Social Impact

Jatonet Bamboo  operations are located in areas where poverty is widespread and options for economic diversification are limited. Local communities live predominantly subsistence livelihoods, which tend to exacerbate environmental degradation and dwindling natural resources in the rural of Western Kenya.

Jatonet is focused on reducing poverty through improving livelihoods and maximizing positive change within communities surrounding project sites. Our social impact is grounded in the following things: job creation,capacity building,selling of bamboo products and trainings. When you give people opportunities and skills, you help them to help themselves to a better future. Once people have that, improvements to health, education, infrastructure, the environment and women’s empowerment will all shortly follow suit.

Our social impact expands outside Bungoma County. Local entrepreneurs establish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to supply goods and services to our operations. Staff have also received trainings in bamboo handicrafts aimed at stimulating bamboo related SMEs.

Through the Company’s subsidiary, each project moves away from a traditional model of philanthropy to support the development of SMEs, micro-finance and local entrepreneurship, empowering individuals and communities to help themselves.

This economic development will continue to trickle through society. Higher incomes secure the purchasing capacity of the poor. Their spending stimulates local businesses spreading social impact even further.

When we focus on job creation and capacity building & trainings, the benefits are endless, and the result is sustained, natural resource friendly economic development of rural areas.

Using the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards, EcoPlanet Bamboo monitors and quantifies its social impact.