The Climate WorX Mtaani programme, launched in September last year, has made significant strides in Nairobi County and is set to expand to all 47 counties soon.
The government initiative was launched by President William Ruto to address environmental challenges while providing employment opportunities for young people. So far, it has employed 21,493 youths in Nairobi County alone.
According to the government, when operating at full capacity, Climate WorX will employ 200,000 youths across all 47 counties. This means approximately 1,500 youths will be employed in each county.
Under the scheme, selected youths work on alternating weeks—two weeks on and two weeks off—earning Ksh500 per day, while youth supervisors receive Ksh550 per day. Payments are made via mobile money transfer at the end of the two-week work shift.
According to documents seen by Kenyans.co.ke, the government intends to use the programme for road construction, greening highways and roadways, maintenance and clean-up of highways and roadways, and tree planting.
So far, the project has successfully recovered 47 kilometres of riparian areas along the Nairobi, Mathare, and Ngong rivers, covering 11 sub-counties.
Youths in Nairobi have established 538 tree nurseries with 493,647 potted tree seedlings, of which 34,560 have sprouted. They have also planted 1,500 trees.
Beyond providing employment, the initiative has facilitated garbage collection over 87 kilometres, unclogging of rivers (84 kilometres), sorting of debris (46 kilometres), and levelling of grounds for initial landscaping (45 kilometres).
Using equipment from the National Youth Service (NYS) and Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), Climate WorX has further contributed to the unclogging and connection of 45 kilometres of sewer lines, the repair of 155 sewer lines, and the unclogging of 66 kilometres of drainage systems.
The government has expanded the programme to other major cities, including Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, and Eldoret, with plans to cover all counties. Each county is expected to have a minimum of 1,500 beneficiaries, with cohorts engaged for a duration of one year.
