Green Cycle Consulting Ltd.

Green Cycle Consulting Ltd.
Contact: Elise Pinners (MSc), Director        M: +254729830680E: elise.pinners@gmail.com
GPO Box 30776, 00100 Nairobi, Kenya   –   Registered in Kenya in 2009   –   PIN P051244898Q

Solutions that stick & stay, like fertile CLAY*
*: C:  change the vision on land & water resource management,
                                                 L:  lead & educate stakeholders to recognize the value of functional ecosystems                                                       A:  adopt innovations: technology & approaches for change, suitable for end-users, to
                                             Y:  yield more quality & quantity of water & food, sustaining life for us and our children.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If there is anything that you find unclear or confusing on the site it would be great to know! 
Please email info@greencycleconsulting.com to make things better.

MISSION
Our mission is about land & water resources: we offer solutions, innovations that:

• making farming more sustainable and economical
• use bio-engineering for adequate, long-lasting & low-maintenance slope protection & drainage for roads, waterways, dams and dikes
  
• mitigate contamination of water & soil using low-cost biological systems to treat water from sewerage, industry & mining.

These solutions have by-products with great potential to boost local employment.


Land & water resourceS

Inadequate land & water management and poor practices allowed:

• destruction of natural vegetation (‘land-mining’ for farming, over-grazing), bio-diversity;
•  unsustainable farming practices to continue: poor soil fertility management and inadequate Soil & Water Conservation undermining farm productivity and exacerbating the destruction of natural vegetation;
• infrastructure (roads, buildings) to be built with inadequate slope stabilisation and drainage.

This, together with increasing intensity of downpour caused by climate change, results in increasing water runoff and soil loss. Most of that water should Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} should infiltrate in-situ, slowly seeping through, over weeks and months, to lower layers, for more continuous replenishment of water bodies.
Degradation of land and water resources results in ‘natural’ disasters: floods, landslides, gullies, infrastructure damage, outbreaks of water-borne diseases and droughts. In Kenya degradation has a clearly visible impact on food, water & energy security.

• Floods & droughts, annually affecting hundreds of thousands of people, cost 210 million US$/year (>2% of Kenya GDP). And it iincreases dependency on food aid.
• Crop production is challenged due to degradation: declining soil fertility, drought vulnerability.
• Animal production is affected: 2010 areal photographs show in most grazing areas that the vegetation cover does not return in spite of good rains.
• Current infrastructure protection (roads, dikes) is often inadequate and too expensive; in the long run it is ineffective when riverbeds rise and flood intensity increases.
• Hydro-power is affected by poor infiltration in the catchment and siltation of dams.
• Water quality is no small issue:only 61% of Kenya’s rural population has access to safe water and mosthospital visits are a result of preventable water-borne diseases.

These issues of national concern also concern Green Cycle Consulting.

SERVICES WE PROVIDE
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} In the consulting process we seek to build capacity, based on the recognition that functional ecosystems have intrinsic and economic value, and assisting clients to seek win-win situations, solutions with lasting benefits for nature, farming, local employment. As consultants we provide:

• facilitation: multi-stakeholder lake/river basin land use planning, down to community level ToT for community facilitators
• training, development of agriculture extension guidelines/materials for crop-based extension packages including Soil & Water Conservation and soil fertility management options/innovations
• training on multiple use of Vetiver System on-farm: propagation, handicraft, housing materials, pest control, forage, bio-fuel, for opportunities to add income from non-farming activities
• (training on) design, implementation of bio-engineering for infrastructure: slope stabilisation to protect roadsides, banks of canals, rivers, dams, dikes, drainage, and rehabilitation of gullies
• (training on) design, implementation of biological water treatment systems to treat sewerage (from cities, schools, estates, homes), waste dump leachate, and waste water from industry and mining.

Green Cycle Consulting adheres to NEMA environmental regulations.

Vetiver System Applications - technical reference manual,
2nd edition (color), by Paul Truong, Tran Tan Van & Elise Pinners (2008).

Separate editions of parts of this manual include:

• The Vetiver System for slope stabilization
• The Vetiver System for agriculture
• The Vetiver System for improving water quality

Hardcopies available in Nairobi in English, French and Kiswahili
(Matumizi ya mifumo ya Vetiver masuluhisho mwongozo wa kiufundi).