Northern Kenya’s Naibunga landscape tells a new story—of women who restore their land and, in doing so, create opportunities for their communities. At Ol Gaboli, one of two pilot sites within Hub East Africa’s Solutionscape in Naibunga and Oldonyiro, a committee representing 35 women’s groups now guides the site development and management.

Their mandate came through the Community Land Management Committee, following a sensitive 18‑month participatory process that bridged traditional norms and formal rules, anchoring decisions in both community priorities and the realities of the land. Around this core sits a Coalition for Change: conservancy leaders, county planners, private-sector partners, and local monitors aligned on a shared plan.

Restoration and livelihoods evolve together in Ol Gaboli. When women reseed semicircular bunds, the small earth curves collect the scarce rainwater that revives grasses and provides new grazing grounds. Along the ridges, they plant aloe vera—its deep roots holding the soil and its leaves offering the base for natural cosmetic products that diversify income. Around the site, beehives form a living fence: the hum of bees deters elephants and, at the same time, yields honey that women’s cooperatives now supply directly to identified buyers. A nearby grass seed bank closes the loop, producing climate-resilient species that feed future restoration efforts across the rangelands. In this landscape, every action supports the next; ecological renewal and economic opportunity grow from the same ground.

What makes Ol Gaboli stand out is how these efforts are connected. None of them function in isolation. Their strength lies in how they interact: ecological renewal links to market access, women’s leadership ties to governance, and local knowledge meets scientific insight. Ol Gaboli has become a living laboratory for systems change—a place where restoration, enterprise, and collaboration are brought together to generate co-benefits for people and nature.

Change here is visible not only in the land but in relationships. As women organize, trade, and share decisions, they reshape how their communities engage with nature and with one another. What began as a pilot site has grown into a reference point for what collective action can achieve.