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Kilifi County residents seek support to restore forest cover
Residents of Ganze Sub County in Kilifi County have asked the government and societies to help them restore forest cover by providing tree seedlings.
The residents who are currently dependent on relief food said that the area was experiencing drought and famine due to the effects of climate change due to deforestation.
They advocated for drought-resistant trees that can be of direct use to them that could also provide income such as the cashew nuts and mango trees.
Currently, the area is receiving rainfall but locals are still dependent on food relief and their crops have not yet matured; there is a danger of the rains being minimal or short-term which may deny the crops they have planted the much needed water.
The most affected areas include Ganze location, Dungicha, Palakumi, Sokoke and Bamba locations where tree cover is below one percent.
The Kilifi County Department of Agriculture in partnership with the World Wide Fund (WWF), a non-state actor, is carrying out sensitization exercises that have resulted in residents minimizing charcoal-burning businesses and instead advocating for the planting of trees.
Through the program, residents of Sokoke, Bamba and Ganze wards have been trained on better farming practices that can be carried out in their areas, including the adoption of drought-resistant crop varieties such as cassava, green grams and cow peas.
They are also supplying them with relief food that will last them until the month of June when the first harvest will be done.
Gladys Furaha from Dungicha village said that they were really working hard in their farms during this rainy period but the major challenge has been access to food as they have had not harvested for five seasons.
“When they give me food I will be sure that every morning there will be sugar that I will prepare tea with then go to the farm and by evening I will use the flour to cook ugali and beans or rice and beans for my family,” she said.
She added that normally children fail to go to school due to lack of food and parents are forced to do odd jobs to get meals on the table including the destruction of trees for the charcoal trade.
Furaha appealed to the two organizations to take advantage of the rains and distribute to them enough seeds, mango and cashew nut seedlings so that as they conserve the environment with tree cover on their farms, they could also benefit from products from the same trees without necessarily cutting them down.
Wasi Kenga, another resident of Dungicha and a former charcoal trader called on WWF to continue supporting the community with relief food so that many people can be reached.
He said that they are committed to conserving the environment as many trees were destroyed by locals through charcoal burning.
“The agriculture people came here and promised us they would bring tree seedlings. If they do so, we shall be glad because we will plant them and bring back the lost tree cover,” he said.
In Ganze area, Pendo Charo said that if they could be supported with seeds to plant fast-maturing maize, green grams, cowpeas, cashew nuts and cassava it would be of help.
She said that cassava in particular does well and can be used to produce flour while cashew nuts can generate income for their livelihoods.
Mr Charo Karisa, another resident of Ganze area said that the government banned tree destruction but due to the drought and famine, locals have always been cutting them for charcoal production for lack of alternative livelihood.
He however said that the trend was slowly changing as residents were now embracing planting of trees so as to increase the forest cover lost.
“We are now dedicated to planting trees so as to increase forest cover and attract rains which will help us in food production,” he said.
He also emphasized on the government and donors to support them with mango and cassava seedlings so that they can plant them on their farms.
Karisa said that WWF gave them rice, maize flour, sugar, and beans, and sugar and thanked the organization for the support.
At the Palakumi location, residents are upbeat that the sensitization programs they received from the Department of Agriculture and WWF will bear fruit.
Mrs Christina Karabu thanked the WWF for supporting them with food during their time of need as it will enable them to do farming.
She said that with more rain and the food available, they will be able to get a good harvest and move away from the overreliance on relief food.
Mary Karabu who is the Assistant Chief of Palakumi Sub location said that the food will support them for quite some time though it reached out to 100 households which was not enough.
The administrator added that the relief food would go a long way in helping the locals concentrate on farming as they were really having challenges due to the persistent drought.
She also called on the government and non-governmental organizations to support the community with seedlings so as to plant more.
“I also urge the government to support them with cashew nut seedlings and any other types of trees so as to plant in large numbers because drought has been witnessed here due to the continuous destruction of forest,” she said.
The Chief said the trees which mature in 10 years can be of help to cut and sell after that period.
Mrs Judy Karisa who is the agriculture extension officer in Ganze ward said that residents were opting to stay away from the farms due to hunger and that distribution of relief food was giving them the strength to go to their farms.
“We have been sensitizing them on agriculture but drought and scarcity of water affect them so much. We have advocated the planting of fast-maturing crops and trees that will help them earn a living,” she said.
The Programs Manager at WWF coast region Mrs Asma Awadh said that the relief food distribution exercise was part of a program they were doing on nature-based solutions adding that her organization was conservation oriented and that they recognize that some of the solutions for climate change for people benefiting and the economy are found in nature.
“While conserving the tree cover, we recognize that some of the areas in Kenya have faced a high level of drought which has caused hunger and malnutrition in the area and that’s why we are here to distribute food to 100 households and 350 others in other locations,” she said.
She said that in the bigger program, WWF has long-term plans and activities on reducing the vulnerability of climate change including afforestation awareness.
“This is an opportunity before giving the villagers the relief food we sensitize them on the importance of planting trees in this area,” she said.
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