…where it’s needed most

When Griot set out to develop a carbon-portfolio, back in early 2020, we thought it would be a straightforward way to generate valuable revenue to support an education project we were running for Maasai girls in Kenya – we had no idea what we were in for!

…nor what benefits the programme would bring.

Six years on Griot is finally about to issue credits on its first wholly owned programme called Maji Bora (or Better Water).

The Programme of Activity (PoA) is listed with Gold Standard (GS) as a multi country safe water project, with phase 1 being delivered across two counties in Kenya.

Work began in the northwest, semi-arid county of Turkana.

“When we first arrived, I remember describing it as like driving across the surface of the moon,” said Griot managing director Hywel George, “except with fewer trees!”

Life in the dessert can certainly be a challenge.

“Villagers would walk up to 20 km a day to fetch a jerrican of water from a ditch, if they were lucky enough to find any,” Hywel added, “And of course that water would generally be unfit for human consumption.”

But now thanks to the work of Griot’s engineers, over 300 broken down water-points have been restored. And the water is clean, regularly tested and chlorinated. Water is now guaranteed in the community for at least five years. With the possibility of the contracts being renewed for up to 15 years.

It has been a similar story in the coastal county of Kilifi.

Here Griot has partnered with global health care provider BUPA, for two of its 300+ boreholes.

High yielding water-points in the communities of Bate and Garashi have been solarized and piping has been added, delivering safe clean water to over 20,000 people, from just two boreholes.

Celebrating the coming of water in Garashi, Kilifi.

Griot’s Maji Bora credits will be available to buy later in the year.

In all Griot has restored over 1,000 broken water points in Kenya, delivering fresh clean drinking water to well over 1,000,000 people living in rural hardship.

The sale of the first of the carbon credits, from the Maji Bora programme, will allow the company to do much more.

In the meantime, Griot is proudly offering credits generated through a programme it calls Kilifi ‘C’.

There are currently around 40,000 of these credits available… some of them listed on the Carbon Trade Xchange.

For further information about how you can buy those credits, or get involved in other areas of the company’s work contact us.

By the way, the Maasai Education programme has gone from strength to strength, with 20 girls now choosing education over FGM and early marriage. It seems to suggest that if you set out to do the right thing, you get supported to do the next right thing! HG