Naatum's Women's Group
WHO IS NAATUM WOMEN?
The Naatum Women Group in the Laikipia Plateau is a group of resilient women who are applying their traditional knowledge and commitment to address climate change. Naatum translates to “achieve” in the Maasai language. These women are determined to achieve their goal of restoring livelihoods threatened by climate change risks. They are creating a new nature-based enterprise that combines beekeeping, permaculture, eco-tourism, land management management, and restoration to stop tree cutting, and charcoal burning.
WHAT DID THE MCW GRANT SUPPORT?
The MCW grant trained 30 members of the Naatum Women Group in rangeland management and the implementation of kitchen gardening strategies. The women were taught and given the tools to successfully clear the invasive species, Optuntia stricta, also known as prickly pear. Prickly pear was introduced to Kenya in the 1940s and has become rampant across the northern Laikipia landscape, displacing native grasses and reducing the availability of grasses for livestock. The grant also supported the education and materials to start vegetable gardens at the center and in small troughs at the women's homes.
