A pilot project with the Oletukat community

This large scale pilot project aims to scientifically demonstrate how regenerative grazing can transform landscapes and the lives of pastoral communities in arid and semi-arid regions. By revitalising degraded grasslands, enhancing biodiversity, and reducing the impacts of droughts and floods, regenerative grazing practices not only improve ecological resilience—they also boost forage production and economic returns. Additionally, by increasing carbon sequestration in the form of soil organic matter content, communities can access new revenue streams through the sale of carbon credits, making the approach both sustainable and self-financing.

The Details

Why Oletukat?

Oletukat is a severely degraded landscape spanning approximately 44,000 acres south of Narok town (Oletukat Ward, Narok East Sub-county, Narok County), making it an ideal site for this pilot project. The area is home to around 450 households, each holding title to their land. Many households in Oletukat face challenges linked to poverty, food and nutrition insecurity, and limited access to formal employment. Most rely on pastoralism and natural resource extraction—such as building stones, sand, and wood—for their livelihoods. However, decades of overuse and poor grazing practices have left the landscape severely degraded. Large portions of Oletukat are now bare and heavily eroded. Former forests have turned into scrubland, native grasses have been replaced by invasive species, and wildlife populations have declined dramatically. Despite this, the regular presence of greater kudu, buffaloes and other herbivores as well as the occasional sightings of lions, elephants, cheetahs and even wild dogs in early 2025 indicate that the area still holds ecological potential.

Youth and women often travel long distances to Narok town in search of informal work, while others may resort to precarious activities closer to the settlements. This project seeks to reverse these trends by supporting the community in sustainably managing their natural resources through a regenerative grazing program designed and implemented with full stakeholder participation.

Within Oletukat lies a small approximately 1000 acres enclave—the Oletukat Ranch and Wildlife Conservancy—where a loosely applied form of regenerative grazing has been in practice since 2024. Even with this uncoordinated approach, the conservancy has shown promising signs of increased forage production and ecological recovery, suggesting that a more structured strategy would rapidly yield significant improvements across the wider region.

Project Overview: Regenerating Oletukat 

The project brings together local knowledge and scientific research to reverse this trend. The project has two core components:

1. Community Implementation of Regenerative Grazing

The entire community will be involved in designing and applying grazing strategies that restore soil health, increase forage, and improve livestock productivity. Training programs will empower individuals to take on leadership roles, and additional components will support herd improvement, livestock finishing, and market development.

2. Scientific Documentation and Impact Measurement

University researchers have been involved with the project since its conception. All ecological, biological, agro-economical and socio-economical aspects of the project and their evolution over time will be measured to evaluate the impacts the adoption of regenerative grazing practices have on the community and on the environment. The potential for wildlife tourism will be assessed and soil organic matter content will be tracked to explore carbon credit opportunities. 

Proposed Activities and Methodology:

The project will integrate both theoretical knowledge and practical skills, engaging community members, leaders, and technical experts in the development of a sustainable rangeland management plan for the pastoralist communities of Oletukat. The model is based on a people-driven, participatory learning approach. The entire 44,000 acres area will be divided into smaller, manageable units to facilitate fieldwork and hands-on learning for all participants. The adoption and scaling of practices will be guided by lessons learned at the sub-unit level..

The project will include the following elements:

• Training programs in regenerative grazing practices for the community at large as well as to form individual community members who will then take on more responsible roles in the implementation of the project.
• A regenerative grazing component which will need to be implemented by the community with help and guidance from the other project stakeholders.
• A herd improvement component through better breeding and genetics.
• A finishing of livestock component to prepare them for market.
• The development of a livestock marketing component.
• Researchers from various Universities who will document all aspects of the project.
• A wildlife component in the optic that wildlife tourism could eventually become a revenue stream for the community.
• The measuring of gains in soil organic matter in the optic of including a sale of carbon credit component.

Project Objectives:

• To create a large scale pilot demonstration area to illustrate the effectiveness of regenerative grazing practices at restoring degraded arid and semi-arid lands at the landscape level.
• To establish a center of excellence that empowers pastoralists to become skilled stewards of sustainable rangeland management.
• To impart regenerative grazing practices skills to pastoralists that will be replicated throughout East Africa.

Long-Term Vision:
The project is designed with a clear exit strategy. Within three years, the community is expected to continue independently, with minimal external support. Follow-up research by University students will monitor the transition to self-sustainability and help refine future models. Ultimately, Oletukat aims to become a demonstration site and learning hub for regenerative grazing, inspiring similar efforts across Kenya and beyond. 

The project also aims to demonstrate that similar projects in areas throughout the world could be self financed through the sale of carbon credits.

Project Outcomes

Outcome 1: Resilient pastoralists and improved rangeland management in Oletukat:

• Increased area of land under vegetation cover.
• Improved soil fertility and health, measured by soil organic matter and nutrient content deposits.
• Enhanced biodiversity, with increased counts of native plant and animal species.

Outcome 2: Reduced poverty levels and improved livelihoods among the Oletukat households:

• Investment into better livestock production and eco-tourism development.
• Increased livestock feed productivity (feed biomass) and household income from both livestock and eco-tourism.
• Increased income from both livestock and tourism investments.
• Sustainable dividends for social and environmental commitments by the community.

Outcome 3: Strengthened knowledge sharing and advocacy structures for regenerative grazing:

• Facilitated adoption of regenerative grazing within and outside the Oletukat community landscape.
• Established demonstration site, hosting field days and training workshops for local and regional stakeholders.
• Promoted adoption and widespread implementation of regenerative grazing principles in the arid and semi-arid lands of Kenya.

Outcome 4: Well developed local monitoring and evaluation structures by the community to enhance regenerative rangeland management:

• Create, train and establish the local technical expertise.
• Support graduate research and publication in peer-reviewed journals on regenerative grazing project outcomes.
• Training of pastoralist community members as peer-leads in regenerative grazing management.
• Build the local capacity of community leaders and local employees on progressive project management and monitoring.

Progress to Date