KIGANJO, Kenya (PAMACC News) - On a private paddock in Kiganjo, along Thika-Nanyuki highway, Dr James Gakuo is busy de-worming a herd of 100 cattle he just purchased from Isiolo County. The animals are extremely emaciated, almost at the verge of death.
In another shed just a few meters away, a herd of 150 well built cattle is feeding on a special floor-like organic ration locally prepared using grain by-products and oil crops such as barley, sunflower and cotton seed-cake that Gakuo grinds and blends at his feed production factory in Kiganjo.
“These animals at one point were skinny like the others. I brought them from Northern Kenya while they were emaciated and fed them and look at them now, they are ready for the market,” says Gakuo, a veterinary expert. He is in the business of adding value to such emaciated animals, before releasing them to the market.
And now, after a long research, a new study by scientists drowns from different parts of the world recommends that county governments in semi arid lands in Kenya should customize followGakuo’s example as one way of developing climate-resilient economies through vertical and horizontal transformation in the beef value chain.
According to Dr Stephen Moiko, the lead researcher for a study on ‘Livestock Production and Value Chains: Adaptation under Climate & Land Tenure Changes,’ One of the ways of building resilience is by investing in projects that improve the quality of beef along the value chain.
“This can be done by fattening the animals at producer level, and also by having improved marketing at processor level, and as well by researching and developing of alternative feed sources and breeds,” said Moiko.
Gakuo’s enterprise also shows that there are adaptation options for business and private sector investment opportunities in responding to climate change.
The PRISE study, jointly funded by the Canada based International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the UK based Department for International development (DFID) and implemented in Kenya by the Kenya Markets Trust (KMT) also calls for diversification of pastoralist livelihoods through tourism, as a sector that complements and supports the livestock sector.
According to Moiko, livestock traders and businessmen respondents during the research pointed out that good quality meat was not easy to find in the market, given the prevailing tough climatic conditions. As a result, end consumers are now opting for white meat instead.
However, Gakuo has proven that apart from taking the animals to ranches for fattening, it is possible to improve the quality of the meat using short-term intensive fattening system for better profits.
“If we had fattening programs in all the pastoralist counties, then it would be easier for individuals to pay some fee for fattening animals whenever drought strikes. Once an animal is fit enough, it will automatically fetch better prices from meat processors who are always out to get good quality products for the end consumer,” said Dr Gakuo.
The study, which is part of the Pathways to Resilience in Semi-arid Economies (PRISE) further calls for hHolistic planning of pasture management in the group ranches and private ranches to support production, and effective methods of delivering climate risk information in good time.
“There is also need for county government to raise awareness campaigns on the potential climate change adaptation measures and opportunities for investment,” said Moiko.
NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - For the first time, scientists from English and French speaking countries in Africa have teamed up to solve Africa’s worsening food crisis.
The new pan African fellowship initiative aims to pool skills from English and French speaking countries to take the continent’s scientific agenda to the next level, according to Dr Wanjiru Kamau-RUTENBERG, director, African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD).
“For too long there has been political division between scientists from Anglophone and Francophone countries,” says Dr. Kamau. “This project aims to bridge this by utilizing skills in training, perspectives and policy approaches from both divides.”
With a one million US dollars funding from Agropolis Fondation, half of the women research fellows have been shopped from francophone countries to ensure the continent’s agricultural development takes a pan African face, according to Dr Kamau.
It is clear that there are more Francophone than Anglophone countries in Africa. Yet women from French speaking countries are not investing in agricultural research training and leadership compared to those from English speaking countries.
Still, there are problems troubling the continent that do not know boundaries, like climate change, argued Dr. Kamau, hence the need for a network of scientists across Africa.
“If we are talking about Africa’s ability to feed itself, we must make sure this ability is within Anglophone and francophone countries,” says Dr. Kamau.
To achieve this agenda, the initiative aims to utilize participative science, where the search for a solution is co-constructed between farmers and scientists, explained Pascal Kosuth, the Director Agropolis Fondation, which has funded the initiative.
“This is where you engage farmers, stakeholders and scientists,” says Kosuth. “Farmers contribute to formulate the questions and vision of what could be the solution.”
According to him, this initiative is not only limited to Africa, but aims to partner with women scientists from the pacific, South East Asia, and Europe.
“It is not just helping women scientists but it is helping society to benefit from women scientists,” says Kosuth. “I am very hopeful that what AWARD gives to the women fellows they will give back to AWARD.”
BLANTYRE, Malawi (PAMACC News) - Prolonged dry spell experienced across Southern Africa and the invasion of crop- eating worm are said to sharply affect harvests across the region, driving millions of people – most of them children – into severe hunger, warns the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
The warning follows an alert by the regional food security experts that “erratic rainfall, high temperatures and persistent Fall Army Worm infestation, are likely to have far-reaching consequences on access to adequate food and nutrition” over the next 12-15 months.
The alert, by officials from the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET), UN agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), listed Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Zambia and South Africa as the worst-affected countries.
The dry spell, which started in October, has caused crops to wilt. Pasture has also suffered, threatening the survival of livestock herds.
In Malawi, it is estimated that about 140,000 farming families have been affected by the twin scourges of dry spell and Fall armyworms and in terms of hectares, 375,580 hectares of maize have been damaged across the country.
Lonjezo Chiguduli, a farmer in Malawi’s Eastern Region district of Zomba expressed sadness at loss of crops and predicted tough months ahead. Chiguduli said his maize farm was severally attacked by Fall Armyworms and the prolonged drought made things worse.
“I managed to contain the worms but I was hopeless and helpless with the dry spell. I don’t think my crops will recover even if the rains come today. It’s done,” said Chiguduli a father of three whose ageing mother also depends on him.
Solomon Makondetsa, a rice farmer also from Zomba said out of four of his rice plots, two of the plots have completely wilted that he had to uproot the crop.
Makondetsa said he invested about K450,000 (about US$623) which he said he will not be able to recover due to the prolonged dry spell.
A ray of hope though shown last week with most parts of the country experiencing rains for days, however, the rains have come with another problem, flooding. So far, there has been flooding in Salima District in the central region and Karonga district in the northern region of Malawi.
In December 2017, Malawi President, Peter Mutharika, declared 20 of the country’s 28 districts as disaster areas following the dry spell and invasion of the worms.
According to the statement released by World Food Programme (WFP), even if there is above-average rainfall over coming months, much of the damage to crops is irreversible.
“Given that the region has barely emerged from three years of very damaging El Niño -induced drought, this is a particularly cruel blow”, says Brian Bogart, WFP’s Regional Programme Advisor. “But it shows how important it is to address the root causes of hunger and malnutrition in the face of changing climatic conditions”.
There are now fears for another rise in the number of people in the region needing emergency food and nutrition assistance—this fell from a peak of 40 million during the 2014-2016 ElNiño crisis to 26 million last year.
The humanitarian community is now working with governments, SADC and other partners to assess the extent of the damage and its likely impact on those most at risk in the region.
NAIROBI, Kenyya (PAMACC News) - Kenny Matampash, a crop and livestock farmer and an agricultural solutions expert in Kajiado County says African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) are crucial to addressing effects climate change in Kenya.
Matampash says his knowledge in irrigation has helped him grow crops in a dry land for commercial use.
“From October this year, I have lost 130 heads of cattle. This shows how urgently Government should engage us to get our views on how to incorporate our indigenous system in improving agriculture,” he says.
The farmer who keeps livestock, rabbits, bees and grows various crops says indigenous knowledge can help in the use of storage of animal feeds and water for irrigation.
“I use my indigenous knowledge prepare land for pasture conservation. Here, I can conserve Napier grass and beetroots. I have also drilled two boreholes at a cost of Sh4.5 million. I use the water to irrigate crops like maize, vegetables, water melon and yellow beans,” Matampash says.
He reveals that he has trained farmers locally and internationally to adopt diversification and adaptation of innovative techniques for sustainable agriculture.
Together with his wife Phylis Nadupoi, the couple now sells their products in Elangata-Wuas, Ilbissil and other markets in Kajiado.
“My knowledge has created a miracle in this arid and semi-arid area. This can be replicated in all ASAL regions when water availability and storage is made a priority,” Matampash says.
Mary Kiminza, a farmer in the arid area of Makueni in Eastern Kenya says farmers in the region have used IKS to devise innovative ways of water storage to help them plant crops even during droughts.
The farmers have come together to build a traditional rock catchment system to harvest rainwater, and despite dry weather, the village still has plenty of water.
“Apart from the gift of life from God, this is the other biggest blessing that has come to us,” says Mrs Kiminza, a mother of five and a member of the village's Ithine Self Help Group.
Rock catchment systems use naturally occurring rock outcrops to divert rainwater to a central collection area. A concrete wall is built to direct the water that trickles down the rock surface into sand and gravel filter, then down pipes into covered storage tanks to be used for irrigation.
“We use our knowledge to build resilience to climate extremes among the worst-hit areas, using locally acceptable techniques and making them as sustainable as possible,” Mrs Kiminza says.
“Residents here in the dry-land regions face an acute water shortage. But with innovative traditional water harvesting techniques, most of them have become food secure and not dependent on food aid any longer,” Mrs Kiminza says.
In Mbeere region, another dry land, farmers have abandoned growing traditional crops like maize, sweet and white potatoes and have found a way to stay afloat as water becomes scarcer.
The farmers are now breeding catfish in “home dams” that capture rainwater, to help them cope with water scarcity.
“This is my new source of income,” said Sylvester Kinyori, 32, who operates a kiosk in Isiolo town where he sells fish products from local farmers who have turned to aquaculture.
Farmers in the region started rearing fish four years ago, after they were introduced to a simple way of trapping and storing rainfall run-off in what are known as “home dams”.
The water is stored in reservoirs sunk in the grounds of a household compound, fitted with a thick polythene lining to stop it percolating away into the soil.
John Njiru said experiment by farmers in Mbeere had shown catfish which have distinctive whisker-like filaments around their mouths could be more resilient to a harsh climate than tilapia, withstanding higher temperatures.
"We are now healthier because we can eat the fish, and sell the surplus to generate income. It is my hope that fish farming in this region will stand the test of time given the tough and changing climatic conditions,” Njiru says.
Weather, climate change and IKS experts unanimously agree that tapping IKS will make conventional weather services more relevant and accessible, thereby increasing update and use by local farmers.
The experts note that local farmers have in-built indigenous knowledge weather forecasting practices established after long years of observation of their respective natural environments.
They also agree that African IKS pertaining to weather have not been fully integrated in climate change information services and this has led to existing weather information services to lack relevance to local communities.
Dr Richard Lesiyampe, the principal secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture agrees. He explains that unpredictable weather patterns have negatively affected farming in Kenya.
“We have a shortfall of nine million bags of maize this year. This is because farmers in this region, considered the country’s main grain basket harvested 36 million bags of maize last year,” Lesiyampe said.
He added, “The shortfall has been caused by adverse weather effects that have caused prolonged wet or dry seasons and new emerging diseases. Government has a programme to tap farmers’ knowledge in weather forecasts and irrigation to find ways of mitigating against such negative effects.”
Dr Richard Muita, a lecturer at Institute for Meteorological Training and Research works closely with the traditional Nganyi rainmakers based in Bunyore in Western Kenya.
The Nganyi observe changes in nature that would be unnoticeable to most people - in air currents, the flowering and shedding of leaves of certain trees, the behaviour of ants, bird songs, even the croaking of frogs and toads.
“They are able to interpret weather patterns and provide valuable advice. The Kenya Meteorology Department (KMD) works together with the traditional rainmakers to produce more accurate forecasts and disseminate them to a wider number of farmers.
This, he adds has enabled the meteorologists to blend ancient and modern weather systems together to build climate resilience.
Prof Joseph Mukabana, Head of African Offices and Least Developed Countries at the World Meteorological Organisation (MWO) in Geneva, Switzerland emphasised the role of IKS in agriculture.
“The Nganyi have key information in astronomy and botany that can be used to address climate change. These people can look at stars and plants and predict whether there will be strained or enough rains. This knowledge can be used by governments to advise farmers on what crops to plant to last the predicted spell of rain,” Mukabana says.
Prof Hassan Kaya, the Director, Centre in Indigenous Knowledge Systems, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa said that understanding of the importance of IKS is key in explaining the symbiotic relationship between ecosystems and human dynamics for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
“This includes the correlation between habitat, ecosystem services, culture including language, natural resources and their collective impact on community livelihoods in terms of food security and nutrition and energy needs in the face of climate change,” Kaya says.
He called for research and documentation of African cultural and ecological histories, including indicators of natural early warning systems and innovative adaptation strategies to climate variability and change,
“This will provide a clear and broad conceptualization of climate change and variability in the African context across time. It will also provide foundation for devising policy strategies which are culturally and ecologically specific. It will also identify IKS-based commonalities in ecologically and culturally comparable zones for climate change policy development and implementation,” he said.
Prof Joseph Matowanyika, the Director of Indigenous of the Knowledge Systems, Environment and Lifelong Learning Department, Chihonyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe says the history of how African countries are inter-related through the river systems is useful.
“The whole of African is connected by its river systems. When we work with experts in IKS, we will be able to minimise conflicts among countries and be able to produce enough food for all of us,” he says.
