Dee J Essy, ReGreening the Kenyan Desert
First Syntropic Agroforestry Teacher of Kenyan Descent
Meet Esther Njeri, known as "Dee J Essy" among friends. She’s a 35-year old mother of two teenage sons with a deep passion for environmental sustainability.
She became a certified Syntropic Agroforestry trainer and practitioner in 2021 and is now a consultant, providing advice, guidance, and training to other practitioners in Kenya and beyond. She is the first Syntropic Agroforestry teacher of Kenyan descent.
Currently, she runs an urban agroforestry program for Agroforestry Regeneration Communities at Mwiki Primary School in Githurai Nairobi.
While she currently lives in Nairobi, Kenya, she is working with her partner
Van Reenen, a well-known Syntropic Agroforestry trainer, to develop a demonstration site and homestead on approximately 3.5 acres of farmland that she purchased in Inyuu in Kitui County, Kenya.ReGreening the Kenyan Desert
The main focus of Dee J’s work on the site is “planting water”. This is an approach of successional agroforestry that has proven to be successful in the most arid of climates. And, it is this approach that helps sustain efforts to "regreen the Kenyan desert."
“My wish is to transform this drylands farm into a training center for the local community and everyone interested in ‘planting water’”, she says.
She goes on to explain how the land, which she purchased in September 2023, is being developed using Syntropic Agroforestry principles.
But first, check out this short YouTube video of the early days at the farm:
“I first focused on planting biomass crops that retain water like spineless non-invasive nopal cactus, sisal and other succulents. We also plant vetiver grass to combat erosion.”
All of the site preparation work and planting to date has been accomplished by Dee J and her partner alongside community members and trainees.
“Villagers from the nearby community are being trained on the site. They work alongside us and get practical experience in Syntropic Agroforestry methods,” she explains.
“We also train young people here as part of the Syntropic Youths Nairobi initiative. They, in turn, bring their knowledge back to the city to teach their knowledge to local youths.”
As the plants on the site grow and more of the land is worked it’s her plan to use it as a teaching and demonstration site for more people.
The farm will ultimately be self-sustaining after several years of successional planting. Her main cashcrops are dragonfruits, oranges, lemons, cashewnuts, tamarind and dates.
Dee J and Roland’s homesteading adventure on the site is just beginning. Recently they began designing their off-grid homestead, an eco-friendly self-insulating mud house with trees from their own land provide the wood. Check out this YouTube short providing a glimpse into the first few steps in this journey.
Dee J’s Credentials Run Deep
Dee J is an actual DJ. In 2012, at the age of 23, she joined Homeboyz DJ Academy, graduated successfully and then worked a few years as a DJ and management of artists until 2020 when COVID-19 made it impossible to do that work anymore.
In 2021, she received intensive training in Syntropic Agroforestry from Roland van Reenen who is now her partner. As his assistant, she co-facilitated courses and workshops all over Kenya, in Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Ghana.
In 2022, she established for Agroforestry Regeneration Communities a nursery on her urban syntropic agroforestry farm in Nairobi. That farm is now completely self-sustaining and has thrived without any irrigation for more than a year.
While she and Roland work on preparing the site in Inyuu for homesteading, she runs an urban agroforestry program for Agroforestry Regeneration Communities at Mwiki Primary School in Githurai Nairobi.
Dee J has worked and consulted on other projects similar to the site at Inyuu. For example, in Northern Kenya, she is working with the Samburu people to implement a silvopasture agroforestry system in a real desert. They are taking a measured approach: first, fencing to keep livestock and wild animals out. This has caused the grass to regrow. Then, they planted many succulents like sisal, aloe-vera and spineless Nopal cactuses as biomass. Then, just before the rainy season started, they planted drought-resistant fruit trees like baobab, tamarind, cashew nuts and date trees. The local Samburu community is involved in the work and receiving training in Syntropic Agroforestry methods.
Also, in Southern Coastal Kenya in Kwale, on a farm serving deaf people, she was able to train the whole deaf community over several years to create a foodforest.
Who Inspires Dee J?
Perhaps it should come as no surprise, but Dee J named her mentor, trainer, and now partner Roland Van Reenen, aka The Forest Farmer.
Where in the World is Dee J?
Dee J currently lives in two places: Nairobi and Inyuu, Kenya where she purchased farmlands in September 2023. Inyuu is a remote, arid part of Kenya, in Kitui County.
