindness, sparking change that can lead to a far better world for all.
As 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai so beautifully said:
“We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and, in the process, heal our own; indeed, to embrace the whole of creation in all its diversity, beauty, and wonder.”
Ilona Dane is the Executive Assistant HAE Group. She holds BSc (Hons) International Relations and Global Development, MA Diplomacy
John Kariuki