Skip to content
A farmer tending crops on her smallholding in Kenya

Pillar 04

Circular Economy & Regenerative Agriculture

Keeping ecological and economic value in the landscape.

We help organisations and communities keep value in their landscapes: healthier soils, recovered resources, new livelihoods.

Furaha & Baraka Farms (FBF) helps communities in Kenya keep water, soil and income in their landscapes. Its circular economy and regenerative agriculture work covers semicircular bunds that capture rain on degraded land (a proposed project for the Mwache dam catchment in Kwale), regenerative farming, and new coastal value chains with women and youth groups: seaweed farming, crab fattening and soya, now in development, alongside biochar and clean energy from invasive Prosopis.

  • 150 hadegraded land to restore with semicircular bunds (proposed, Mwache catchment)
  • 30,000+semicircular bunds planned, about 200 per hectare
  • 1,500+households to benefit (project target)

What we deliver

upslope ↑rain pools here
What’s included
  • Contour survey and bund layout
  • Bund construction with local labour
  • Native trees and grass reseeding inside the bunds
Ask about this service: Semicircular bunds & water harvesting

A farmer tending crops on her smallholding
What’s included
  • A practice plan agreed with each farm
  • Soil cover, rotation and organic inputs
  • Field support through the season
Ask about this service: Regenerative agriculture

Community member holding mangrove seedlings by a creek
What’s included
  • Seaweed farming beside restored mangroves
  • Crab fattening
  • Training and market links for groups
Ask about this service: Coastal aquaculture value chains

Farmers preparing planting lines in a field
What’s included
  • Soya as a farm value chain
  • Product and market assessment
  • Support from pilot to steady supply
Ask about this service: Soya and nature-based value chains

Hands holding a pot of biochar made from farm residues
What’s included
  • Clearing invasive Prosopis from degraded land
  • Biochar for soil health
  • Clean-energy uses of the biochar
Ask about this service: Biochar and clean energy from Prosopis

How semicircular bunds bring water back

Proposed for the Mwache dam catchment, Kwale County, with the Water Resources Authority, the Kenya Forest Service and local community groups.

  1. Step 01: Survey the catchment

    Baseline studies, sediment mapping and GIS pick the priority sub-catchments.

  2. Step 02: Build on the contour

    Crescent banks 30–50 cm high, open end upslope, in staggered rows on gentle slopes of 0.5–5%.

  3. Step 03: Let the rain soak in

    Runoff pools inside each arc and soaks in slowly; ripping breaks crusted soil so water and roots go deeper.

  4. Step 04: Bring the cover back

    Native trees, grass reseeding and assisted natural regeneration inside and between the bunds.

  5. Step 05: Train and employ locally

    Community labour, farmer field schools and watershed committees that maintain the bunds after the project.

  6. Step 06: Monitor water and cover

    Vegetation, runoff and sediment tracked by remote sensing and field checks.

For partners

What working with us on regenerative programmes looks like

What it is
Water harvesting with semicircular bunds, regenerative farming, and new value chains (seaweed, crab fattening, soya, Prosopis biochar) that keep ecological and economic value in the landscape.
What to expect
We survey the land and agree priorities with the community first, pilot on a small area, then scale with local labour, farmer groups and county partners.
What you gain
Measured results against a baseline: vegetation cover, runoff and sediment for water projects; practices, yields and income for value chains.
The wider contribution
Degraded land that holds water again, less silt reaching dams and rivers, recharged groundwater, and income for women and youth groups.
A farmer tending crops on her smallholding

Common questions

Semicircular bunds, also called half-moons, are crescent-shaped earth banks 30–50 cm high, built along the contour with the open end facing upslope. Rain pools inside each arc and soaks into the soil instead of running off, which recharges groundwater, reduces erosion and gives trees and grass the water they need to re-establish.

In the Mwache dam catchment in Kwale County, Kenya. The proposal targets 150 hectares of degraded land with 30,000+ bunds, 60,000+ native trees and grass reseeding, with the Water Resources Authority, the Kenya Forest Service and local community groups. Its targets include more than 20% more vegetation cover, more than 15% less surface runoff and more than 10% less sediment reaching the reservoir.

Yes. With women and youth groups on the Kenyan coast, FBF is developing seaweed farming and crab fattening alongside its mangrove restoration. The work is in development.

FBF is establishing biochar and clean energy from invasive Prosopis, cleared from degraded land.

Organisations, communities and farmer groups in Kenya and East Africa. FBF also trains farmer groups in sustainable agriculture and circular business skills through its green skills programmes.

Start a project

Build value back into the land.

Partner with us
Next pillar05 Climate Leadership & Green Skills