Born: 1 April 1940, Kenya
Died: 25 September 2011
Country most active: Kenya
Also known as: Wangarĩ Muta
The following, “Wangari Maathai,” is republished from South African History Online in line with the SAHO Copyright, Disclaimer & Privacy policy.
Wangari Muta Maathai Anchor was a prominent Kenyan environmental and political activist. Maathai is internationally renowned for her unrelenting efforts in advocating democracy, environmental conservation and human rights.[i] She was born in Nyeri, part of the rural region of Kenya on the 1st of April 1940. Maathai was of Kikuyu ethnicity. In 1964, Maathai graduated with a Bachelors degree in Biological Science from Mount Saint Scholastic College, also known as the Benedictine College, in Atchison, Kansas in the United States of America.[ii] She went on to attain a Master of Science degree at the University of Pittsburgh in 1966.[iii] Eventually pursuing her doctoral studies in Germany and the University of Nairobi, before earning a PhD from the University of Nairobi in 1971, where Maathai lectured veterinary anatomy.[iv] Wangari Maathai was the first women graduate with a PhD in East and Central Africa.[v] Maathai chaired the Department of Veterinary Anatomy, and held the position of associate professor in 1976 and 1977.[vi]
Maathai shared a long and prosperous relationship with the National Council of Women of Kenya, between the years 1976 and 1987, and even went on to chair the Council from the years 1981 till 1987.[vii] During her leadership years on the National Council of Women of Kenya, Maathai pioneered an initiative which involved community based tree planting.[viii] Throughout her representation on the National Council of Women she constantly developed her tree planting initiative into a broad-based grassroots organisation centred on women groups conserving the environment and improving women’s quality of life.[ix] Ultimately this initiative progressed into the Green Belt Movement (GBM).[x] The Green Belt Movement pays particular attention to reducing poverty and encouraging environmental conservation by means of planting trees.[xi] By means of the Green Belt Movement Maathai supported women in planting over 20 million trees on local farms, schools and church compounds.[xii]
In 1983, Maathai received the Women of the Year Award.[xiii] She was awarded the Right Livelihood Award in 1984 and the Better World Society Award in 1986.[xiv] The Green Belt Movement launched a Pan African Green Belt Network in 1986, which introduced over 40 individuals of various African states to the Movement’s ideals.[xv] Maathai established a campaign of the Jubilee 2000 Coalition in late 1998, which she played a significant role in co-chairing its Jubilee 2000 Africa Campaign.[xvi] The main purpose of the Campaign necessitates the cancellation of the unpaid backlog debts of the poor African states before reaching 2000.[xvii] The Jubilee 2000 Africa Campaign discourages land grabbing and acquisitive allocation of forest land.[xviii] In 2001, Maathai received the Juliet Hollister Award and the Excellence Award from the Kenyan Community Abroad.[xix] Maathai received the Outstanding Vision and Commitment Award in the year 2002.[xx] In 2003, Maathai wrote The Green Belt Movement: sharing the approach and the experience.[xxi] The book provided a detailed account of the manner in which the Green Belt Movement developed from one woman’s idea into a entire network of thousands of men and women who have participated in the planting of millions of trees across Kenya.[xxii] The book reveals the key challenges faced by Maathai and the Green Belt Movement, as a grassroots environmental non-governmental organisation.[xxiii] In the very same year Maathai received the World Association of Non-Government Organisations (WANGO) Environment Award.[xxiv] Over the years Wangari Maathai received numerous recognition for her work, in 2004 she received the Sophie Prize; Petra Kelly Prize for Environment; the Conservation Scientist Award; and J. Sterling Morton Award.[xxv]
Wangari Maathai was elected as the first president of the African Union’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council in March 2005.[xxvi] Maathai was selected as the Goodwill Ambassador to the Congo Basin Forest and Ecosystem in 2005.[xxvii] She was elected by 11 respective presidents to the Congo area, as the region’s Goodwill Ambassador.[xxviii] In 2006, Maathai wrote Unbowed: a memoir.[xxix] The book documented the accounts of a girl with the background of central highlands Kenya, becoming the first woman to receive a PhD in East and Central Africa and going onto becoming a university’s head of department in Kenya. The book details Maathai’s numerous confrontations with the repressive Kenyan government and the manner by which she believed that planting trees could empower local communities.[xxx] The previous president of Kenya, Daniel arap Moi, regarded Maathai as a problem, and perceived her Green Belt Movement to have been “subversive” during the 1980s.[xxxi] Along with her fellow female Nobel laureates to the likes of Jody Williams, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Mairead Corrigan, Shirin Ebadi and Betty Williams, Maathai initiated the Nobel Women’s Initiative in 2006.[xxxii] Wangari Maathai received numerous honorary degrees from various academic institutions across the world, namely William’s College, Massachusetts in 1990; Hobart & William Smith Colleges, New York in 1994; the University of Norway in 1997; Yale University in 2004;[xxxiii] the University of Pittsburgh in 2006; and finally awards from the French Legion of Honour and Japan’s Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun.[xxxiv] Maathai was elected to parliament with 98% of the votes.[xxxv] Shortly thereafter she was appointed as Assistant Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife in Kenya’s ninth parliament by the president.[xxxvi] Wangari Maathai represented the Tetu electorate in the Kenya parliament between 2002 and 2007.[xxxvii] The Congo Basin Fund appointed Maathai to be its co-chair in 2007.[xxxviii] The fund was developed by the British and Norwegian states, and is concerned with the well being and protection of Congolese forests.[xxxix] In 2008, Maathai was driven out of the Kenyan government, and was struck with tear gas by the Kenya police in the midst of a protest against “the excesses of Kenya’s entrenched political class”.[xl] Maathai’s refusal to be silenced by her repressive government and particularly vocal nature[xli] meant that she was politically sidelined after serving only one term.[xlii]
In 2009, Maathai released The Challenge for Africa, a book provided a detailed analysis of the complex nature of the African continent, as a whole.[xliii] Maathai thoroughly examines the most shocking “bottlenecks to development in Africa” present on individual, national and international platforms, in terms of cultural upheaval, poverty and environmental degradation.[xliv] Furthermore, Maathai goes on to explore what Africans can and desperately need to do for themselves, in terms of Africa responsibility and accountability.[xlv] In December 2009, the United Nations Secretary-General gave Maathai recognition for her unrelenting devotion to the protection of the environment and combating climate change efforts, and gave bestowed upon her the United Nations Messenger of Peace.[xlvi]
The Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group selected Maathai onto its panel in 2010. The Millennium Development Goals Advocacy Group consisted of political leaders, businessmen and political activists who strived to reach the universal Millennium Development Goals.[xlvii] The Karura Forest Environmental Education Trust appointed Maathai as a trustee in 2010.[xlviii] Wangari formulated the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies in 2010. The Wanagari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies is concerned with academic research in the case of land use, agriculture, forestry, resource based conflicts and peace studies. [xlix] Also in 2010, Maathai wrote Replenishing the Earth: spiritual values for healing ourselves and the world, which critically proposes that, the key to unlocking self-empowerment and conservation is reasoned behind traditional spiritual values in terms of one’s love for the environment, self betterment, gratitude, respect and a commitment to service.[l] Maathai incorporated various faiths and traditions into her work, this includes her Western Christian education background, the Jewish concept Tikkun Olam, and the Japanese term Mottainai into her work.[li]
Maathai was internationally recognised for her great efforts in promoting democracy, human rights, environmental conservation.[lii] Throughout the years, Maathai served on the boards of several international organisations,[liii] which included the United Nationals Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament, Environment Liaison Center International, World Learning for International Development, Green Cross International, The Jane Goodall Institute, Women and Environment Development Organisation (WCEO), the WorldWIDE Network of Women in Environmental Work and National Council of Women of Kenya.[liv] Maathai was voiced her opinion on numerous occasions during the United Nations General Assembly’s Earth Summit reviews, several times she would tackle hard hitting topics from the perception of women.[lv] Wangari was notably present on the Commission for Global Governance and the Commission on the Future.[lvi]
In many ways, Wangari Maathai exemplifies a true pioneer to not only women, but Africans. With great sadness, Wangari Maathai lost her battle with ovarian cancer[lvii] on the 25 September 2011, leaving three children, and two grandchildren behind, along with an incredible legacy of the power through knowledge and the self- determination of African women.[lviii] According to John Githongo, “Wangari Maathai was known to speak truth to power” and that “She blazed a trail in whatever she did, whether it was in the environment, politics, whatever”.[lix] Wangari Maathai was one of the most widely respected African women, and made various roles as an environmentalist, feminist, politician, professor, firebrand, human rights advocate and spearheading the Green Belt Movement.[lx]
The following bio was written by Emma Rosen, author of On This Day She Made History: 366 Days With Women Who Shaped the World and This Day In Human Ingenuity & Discovery: 366 Days of Scientific Milestones with Women in the Spotlight, and has been republished with permission.
Wangarĩ Muta Maathai was a notable figure in Kenya, known for her roles as a social, environmental, and political activist. She is most famous for founding the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-profit focused on tree planting, preserving the environment, and promoting women’s rights. In 2004, she made history as the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
Maathai’s educational journey began with the Kennedy Airlift program, which allowed her to study in the United States. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Mount St. Scholastica and later a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Notably, she became the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Nairobi in Kenya.
In 1984, her commitment to environmental causes earned her the Right Livelihood Award for her efforts in promoting reforestation in Kenya. Beyond activism, she ventured into politics, serving as an elected member of the Kenyan Parliament. From January 2003 to November 2005, she held the role of Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in President Mwai Kibaki’s government.
Maathai’s influence reached beyond Kenya, as she was honored as an Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council. Her written works made significant contributions to discussions on ecology, development, gender, and the various cultures and religions of Africa.
Wangarĩ Muta Maathai’s life and work continue to inspire, leaving a lasting impact on the world through her dedication to environmental conservation, social justice, and the empowerment of women.
The following, written by Georgiana Keable, has been republished with permission from the Dangerous Women Project, created by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh.
Over a hundred and thirty years ago the powerful European countries took a map of Africa, cut it up and shared it out as if it was an enormous Pizza. France, you take this slice. Germany, you can have that bit, Britain, this. Do you think they asked the African people? No. They just grabbed Africa.
Britain got a huge and luxuriant country called Kenya. And there in Kenya in 1940, a child was born. Just an ordinary African child, born in a round house made of earth. As soon as she was born three women came in with gifts. One was carrying a sweet potato, the second had blue sugar cane, the third woman brought sweet corn. The new mother took juice from all these and dripped it into the mouth of the newborn baby. So the first thing the baby tasted was not mother’s milk, but the fruits of the earth. The baby was given the name of an African goddess – Wangari.
Wangari’s Dad was tall and clever. He was a car mechanic. He was so strong that when he needed to change the wheel on a car he just lifted up the whole car, took out the old wheel and slung in a new one. Wangari’s mum was also tall and no-one ever heard her say an angry word.
At that time in Kenya a man who was rich enough could marry several women, as long as he promised to look after all his children. So Wangari had one dad and four mothers. She called them, Big Mum; Mum; Little Mum and Younger Mum. She also had lots of sisters and brothers to play with.
When she was seven years old her father said; ‘Wangari, your mother and I want your brothers to go to school and there is no school here. So you will go to your grandparent’s village where there is a school and you will help your mother.’
When they got to her new village Wangari stared wide-eyed. All around the village was the most beautiful forest she had ever seen. Her grandmother hugged her and said; ‘Wangari, go out and play in the rain, then you will grow as tall as the trees!’
Wangari was only seven but she had to work hard. She planted seeds, looked after her younger sister and brother, washed clothes and made food. In the forest she fetched firewood but her mum said she should never take wood from the fig tree because that was God’s tree. She promised, but she often played beside the fig tree because of the fresh water bubbling up and little frogs hopping around. Wangari loved the forest.
One day, as she was serving a dish of steaming Ugali to her big brother he said; ‘Mum, why doesn’t Wangari go to school?’ ‘Now that’s a good question my son!’ said her mum and sure enough, soon Wangari became the first girl in the family to go to school.
On her very first school-day Wangari’s cousin walked with her. ‘Can you read and write, Wangari?’ he asked. ‘No, I can’t,’ she said. He proudly took out a pencil and wrote a big W on his book, and then he took out a rubber and rubbed it out. ‘Wow!’ Wangari was impressed and decided that she would learn this kind of magic. Wangari worked hard at school and on her last day, she got a shock. She had won the prize as the cleverest pupil in the whole school!
Her mum said; ‘Wangari, we have decided that you will go on to the High School. It’s far away, but be brave, it’s for the future.’
So Wangari set off alone. Her sack was light for she had only one dress to carry, a present from her brother. No shoes, she didn’t get shoes until she was fifteen.
The new school was run by nuns. Many of the nuns had come from Europe and Wangari thought how kind they were to leave their homes and help the girls in Kenya. However some of the nuns were very strict. The girls were never allowed to speak their own language – their mother tongue. If they did they were forced to wear the badge which said ‘I am stupid, I spoke my mother tongue today.’ Sometimes Wangari worried that she might not understand what her grandmother said when she finally went home, but luckily she still dreamed in her own language.
At this time a terrible revolution began in Kenya. Over the years so many unfair things had happened. Many Kenyan men had fought bravely in the Second World War. When they came home, their farms had been given away. They were given to British soldiers! How unfair. Their country had been taken away and now even their farms. This was the final straw and a revolution broke out.
At her school Wangari was sheltered from violence and the girls were told that the African revolutionaries were wrong. When the last day of school came, again she was shocked.
‘Wangari,’ said her friends, ‘You are the cleverest girl in the whole school! You could be a nurse, or even a teacher, what will you be?’
‘Neither,’ said Wangari. ‘I will go on studying. I want to learn everything there is to know about nature – forests, animals and birds!’
‘What?’ said her friends. ‘Don’t be ridiculous Wangari, you are not a man.’
After all these hard years, Kenya would soon become a free country. This Wangari could do just what she wanted. The president of America sponsored the cleverest young students to support the new country. For five and a half years she studied in America.
After all that time, you can imagine how excited she was on the long boat ride home over the ocean.
At last, nearing the coastline she saw a big group of people singing and as she drew nearer she could see more and more of her family. Big Mum, Mum! Little Mum, Daddy, grandmother, all the sisters and brothers! As she ran down the gangplank she was crying with happiness.
But her family stared at her and said; ‘Wangari, what is wrong, you are so thin! Don’t they have proper food in America? Why have they been starving you?’ Wangari laughed, ‘Don’t you know it’s fashionable in America to be skinny and thin, not like Kenya where it’s beautiful to be big and gorgeous.‘
Wangari soon got a job at the university but she still kept studying nature. After some years she became a Professor. She was the very first woman professor in the whole of Central and East Africa. By this time she had saved enough money to buy herself a car. There were not many women in Kenya who had their own car and she was so excited to drive out to the village where her grandparents lived.
Even before she had arrived she stopped the car. She was confused, staring at the landscape which she knew so well. How could it be? The great beautiful green forest was gone. Instead she saw mile upon mile of tea and coffee bushes.
Her heart pounding, she approached her family house and saw a beloved figure sitting outside. ‘Grandmother,’ she called,
‘Where is the forest? What happened?’
‘Money, my child,’ said her grandmother sadly. ‘They have cut the forest for money. Don’t they see that money will never give us shade against the hot sun? Money cannot be burned on our cooking fire. Don’t they see that money is no home to the birds of the forest, for Mother Elephant or Brother Monkey? Money will not stop the earth from washing away in the floods or bring sweet rain for our crops.’
Water! The land was so dry. Wangari ran to the fig tree where she used to play, God’s tree. Where it had stood was a dried old stump and without it the clear delicious water and the little frogs were gone too. Wangari knew now that the fig tree has a root that goes so deep it always finds the water, but it was gone and the land was dry. She looked around at the children of the village and saw many who looked hungry and unwell. ‘Yes child,’ said her grandmother. ‘People use the money to buy white bread and sweets for their children, they no longer grow the good vegetables and they can no longer pick the fruits and nuts of the forest.’
Wangari was so angry. She got into her car and drove straight back into the city. Straight to the government building and took the lift up to the forestry department.
‘I want to plant trees. No, I am going to plant a forest!’ she said to the forestry minister. ‘Well Professor Wangari, I know you are very clever, but how can you plant a whole forest?’
‘It’s simple,’ she said. ‘The people of Kenya will help me.’ The forestry minister saw a chance to get some free labour so he promised her all the young saplings she could plant.
Then Wangari began to write in the newspapers, she spoke on the radio and in the lecture halls saying; ‘Cutting down our forest is destroying our beautiful Kenya. It’s making our children hungry and our animals and birds are losing their homes. But there is a simple solution. Help me to plant trees!’
Sure enough hundreds of women listened to her words and came to help her plant trees. In fact soon they had planted all the saplings the forestry minister had to give her.
Then Wangari said,’ We have run out of trees but listen! You women are experts at planting vegetables. Now you will plant trees.‘ So they found nuts, berries and other tree seeds and little by little they learnt. They learnt to scarify, soak, stratify and plant the seeds, and to care for the tiny trees so that no-one trod on them and no stray goat ate them. A great new forest grew up. Wangari and her friends called this work the Green Belt movement because they were planting long green belts of forest over the whole of Kenya.
Meanwhile Wangari was determined to protect the forest that remained. When she heard that an old forest was in danger she went with groups of young students and they stood bravely before the bulldozers and the chain saws. The rich men who owned these forests were furious.
‘This woman is dangerous!’ they said. ‘She is a disgrace. She has no shame and leads women and young people to violence.
Tomorrow she will turn them against their husbands and fathers. No man will be safe. She must be stopped.’ They started to lie about her in the newspapers, to threaten her and at last they arrested her and sent her to prison. Again and again she was locked up for protecting forests and people.
Why did these men see her as so dangerous? Protecting the trees she was protecting the air, protecting the nuts and the fruits. She was protecting the shade which trees give from the burning sun, protecting the earth which washes away when trees are cut. She was protecting the firewood to make food and protecting the homes for the birds and animals of the forest.
Do you think Wangari gave up? Never. One day she got a letter in the post. It was from Norway, she had won perhaps the highest honour a person can receive in this world. She had been given the Nobel Peace Prize. She and the thousands of women and men who had helped her were proud. Together they kept planting trees.