A Convening Builds a Climate Warrior

The Maasai vocabulary boasts some 40 words for “cattle” — logical for a semi-nomadic community whose culture revolves around livestock herding.

But ask about the word for “ocean,” and you’ll struggle. The traditional language does not have that word.

So Ledama Masidza’s first encounter with the Indian Ocean as a child was startling — and even a little frightening.

“In the Maasai community, traditionally fish have been perceived much like snakes — something best left alone,” said Masidza, now 25. “My mother supported me in my journey to explore the sea, but she said, ‘Be careful. Remember, your mother expects you home at some point.’”

Ledama Masidza and his team begin coral reef restoration activities off Kuruwitu, Kenya, 2022. (Photo Courtesy Lou Jones Photography)

Nevertheless, over time, Masidza took to the sea. He learned to swim among the waves, snorkel, and then scuba dive. He studied Environmental and Geographic Science at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and began work in Kuruwitu, Kenya, along the coast north of Mombasa, as the Environmental Program Manager at Oceans Alive.

“In the ocean, there is a richness. The barrier between the known and the unknown lifts,” he said. “Seeing the world that exists beneath the water opens up your mind to the possibilities of what you can do in your life.”

Then Masidza became part of a five-person team in The Rockefeller Foundation’s Food Systems Game Changers Lab.

A global climate change warrior was created.

Ledama Masidza carries out coral restoration in the Indian Ocean 2022. (Photo Courtesy of Ocean Culture Life)

Lab Participants Create Integrated Solutions

The Food Systems Game Changers Lab was a super-convening of 505 participants from 85 countries who spent 13 weeks meeting and collaborating on 24 collective food systems innovations.

It focused on transforming innovators’ thinking from “me” to “we” to create integrated solutions, and grew out of a need to include their frontline voices in the U.N. Food Systems Summit, held during the U.N. General Assembly in 2021.

Masidza’s group, centered on elevating Indigenous food systems, included participants from Brazil, Canada, Fiji, and Nigeria.

“The lab came about at a pivotal point in my journey,” Masidza said. “It was transformative to see how similar issues were being negotiated in very different regions of the world. When the difficulties are great, we can be demoralized. But when we act collaboratively, an energy is created. You start to see how all the puzzle pieces can fit together to disrupt systems and solve challenges.”

Ledama Masidza and his team plant coral in the ocean off Kuruwitu, Kenya, 2023. (Photo Courtesy of Ledama Masidza)

The Collaboration is Ongoing

The group continues to work as a unit, even after the Food Systems Summit is well in the rearview mirror. They have taken the name LIFT — Local and Indigenous Food Transformation — and held an in-person convening in August in Kenya, and another in September in New York, both supported by The Rockefeller Foundation.

“The Game Changers Lab shows the power of convenings done with intention, heart, care, and kindness,” Masidza said. “It shows the power of bringing people together who aspire to be forces for good and make change.”

Watching new partnerships take off was rewarding, and another key goal of the food systems convening was to elevate voices that might otherwise be overlooked.

“We often draw together prominent voices,” noted John de la Parra, Director, Global Food Portfolio, The Rockefeller Foundation. “In this case, we helped convene those typically without a platform to elevate their voices. Then we stayed engaged, supporting this group in acting locally and thinking globally. The strongest solutions come from everyone doing their piece to contribute to a whole.”

A Timboni women's group practices sustainable gardening of Indigenous leafy greens near Kuruwitu, Kenya, 2022. (Photo Courtesy of Ocean Culture life)

Bringing Our "A" Game

At Oceans Alive, Masidza’s work centered on providing fishermen with the knowledge and skills to achieve sustainability through locally managed marine areas that protect fish breeding grounds, turtles, and coral reefs.

In October 2023, he turned his attention to inland food systems. Working with his brother, he started the Kind World Project, focused on three communities around Kenya’s Mt. Ng’iro and three pillars: social life (including livelihoods), the environment (including resource management), and education (including turning to nature’s classroom).

“In a way, I had grown distant from my community. I wanted to see myself as belonging again," Masidza said. "This is a rich culture with much wisdom. We need solutions that are practical to people’s context, and nourish their lives. The knowledge is there, so a lot of listening is important."

A day of environmental learning and play for the students of Uaso Rongai Primary School, Samburu, Kenya, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Mark Wambui - RECA)

The need is great. More than 50 percent of the population in that area suffers from food insecurity, and malnutrition is particularly acute for children aged 5 and younger. Masidza cites the impact of drought and climate change combined with development overtaking arable lands.

“It used to be that our ancestors looked at the moon and the winds and knew when it was time to plant. That is not working anymore,” Masidza said. “Our local planting season failed by 30 percent in 2022.”

Students of Uaso Rongai Primary School prepare for a tree planting activity as part of their environment club. Samburu, Kenya, 2024. (Photo Courtesy of Ledama Masidza)

At the same time, he noted, conflict is growing between communities over water and other resources.

“Food plays a unique role in our lives. It is linked to our history, to our culture, our pride. But climate change impacts what we can eat and disrupts traditional diets,” he said.

The work that Masidza and his LIFT colleagues are doing is urgent.

“With climate change, pressure is building,” he said. “We don’t have time to play around. It’s time to bring our A game.”

But he remains optimistic. “I’m very stubborn. I believe that together, we can do it.”

Want to know more about Ledama Masidza and his work?

Watch the video he created as part of the CNN Academy, a climate storytelling program that trained storytellers to create short documentaries about the climate crisis.

Learn about the CNN Academy

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