Lima Linda Marketing Cooperative (‘LLMC’) was formed and registered in 2019 by Avocado farmers from Muranga county. This was after two different groups came together to register the cooperative with an initial membership of 55. The cooperative has since grown   to 1457 members (728 male, 582 female and 147 youth) by the end of 2022. The cooperative was able to sell 135 tons of avocado at Kshs.9,500,000 (USD 76,600 at current market rates) in 2022.The cooperative is managed by a committee of 11 members which oversee the operations and activities of the cooperative with a physical office at Gatura town. The Core mandate of Lima Linda cooperative   is to bring together avocado farmers and other practitioners within Muranga county and mainly Gatanga Sub location for a common front in collective marketing of Avocados and other forestry products apart from advocating for a favorable business environment and empowerment through linkages and partnerships. The interventions will eventually lead to achieving the cooperatives’ goal of being “A leading farmer group in envisioning a wealthy community living in a clean and healthy environment with food security.”

The cooperative strives to achieve this vision through promoting commercialization of farm forestry through empowerment of its members and linkage to better marketing companies offering competitive prices and services and cooperative development. Through collective sale of avocado, the cooperative is able to meet its operation costs from the commission from the sales through the cooperative. The cooperative has also established a model tree nursery which is a learning center for best farm practices for production of quality and certified seedlings thereby generating income for farmers and the cooperative. 

The cooperative has two Village savings and loans groups (VSLA) with a total membership of 42 members. 11 members have been linked to Muungano micro-finance Bank in the last year. LLMC is a commercial arm of Central Highlands Tree Growers Association which is a member of FFSPAK. In addition, LLMC joined Muranga County Avocado Cooperative Union in 2022 so as to further benefit its members through access to services and economies of scale. 

Kijabe Environment Volunteers (KENVO) is a community-based organization engaged in developing sustainable nature conservation programs in the Kikuyu Escarpment Forest. KENVO was formed in 1994 and officially registered in 1996. The major goal of KENVO is to promote conservation of the Kikuyu Escarpment ecosystems, while supporting community livelihoods. KENVO works in a number of key areas including capacity building, forest restoration, youth empowerment, promoting ecotourism, and research.

KENVO has helped improve the livelihood of communities, reduce threats on biodiversity and develop youth leadership. It collaborates with key stakeholders such as government departments, research institutions, private sector, and other development agencies to inform, educate and build the capacity of communities to embrace appropriate conservation practices in a sustainable way. It also works with the communities surrounding the forest in tree planting initiatives. In 2022, more than 800 farmers were supported to grow avocados on their farms for commercial and nutritional purposes.

Objectives of KENVO

• To raise community awareness on the value and importance of the local forests, biodiversity and other natural resources through environmental education and awareness campaigns.
• To initiate and promote both rural development and environmental-friendly income-generating activities that link community survival to environmental conservation.
• To gather information through research on local natural resources and traditional knowledge that augments scientific work in biodiversity conservation.
• To ensure that the local forests’ rich biological diversity is conserved with strong support and active participation from the local communities.