Women at the Kalama Conservancy in northwestern Kenya’s Samburu County are giving life to the land by planting perennial grasses and uprooting invasive plant species. These women, often disproportionately affected by drought, hope their initiative will provide pasture for their cattle and revitalize the land after years of degradation.
NAIROBI, July 7 (Xinhua) — A lone roadside station in northwestern Kenya’s Samburu County is announcing a partnership to supply water to the area. Both the words on the sign and the stone water tank next to it go unnoticed by residents like Jovana Lengile, who walk by it every day in search of water.
Lengile, 35, is a mother of 10 children and a resident of the county’s Kalama Conservancy. In this eternally parched region, it spends a lot of time searching for water and pastures.
“I have never known a life where water was easily available or where we didn’t have to walk far with our cattle in search of pasture. Dams and other reservoirs work for a while until they run out of water,” Lengile told Xinhua.
In a collective act of determination, Lengile and other women in conservation are giving life to the land by planting perennial grasses and uprooting invasive plant species. These women, often disproportionately affected by drought, hope their initiative will provide pasture for their cattle and revitalize the land after years of degradation.
The Nature Conservancy, the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) support the initiative, which launched in 2019 and aims to restore degraded land in Kenya’s northern semi-arid regions.
“After the grass matures, we allow our cattle to feed on it and we also sell the grass seeds to neighboring residences. This is how I earn my living,” said Lengile.
Dorcas Lolngojine from the NRT Samburu Conservancy said Samburu had been hit hard by the 2021-2023 drought cycle, the worst in 40 years.
“This land has been degraded by human activities and natural forces such as climate change. It is important for the community to lead the effort to restore it, as they are the ones who feel the effects the most,” Lolngojine said. “We use a semi-circular ban method to plant the grass. This way, we will conserve water and prevent soil erosion.”
The women earn about 3,000 Kenyan shillings (about US$23.3) for a 90 kg bag of grass. During last season’s harvest, the Kalama Conservancy produced 150 bags of grass seed, according to Lolngojine.
To ensure that the grass grows to maturity, youth from the nomadic Maasai community have been recruited to prevent animals from feeding on the young grass and prescribe grazing guidelines.
One such youth, known locally as Moran, is Mathew Lemakin. He said that thanks to the efforts of women, they no longer have to venture far in search of fodder.
“Women are doing good work and through their efforts, our land has improved. Now when you walk, you can see vegetation,” said Lemakin.
The involvement of Maasai youth in the initiative ensures that a grazing plan is in place so that the community can effectively use the available resources.
At least 91 percent of Kenya’s territory faces some form of land degradation, with about 64 percent experiencing high degradation and 27 percent severe degradation, according to Soipan Tuya, cabinet secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forests.
Tuya made these revelations as she led the country in commemorating World Desertification and Drought Day recently. He also said that globally, up to 40 percent of the planet’s land is being degraded, directly affecting half of humanity and threatening about half of the world’s gross domestic product.
In Laikipia North, another arid region in northwestern Kenya, Jane Kipish carefully cares for cochineal insects in a greenhouse. The bugs play a critical role in controlling the invasive opuntia plant, which has aggressively spread over large areas of land.
“When animals feed on opuntia, they develop ulcers in their intestines, refuse to feed and eventually die. We can’t even get enough milk because it makes our animals unproductive,” Kipish said.
Kipish and her colleagues now cut the opuntia plant, which is inedible, and raise cochineal insects that feed on the plant, killing it. The spread of invasive plants is a sign of land degradation. The women raise the cochineal bugs in a greenhouse for three weeks until they mature, then transfer them to the opuntia plant.
Mamo Boru Mamo, director-general of NEMA, said the state would support community-led interventions to ensure they reproduce in other semi-arid regions and degraded lands.
Peter Kilua, director of the Naibunga Community Conservancy in northern Kenya, said the efforts are paying off. “Approximately 20 percent of the 70 percent of the oguns that had colonized the land area have been eliminated, although the process is slow.” ■
