GEF Multi-Focal Area Project Design Led the development of a participatory forest management project design in Kenya. The project will develop a self-financing co-management system and forest restoration of 22,500ha of closed canopy evergreen forest in the Leroghi (Karisia) State Forest Reserve in Samburu County. Reforestation will be funded from the harvest and marketing of dead standing pencil cedar (Juniperus procera) that have been killed by forest fires dating back to the 1980s. Employed by FAO from March 2014 to May 2015.
GEF Project Concept Development Developed a project concept for the development of participatory forest management of communal and state-owned dryland “bush” forests to include the production of wood fuels for urban markets. Consultant for FAO in 2012.
Project Evaluation of a UNDP/GEF project west of Lake Turkana. Discovered the project successfully regenerated severely degraded rangelands through support for the renewed use of a traditional, but no longer used, system of protection of degraded lands during the rainy seasons. Employed by UNOPS for UNDP.
GEF Project Design Co-team leader for the design of a community-based range management project design for Botswana, Mali & Kenya. Developed innovative strategy for putting communities in lead for directing project support. Negotiated respective roles for UNEP and UNDP in project administration. Employed by UNOPS for UNDP IN 1999.
Biodiversity Project Evaluation Team Leader for the first GEF full biodiversity project to come to fruition in Africa. The East Africa Biodiversity Project covered Kenya, Uganda & Tanzania. Organized and led evaluation of this complex, 37-component project developing institutional capacity and databases across three countries. Employed by UNDP in 1996.
Agricultural Sustainability Assessment Member of a USAID-funded team for a natural resource sector assessment for Kenya. I conducted an assessment of the sustainability of rainfed agriculture int he Kenya Highlands. Discovered that there was a major problem of long-term soil fertility decline on all farm lands used for production of foods for the farmers own consumption, mostly due to soil phosphate depletion. Soil fertility specialists at ICRAF and other institutions strongly contested the findings of the Muchakos study finding that higher populations led to less erosion and greater productivity. Employed by xxx under USAID funding in 1995.