A
woman of the Ogiek people tends her herbal tree nursery. Women are
taking a larger role in addressing climate change impacts as Kenya devolves more power to its regions. ALERTNET/David Njagi
By David Njagi - 19 March 2012
MERU, Kenya
(AlertNet) – For the first 24 years of her marriage, Philista
Cianjoka’s only source of income was attending to births and performing
female genital cutting on adolescent girls.
But recently Cianjoka stopped these practices and began working full-time in agriculture.
Her
shift of occupation was prompted by the increasing adoption of
agro-forestry, a system of farming that combines planting trees with
growing food crops.
It is one of a number of initiatives that are seeing Kenya’s rural women become more involved in securing their livelihoods while combating the effects of climate change.
Agro-forestry
is generating a good yield, says Cianjoka, even in the face of erratic
weather patterns that have left her two-acre farm in Muiru village
parched, like many other rangelands in the lower parts of Tharaka Nithi
county, northeast of the capital, Nairobi.
In
January, Cianjoka harvested an impressive range of sorghum, cowpeas,
pumpkins and sweet potatoes - some of the drought-resistant crops that
research organisations have recommended for arid and semi-arid parts of Kenya.
Unlike
in previous years, when land after the harvest would be left bare and
exposed to the scorching sun, Cianjoka’s is now shaded by neat rows of
drumstick trees that line her field, helping the earth retain its
moisture.
The
trees also are considered to have medicinal properties, and are used to
provide relief from coughs and colds, and to help purify water.
“This
new method of farming is very interesting,” said the 64-year-old mother
of nine. “Not only does it protect the crops from withering, but trees
which we are being told to grow are also earning us income.”
Getting her husband to hand over control of some of his land for agro-forestry wasn’t easy, Cianjoka remembers.
“It
almost cost me my marriage,” she said. “We quarrelled, but he
eventually agreed when he found out that other homesteads were allowing
women to take charge of projects that were previously handled by men,”
she explained.
CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES
That
was before a new constitution came into force in August 2010 allowing
women equal access to land. The reform also ushered in a new system of
devolved government which permits communities to take charge of
resources within their territory.
Odenda
Lumumba, coordinator of Kenya Land Alliance, a non-governmental
organisation, says resources such as minerals, forests, water and
cultural heritage now will be managed by county administrations.
“In
the new system, the government is expected to subsidise community
development projects through a revolving fund,” said Lumumba. “There
have been repeated calls for those (projects) owned by women to be given
priority.”
That
possibility looks promising to rural communities, who hope to seal it
at the ballot box as Kenya prepares for the first general election under
the new constitution later this year.
“Our
group is building water pans and installing tanks for water harvesting
which we will use for irrigation and domestic use,” said Fidelis
Ciamwari of the Muiru Women Self Help Group. “This will help us adapt to
bad weather.”
By
pooling members’ resources, the group has so far built three community
water-harvesting tanks in the village, and is close to completing the
first water pan (a pond for collecting surface water runoff) in Tharaka
Nithi county, said Ciamwari.
But the silver lining should not obscure the cloud.
According
to conservation groups, many of Kenya’s natural resources remain under
pressure due to the rising cost of living, high fuel prices and growing
youth unemployment.
THREAT TO FORESTS
The
Mt. Kenya ecosystem, which spans the lower parts of Tharaka Nithi
county, has not escaped widespread illegal timber harvesting and
charcoal production, according to Steve Itela, the director of Youth for
Conservation, a Kenyan NGO.
According
to Itela, the appetite for timber is being fuelled by construction
companies in the new nation of South Sudan, and by Kenya’s planned
development of a railway through its northwestern region as part of a
transport corridor connecting the coastal port of Lamu to the South
Sudanese capital, Juba.
High
fuel prices have also raised demand for wood and charcoal among poor
households. The energy ministry says wood and other biomass, including
agricultural waste, now meets 70 percent of domestic energy needs.
The
introduction of energy-saving cooking stoves among rural households,
however, has raised hopes that communities can save wood and reduce
their carbon footprint.
“We
are working with women’s groups to enable them (to have) access to
these stoves to reduce the impact that unchecked timber harvesting is
having on forest ecosystems,” said Domenic Micheni, coordinator of the
Chuka Green Initiative group, a Kenyan NGO.
The group has
distributed energy-saving stoves to about 30 households so far, but
Micheni says more will be made available through devolved funds that
subsidise women involved in community environmental protection.
A
more important test will be how communities can mix government-led
initiatives on renewable energy with emerging private sector
investments, as outlined by a new report
from the United Nations Environment Programme. According to the report,
government policies to open up energy markets to private investment
will be the key to unlocking Africa’s massive renewable energy
potential.
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