Kaluki Paul Mutuku

Kaluki Paul Mutuku (born March 4, 1993) is a Kenyan climate activist and environmentalist, working to improve youth participation in decision-making around climate justice. He is the co-founder of Kenya Environmental Activists Network (KEAN); KEAN is a NGO that provides a platform that will bring together environmental activists. His center of attention for Africa lies around environmental rejuvenation, afforestation, organic farming and youth leadership across boards.

Biography

Kaluki Paul Mutuku grew up in a rural Kenyan community in a family of three brothers and a single mother. During his childhood, he enjoyed going to the forest to get firewood, grazing cattle, and goats. He spent his childhood in Machakos, Ukambani zone in Eastern Kenya, where he developed his love for nature. He witnessed water becoming more scarce as he grew up, and the challenges his family faced due to changing climatic conditions led him to activism. He is a graduate of the Environmental Conservation and Natural Resources Management program at the University of Nairobi. He has great admiration for the climate activist Wangari Maathai.

Activism and work

Mutuku has called for safe environmental practices and proper youth inclusion in Africa. With forests occupying 10% of Kenya in 1963 and only 6% in 2009, Mutuku has great concerns about the decreasing forest resources in Kenya. He is of the opinion that people should push for a safe and environmentally clean world by desisting and campaigning against all practices that degrade and pollute the environment. He was a member of an environmental awareness club during his college days, and since 2015, he has been part of the African Youth Initiative on Climate Change.

Mutuku has previously worked as an environmental education officer at A Rocha Kenya, training students, farmers and communities about organic farming, biodiversity conservation, and the SDG goals. He has worked as a communications lead at 350.org-Kenya team for the deCOALonize campaign and at AYICC-Kenya under the Education for sustainable Development (ESD) project. The deCOALonize campaign pushed for the use of renewable alternatives rather than fossil fuel. He is also the Coordinator-Environmental Advocacy/ Partnerships & Networking lead for Youth Coalition for Environmental Advocacy & Renewable Energy.

Mutuku is currently the regional director for Africa at Youth4Nature, a global initiative calling for youth led nature-based solutions. He is also an ambassador for the Global EverGreening Alliance. In September 2018, he was part of a group of activists that signed a letter addressed to Secretary Ryan Keith Zinke opposing the lease of public land to oil and gas drilling in California.

His organization, Green Treasures Farms is using organic farming, biodiversity conservation, tree growing, environmental education, and water harvesting to improve sustainable environment and income among rural Kenyan women & youth. In 2016, the Green Treasures Farms initiative nearly died due to unavailability of land. In January 2017, the initiative's new approach of working with different families that owned land brought a turn to the project.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he started using digital tools to engage in educational webinars relating to climate action and food security.