Friends of Kiriba Ecosystem

In Kiriba village, Kilifi, Kenya, a powerful model of ecosystem stewardship is taking root, blending ancestral wisdom, community collaboration, and cutting-edge digital tools. Around 60 families participate in local Mweria group, rotating labor associations where members support one another in home repairs, gardening, infrastructure building, and community care. These groups embody long-standing traditions of mutual aid, where commitments are tracked through trust, memory, and shared intention. At the center of this effort is the Friends of Kiriba Ecosystem Pool, a collective that curates and supports these groups using the Commitment Pooling Protocol—a framework inspired by natural systems like mycorrhizal fungi and traditional social coordination practices. This protocol guides the community’s coordination through four core functions: Curation, Valuation, Limitation, and Exchange. Using the Sarafu Network, a blockchain-based platform developed by Grassroots Economics, community members express and exchange commitments. Each collective action—whether planting food forests, building water features, or restoring sacred forests—is tracked and honored. Stewardship certificates validate these acts, turning them into assets for the commons. Kiriba is becoming a living laboratory for regenerative practices—reviving degraded land, strengthening social bonds, and modeling a new kind of economy rooted in trust, reciprocity and care. It's not just about restoring ecosystems, but also relationships—with the land, each other, and tradition. Kiriba offers a vision of a grassroots-led, abundant future where community, culture, and nature thrive together.