Building restoration skills from the ground up: Tree nursery training takes root in Kenya

Tree nursery in Kenya. Photo by Axel Fassio / CIFOR-ICRAF

That’s why the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) has long invested in capacity development and education through hundreds of global projects and programmes.

Ecosystem restoration is technical and complicated. It requires practitioners who have the capacity and know-how to navigate the process of establishing and managing the tree nurseries that help address the challenge of land degradation in Africa.

Acquiring the skills to source and nurture quality tree seed – particularly of native species – is a vital link in the restoration daisy chain of policy, planting and training.

From 17 March to 3 April 2025, the Quality Tree Seed for Africa (QT-Seed) project conducted tree nursery management training in four Kenyan towns: Marigat, Nakuru, Nyahururu and Kibwezi.

“This training serves as a strategic intervention aimed at addressing identified gaps, enhancing nursery performance, and promoting the production of high-quality planting material,” says Joshua Musau, a tree seed expert and technical consultant for the project.

As part of its work, QT-Seed surveyed tree nursery practitioners across the counties within and neighbouring Kenya’s Great Rift Valley to assess their current status, operational practices, technical capacities and the key challenges affecting the nursery sector, according to Musau. Based on the insights gathered, customized training modules were developed and delivered to nursery stakeholders.

Tree nursery training. Photo by Sylvia Buleti / CIFOR-ICRAF

What skills are needed?

For many restoration practitioners, a lack of skills in tree nursery establishment and management is the biggest barrier to successful ecosystem recovery.

To be effective participants in the tree seed sector, they need to know how to source the right planting material from high-quality mother trees and how to properly handle that seed. This includes mastering pre-treatment methods, such as breaking dormancy, a process that triggers germination before the seed is naturally ready to sprout.

Practitioners also must know how to select a suitable site for establishing their nursery. Once it is up and running, skills are needed to operate it in an optimal way, maintaining a tree calendar and proper records. The knowledge to manage pests and plant diseases is another prerequisite for success, requiring strict hygiene measures in nurseries.

Where propagation is involved, critical characteristics of scion and rootstock must be considered, such as productivity, compatibility and adaptability. A scion is a young shoot that is grafted onto the rootstock at the base of the plant – often underground – to combine desirable traits in a single tree. 

Training approach and focus areas

The key elements of the training were: (i) Best practices for establishing and managing a standard tree nursery; (ii) Core nursery operations and step-by-step guidance on how to implement them effectively; (iii) Importance of using high-quality seed in tree planting programmes, including how and where to source certified seed; and (iv) Various tree propagation techniques and their practical application.

“The QT-Seed training included a combination of lecture sessions, practical demonstrations, interactive question-and-answer segments, group discussions and presentations, as well as hands-on practice to reinforce learning,” Musau explained.

Based on the nursery survey conducted to establish the existing status of the tree nursery practitioners, several areas of capacity needs were identified and grouped into five categories, which were developed as training modules, according to Musau:

1. Participants acquired the proper knowledge to establish a functional tree nursery that supports the production of quality seedlings, helping them meet their production targets and the needs of tree growers.
2. Nursery actors learned to effectively manage daily and seasonal nursery activities to improve seedling survival, health, and growth.
3. The training emphasized the importance of using genetically and physiologically superior seed to achieve high germination rates and robust seedlings.
4. Nursery operators gained practical knowledge and skills for identifying, preventing, and managing common pests and diseases that affect seedlings.
5. The training enhanced participants’ skills in vegetative propagation techniques to complement seed-based propagation, particularly for species with poor seed viability or for producing uniform planting material.

Tree nursery training. Photo by Sylvia Buleti / CIFOR-ICRAF

Empowering practitioners

More than 70 participants attended the training, including representatives from 34 Restoration Champion organisations in Kenya as well as government and community members.

“After the training, I’m now able to propagate various trees seedlings. I believe that is going to have immeasurable value,” says Dan Sepis ole Lemanyi, a tree nursery practitioner from the land-restoration group Justdiggit and SORALO, a community-based land trust working in Kenya’s South Rift Valley.

Sepis, who joined the workshop in Kibwezi, a town in Makueni County, received both theoretical and practical training on operational management, recordkeeping, pest control, nursery hygiene, quality seed sourcing, root pruning and seed storage.

He has since applied these skills during visits to Narok and Mulot to identify tree species for planting and to distribute seedlings in the Loita and Magadi regions. He also introduced farmer-managed natural regeneration techniques to communities as far afield as Singida, Tanzania.

“I trust that all my immediate neighbours will learn from me, impacting the entire community to love their environment more,” Sepis said.

Acknowledgment

The QT-Seed project is a learning platform launched in 2024 by CIFOR-ICRAF in partnership with the Bezos Earth Fund with the aim of boosting access to high-quality tree seed and enhancing tree-seed quality to support ecosystem restoration across Africa.