Health As A Conservation Strategy
MKT’s Community Health Service Project delivers mobile health services to forest-adjacent communities on Mt. Kenya because communities that are healthy, educated and economically secure place far less unsustainable pressure on the forest.
ONLY 52% OF KENYANS ARE ABLE TO ACCESS HEALTH FACILITIES WITHIN A 5 KM RADIUS.
MKT’s Community Health Service Project began with a one-year pilot in 2014, in collaboration with CHASE Africa. The project has grown continuously since then and now delivers mobile health services to over 40,600 community members each month reaching populations that would otherwise have limited access to quality health care.
The connection between health and conservation is direct and evidenced. Families with improved incomes, better health outcomes and lower vulnerability are less likely to resort to illegal logging, charcoal burning or agricultural encroachment.
PROVIDING HEALTHCARE SERVICES TO OVER 50,000 PATIENTS MONTHLY
50,000
450,000
People Served Monthly
Reached By Community Health Education
6,000
Reusable Sanitary Pads Distributed
Adolescents make up approximately 24% of Kenya’s population. Yet access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services for this age group remains deeply inadequate
Adolescents make up approximately 24% of Kenya’s population. Yet access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) information and services for this age group remains deeply inadequate. Kenya’s National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Policy (2015) acknowledges that education programmes for in- and out-of-school adolescents are lacking, and that strategies for providing accessible, non-judgemental SRH services must be rooted in community acceptance and long-term sustainability.
In rural, forest-edge communities where MKT works, adolescents face compounding disadvantages: poverty, limited school access, cultural taboos around sexuality, and distance from health facilities. MKT’s Adolescent Reproductive Health Project works within the community reaching young people across a range of adolescent health needs. Youth-friendly approaches are central: non-judgemental, confidential, and designed to be accepted by communities as well as young people.
According to the World Bank Group and the Global Water Security and Sanitation Partnership, 65% of women and girls in Kenya cannot afford sanitary pads. For schoolgirls, this results in an average of four missed school days every month up to 40 days per year.
Many girls resort to improvised materials such as rags or cotton wool, raising the risk of infections and reproductive health complications. Some are pushed into harmful situations that exposes them to sexual exploitation in order to access products they cannot afford. When girls miss school during their period, they fall behind academically. When girls fall behind academically, they are more likely to drop out of education early, more likely to marry young, and less likely to achieve the economic independence that is the single most powerful driver of sustainable development.
MKT’s response to period poverty is practical, dignified and sustainable. The programme produces reusable sanitary towels for free distribution to teenage girls in schools surrounding Mount Kenya. Reusable pads are a proven, long-lasting solution: a single kit can last up to two years, eliminating the recurring cost that makes disposable products unaffordable. Production of the pads generates income for the women who make them, creating a conservation-linked livelihood while solving an urgent health and education challenge. The programme is delivered alongside health education for all students, girls and boys, to reduce stigma, build understanding and create a school environment where menstruation is treated as a normal fact of life rather than a source of shame. Menstrual hygiene management is integrated with the broader reproductive health programme, ensuring girls receive comprehensive support rather than a product in isolation.