Abstract

Land degradation poses a significant global challenge, affecting vast areas of the world’s land and

impacting billions of people. Maintaining the land’s ability to provide vital ecosystem services is

essential for global food security and climate mitigation. However, land degradation drives us in

the opposite direction. Kenya is particularly vulnerable to degradation, making it essential to focus

on the rangelands, which comprise over 83% of its land area and support more than 70% of its

livestock. Due to widespread land degradation, Kenyan pastoralists, who depend heavily on the

productivity of the rangelands, face significant difficulties in providing adequate fodder for their

livestock. Nevertheless, degraded land can be restored, and it is crucial to implement restoration

interventions on a larger scale to reverse land degradation. Monitoring the impacts of land

restoration is essential to carry out evidence-based restoration efforts and effectively halt land

degradation.

This study evaluated the impact of land restoration efforts following the establishment of two

”Livestock Cafés” in northwest, initiated in 2021. The Livestock Cafés initiative is designed to

restore degraded land while supporting local pastoral communities. The study applied remote

sensing and statistical modeling to monitor changes in three key indicators of land health: soil

organic carbon, erosion, and vegetation cover. The findings revealed positive effects of the

restoration interventions, including enhanced soil organic carbon and vegetation cover and

reduced rates of severe erosion. The results also indicate worsening land health outside the

Livestock Cafés, highlighting the serious land degradation challenges in the region. These

findings support a wider adoption of the restoration methods applied within the Livestock Cafés

to combat land degradation in similar contexts.