Mesha

Teknolojia ya uvunaji wa maji: Kumaliza tatizo la uhaba wa chakula nchini

By RUTH KEAH

Shirika la kilimo na utafiti la Kenya (KALRO) tawi la Kabete linapatikana takriban kilomita 13 kutoka jijini Nairobi nchini Kenya.

Upande wa kulia mita chache tu baada ya kuingia kwenye lango kuu,unakutana na shamba lenye ukubwa wa ekari moja. Lilikuwa kivutio kikuu kwa watu waliotembelea shirika hilo siku ya maonyesho ya kilimo.

Hii ni kutokana na mazao yaliyonawiri, sio tu kwa rangi yake ya kupendeza ya kibichi, bali pia kwa ubora wa mazao hayo licha ya kuwa ni msimu wa kiangazi.

Shirika hilo,limekuwa likitumia teknolojia ya uvunaji wa maji ya mvua, na kisha kunyunyuzia shamba hilo.

Daktari Esther Gikonyo ni mkurugenzi mkuu wa shirika la KALRO tawi la Kabete,yeye pia ni mtaalamu katika sekta ya rotuba ya udongo.

Alisema teknolojia hiyo ni muhimu katika kuhakikisha kuwa wakulima wanatumia ili kuvuna chakula cha kutosha.

Daktari Esther Gikonyo alisema,kama shirika, walilima shamba hilo mwezi wa Januari na Februari na kunyunyizia maji mazao hayo kwa kutumia maji ambayo walivuna.

Alisema endapo jamii itakumbatia teknolojia ya uvunaji wa maji, basi kila familia itaweza kujitegemea kwa kupata chakula kila siku.

Zaidi, Daktari Gikonyo aliwashauri wakulima kujenga tabia ya kuvuna maji ya mvua hasa katika kipindi ambacho mvua ni chache na haziendani na kalenda ya wakulima.

Sawia kutokana na mabadiliko ya tabia nchi ambayo yamekuwa yakisababisha kukosekana kwa mvua za kutosha na uharibifu wa mazingira.

Hali hiyo imewasababisha wakulima kupata mazao kidogo ama kutovuna kabisa.

Jambo ambalo limekuwa likisababisha baadhi ya maeneo nchini kuwa hatarini kukumbwa na baa la njaa.

Uvunaji wa maji ya mvua.

Uvunaji wa maji ni mbinu ambayo inazuia maji ya mvua kutiririka hovyo.

Badala yake, maji hukusanywa na kuhifadhiwa na kutumiwa baadaye na watu,wanyama ama kwa kunyunyizia mimea

Francis Karanja ni mhandisi, pia ni mtaalamu anayehusika na teknolojia ya uvunaji wa maji.

Mhandisi Karanja alisema teknolojia hiyo ya uvunaji wa maji ni rahisi na kila mkulima anaweza kuimudu.

“Baadhi ya vifaa ambavyo tulitumia ni karatasi nyeusi ya kufunika bwawa, matangi mawili ya maji ambayo huvutwa kwa kutumia nguvu za miale ya jua.”

Kulingana na mhandisi Karanja, bwawa hilo lina uwezo wa kubeba maji lita 4,500.

Na linaweza kulima shamba la ukubwa wa ekari moja kwa kipindi cha miezi mitatu kukuza aina tofauti tofauti ya mboga.

Mhandisi Karanja alisema bwawa hilo liliwagharimu takriban shilingi laki mbili na elfu hamsini. Huku likitarajiwa kudumu kwa zaidi ya miaka kumi.

Washikadau mbalimbali walionyesha teknolojia mbalimbali wanazotumia kufanya ukulima.

Baadhi yao ni wanafunzi kutoka shule ya msingi ya Kangemi jijini Nairobi.

Wanafunzi walio kwenye kikundi cha kilimo cha 4K Club, wakionyesha weledi wao wa kukuza mazao hasa mboga kupitia teknolojia mbalimbali.

Huku wakitumia maji hayo yaliyovunwa kukuza mboga zao.

Makala haya yamefanikishwa kwa usaidizi kutoka kwa muungano wa wanahabari wanaoandika habari za sayansi(MESHA).

Samwel Montorosi says planting animal feed has kept mathenge at bay and provided feed for his goats despite the just ended drought. Photo Joyce Chimbi

Pastoralists reclaim land from invasive plant that kills other vegetation, grasslands

By Joyce Chimbi

Despite the ongoing severe drought in northern Kenya, Marigat Sub-county in Baringo is dotted with lush green vegetation that seems not be affected by the dry spell.

This vegetation is Prosopis Juliflora an exotic plant that was introduced by the government in the area years ago as a windbreaker.

However, the pastoralist communities of the Illchamus, Tugen and Pokot do not want the plant in the area. Locally known as mathenge, plant cannot allow vegetation to thrive where it grows. As a result, it has cleared grasslands and tree cover, leaving the pastoralists with nothing to feed their livestock on and exacerbating deforestation.

The animals cannot feed on it either, as it is poisonous. The sweet pods or fruits of mathenge interrupt digestion in goats and cows, leading to death by starvation.

“The dry seasons are becoming more frequent and longer. Our rivers are drying up and we have to travel longer distances to feed our livestock. We are losing our animals to both drought and mathenge,” says Samwel Montorosi, a resident of Salabani village.

Hannah Sakamo, a pastoralist in Eldepe village, says the community has lost too much to both drought and mathenge.

In this regard, the community is now reclaiming their land from the jaws of the invasive enemy by re-introducing native vegetation, embracing and expanding agricultural areas and grasslands.

The expansive Marigat Sub-county is one of 23 Arid and Semi-Arid (ASAL) regions whose vulnerabilities are multiplied and exacerbated by the most severe drought in the last 40 years.

However, the community is now ready to take climate action in line with Sustainable Development Goal 13 to build resilience against climate change and adopt sustainable practices to save their livelihoods.

To do this, Simon Choge, a senior researcher at Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI), says the community must first subdue mathenge.

Removing mathenge and replacing it with food crop and grassland, he says, is a climate change mitigation measure. Choge says studies have shown a serious negative impact of mathenge invasion and grassland degradation on soil organic carbon in sub-locations within Marigat.

To progressively increase soil organic carbon and improve soil health, he says removing mathenge is a priority for it does not inter-crop.

Livestock is a lifeline for the pastoralist community. They are similarly vulnerable from the effects of four consecutive failed rainy seasons.

Baringo is one of Kenya’s nine arid counties. As such, Marigat is characterised by severe living conditions, with little annual rainfall of between 150 and 550 millimetres and very high temperatures.

Choge says at the heart of the community’s vulnerabilities is climate change, land degradation and the dominance of a most invasive species that has choked the environment, blocking climate adaptation and mitigation efforts.

Government data shows that across Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid regions (ASAL) spanning over 23 counties, the prolonged dry spell claimed an estimated 1.5 million livestock and brought down the cost of surviving livestock by less than 40 per cent.

“Mathenge has very deep roots that reach the sub-surface water. It consumes a lot of water and dries out all other vegetation. It dominates the environment, making it impossible for native plant species to grow,” he says.

Water stresses from effects of mathenge and climate change spell doom for the indigenous community.

In 2006, Montorosi was one of 800 members of the community who sued the national government for introducing Prosopis Juliflora without conducting an environmental impact assessment. The court case led to the 2008 declaration that mathenge was a noxious weed, highly harmful to the environment.

Since then, the community has worked with government researchers to find sustainable solutions to the mathenge menace for it is impossible to build climate resilience without removing the ever-green, prolific and environmentally harmful invasive weed.

“We are changing our way of life. We are now removing mathenge and growing native trees such as acacia and planting crops,” Montorosi explains.

Choge says controlling mathenge is in line with the new National Strategy for the Management of Prosopis Juliflora. He says “mathenge thrives on dormant land. By turning to agriculture, the community is removing a plant that consumes a lot of water and, giving way to the diversification of livelihoods as a way to adapt to effects of climate change and biodiversity loss.”

Research and practice show that it is impossible to completely eradicate Prosopis Juliflora once it dominates an area. The plant can only be controlled, hence the national strategy to manage it as opposed to eradication.

“We have seven charcoal production associations that are helping us to earn a living from mathenge and this is motivating the community to continue removing mathenge to grow food and animal feed,” Montorosi says.

Sakamo says women and youth have taken a lead in embracing agriculture and researchers such as Choge are at hand to advise on the most resilient plants to grow in the arid area.

She says the community started with activism to get the attention of the government and has now evolved to community associations that have led to steps in the right direction.

“Farming is becoming very common in the area. We are planting grass, maize and vegetables. The world is changing and we must change or be destroyed by drought,” Sakamo says.

She says while there are big chunks of land in the area, difficulties in manually removing prosopis thickets means that thus far, the community is farming on an average of three acres of land. But she is quick to add that this is the beginning to bigger and bigger agricultural land.

Scientists such as Choge says the community has taken positive and forward moving strides to reclaim their land and build sustainable practices against devastating effects of climate change. Staying on this track will progressively and increasingly strengthen the community’s capacity to be climate resilient.

This story was produced with support from WWF-K VCA Project and MESHA.

Apex Africa seed congress ends with a call to adopt new technologies

By Liapeng Raliengoane I raliengoaneliapeng@gmail.com

DAKAR, SENEGAL – The African seed sector need to focus its attention on technologies that can help it fight hunger and climate change, a leading seed expert has said.

While addressing the 23^rd African Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) held in Dakar, from March 6-8, 2023 and attended by over 25 African countries, Dr. Kulani Machaba, the President of Association noted that genome editing and biotechnology ought to be given a chance by leaders.

He noted that the technologies are by and large being discussed and are already contributing to food security in the continent because scientists have proved that they are indeed technologies that can contribute immensely in food security in Africa.

“Such conversations now form large parts of our discussions at the annual congress that continues to grow year after year because the seed people, ably use it as a forum to sow and grow relationships and discuss innovations that work,” he noted.

“The Congress comes at a time when genome editing is by and large being discussed as a possible technology that can contribute immensely in food security in Africa. AFSTA continues to believe that a highly developed seed sector is key to the economic development prosperity of African nations for which agriculture must be practised using modern technologies and smart,” he added.

Dr. Machaba highlighted that for this reason, AFSTA has made continuous efforts to improve the environment for the seed business through its five-year Strategic Plan with a view to meaningfully contribute to the promotion of the transformation of agriculture into an attractive, modern and sustainable livelihood option for communities throughout the Continent.

In his presentation, on the Status of food security and the seed trade in Africa, Dr. Machaba indicated that 60% of the world’s arable land is in Africa, and about 200 m ha is unutilized (Oxford Business Group, 2019), Crop production will increase by 30% from 2018 to 2027 (OECD-FAO, 2018). That IHIS Market forecasts (2021) show that the vegetable seed markets will grow from 55% in 2020 to $267 MM in 2030.

The Congress, being a gathering of top seed traders and producers traditionally cover a wide spectrum of issues in the seed value chain.

The Congress addressed regional and international seed issues that have scientific and technological implications on seed production and trade including biotechnology, plant breeding innovation, seed treatment, phytosanitary measures, strengthening vegetables production through quality seed trade in Africa and update on technologies for African agricultural transformation.

Protection of seed varieties and fight against “fake” seeds, Soil and root health, Sustainable development – The example of the creation of the plastic recycling sector in Zambia and status of the regional seed harmonisation regulations are among issues that were discussed at the congress. Others were Role of Centre of Excellence of Seed Systems in Africa (CESSA) in the development of the Seed Sector in Africa, Status and implementation of the e-Phyto solution in Africa; and Challenges and opportunities, Update on the statistics on the formal seed sector in Africa.

AFSTA is a not-for-profit membership association which champions the interests of private seed companies in Africa. It is registered in Kenya as an International Organization. The association was started in 2000 in Pretoria, South Africa and it meets annually around the first week of March. It has 120 members of which 27 are African national seed trade associations.

With nearly 300 delegates representing the global seed sector, the Congress which ended with a high note last week after its General Assembly and the delegates came from 60 countries from all over the world.

How efforts to counter resistance to Covid jabs have worked

By Omboki Monayo | omboki2725@gmail.com

Aparticipation in the Aids Vaccine Advocacy Coalition (AVAC) science symposium lands me in central Malawi’s Salima District.

The date is November 14, 2020. At the Khombedza Health Centre, Miriam Khatumba arrives for a Covid-19 jab. She is quick to reaffirm that she won’t listen to claims that the prevention measure is satanic.

Such claims spread like wildfire the moment Malawi’s Health ministry introduced COVID vaccines in 2021.

Khatumba, 68, is here for the second dose. The first was in April at this same facility that has existed since 1970s.

“I came here for my first shot after authorities asked us to get vaccinated. I ignored the rampant fear-mongering,” she tells Sayansi.

Khomebdza Health Centre serves at least 85,955 people in Salima.

According to Cosmas Phiri, the facility’s Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) Coordinator, 6,838 (15 per cent) of Khombedza residents are fully vaccinated. Some came from as far as Chimphanga and Makanjira, 14km and 18km away respectively, incurring up to 6,000 Kwacha ($5.8) on transport alone in a country where the Ministry of Labor, Youth and Manpower Development data estimates the December 2022 average monthly wage at $48.77.

Khatumba, accompanied by her husband, says: “I want to protect myself and my family from severe COVID-19 infection and possible death.”

Lucia Frankie, a traditional leader, also got vaccinated, with her first dose coming in January 2022. “It was for my sake and my family’s,” she says at the health centre that started as a dispensary in 1970s before it was upgraded in the 80s.

On the way to becoming a fully-fledged health centre, the facility has been expanded through construction of a theatre, male and female wards and a maternity wing. And now the construction of office blocks and additional housing for nurses and clinical officers is underway.

Thanks to the government and development partners’ investments infrastructure and medical personnel, Khombedza Health Centre is now an established community bulwark against the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

“We treat TB, COVID-19, malaria and other infectious diseases. In addition, we carry out deliveries as well as maternal and child health services. At least 130 deliveries are done here every month,” says Mr Phiri, adding: “We have adult and child vaccination, as well as disease surveillance in the region.”

Although infection rates have reduced globally, COVID-19 still exists, with World Health Organisation (WHO) data showing Malawi as cumulatively recording 88,123 cases and 2,685 deaths by December 16, 2022.

“We started the COVID-19 vaccination in 2021, with Astra Zeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer doses,” says Phiri, adding: “Almost 4,000 people have since been vaccinated at the facility. Roughly half of them are fully vaccinated, with Chisamba area having the highest coverage rate of 41 per cent.”

This despite the misinformation that seemed to be a hurdle in the drive to fully vaccinate locals.

Ministry of Health statistics shows only 31 per cent of Malawians have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. “We have recorded a low rate partly due to vaccine hesitancy and the global reduction in infections. We are still engaging the public to get more people vaccinated,” says Maureen Luba of the Health Ministry.

The interactive symposium that included representation from the Malawi Ministry of Health, medical experts, science journalists from Malawi, Kenya (by three members of Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA)), Zimbabwe, Uganda and Tanzania, unearths a lot of hesitancy stories.

For Rashid Manganda, a Health Surveillance Assistant (HAS) based in Palombe District on the Malawi-Mozambique border, vaccine hesitancy is a major challenge. Villagers once forced the community health worker to take the HPV vaccine meant to protect girls aged 10 to 14 against development of cervical cancer in their sexually active adult years.

Rashid agreed to take the jab, which is primarily meant for young girls and boys.

“I knew that the vaccine would cause me no harm, even though it was meant for female recipients for the purpose of preventing the development of cervical cancer during their sexually active phase of life,” he said.

The move by the HSAs bore fruit. “After we took the jab, the villagers allowed us to proceed with the rest of the exercise. It is important for us to engage the community if we are to make headway against COVID-19 and other diseases,” he says.

“Many people, including clerics, claimed the jab was a satanic method to control the black population. There were rumours that the vaccinated part of the body would be magnetic,” says Phiri.

Researchers Qun Ao, Robert Egolet, Hui Yin and Fuqian Cui carried out a cross-sectional study in the country, covering 758 participants in 2021.

“Of these, 189 or 24.9 per cent were vaccinated. A further 271 or 35.8 percent were willing to be vaccinated but had not yet received the vaccine, and 298 (39.3 per cent) refused to be vaccinated,” reads the report published in the May 2022 edition of the Swiss MDPI journal.

Vaccine hesitancy is defined by WHO as “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccination services”.

WHO has highlighted hesitancy as one of the 10 threats to global health.

The Health ministry has countered the misinformation, with the help of faith and opinion leaders in awareness campaigns.

The effort, says Phiri, has paid off. “We have recorded significant success in our faith-based vaccination campaigns. For instance Jehovah’s Witness faithful were the first to be vaccinated following directions from their international leadership,” he says.

The country plans to vaccinate 10.97 million people or 60 percent of the population as soon as possible, and Mr Phiri says the vaccine is still available in the facility.

Ms Luba says the ministry intensified the campaign at the grassroots by incorporating Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs). “We brought community leaders and other stakeholders to the table to decide which policies to be implemented. Among them was the involvement of HSAs in the vaccination drive,” she said.

In Khombedza region, some 41 HSAs serve communities under Mr Phiri’s guidance and supervision. Khatumba and Frankie have both benefited from the awareness creation by the HSAs.

Clinical Officer Boniface Chisamba says the HSAs also targeted HIV positive, those with hypertension and diabetes. “People with diabetes, high blood pressure and HIV are at high risk of infection with COVID-19, so we encourage them to be vaccinated.

We did this for the people living with HIV by combining counselling and antiretroviral services with COVID-19 awareness,” says Mr Chisamba.

Among the cases he handled at the facility was a pregnant woman admitted in May 2021. “We managed her health till the infection cleared. She delivered a baby girl free of COVID-19,” he said.

The medic admits the facility lacks test kits, which are however available at the larger Salima District Hospital. “We refer suspected cases to Salima Hospital and once they are confirmed we manage them until the infection clears,” he says.

At the end of the symposium, Ms Kay Marshall of AVAC urged media to help debunk the myths and misconceptions around vaccination.

“Media should intensify efforts to dispel the rumours around the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. This includes misinformation being peddled by social media sites that lack scientific credibility,” she said, adding that the problem was not unique to Africa.

“Vaccine hesitancy is an issue in the wealthier countries of the Global North, including the USA, due to the political and religious beliefs of many who opted not to get vaccinated,” she told Sayansi.

“Accurate, timely and easily accessible knowledge will help the public to understand the importance of vaccines and the need to take them in large numbers to rapidly achieve herd immunity,” she said.

Urgent action needed to prevent premature deaths from HIV/AIDS

By Joyce Chimbi | j.chimbi@gmail.com

Wangari Njau remembers well the 1980s and 90s when HIV spelled doom, stigma reigned supreme and those infected with the virus were ostracised from the community, abandoned and left alone to die.

Her sister, Catherine Wairimu, was diagnosed with HIV in 1994. Wairimu and a group of friends left their village at the foot of the Aberdare Ranges in Nyeri County and travelled to Mombasa in search of greener pastures.

“There were no mobile phones and she lost touch with the family. When she came back two years later, we could not recognise her. She had to introduce herself. She was very thin, very dark and could barely walk. We learnt that she had mukingo (the long-necked disease),” Njau recalls.

She says people infected with the virus lost a lot of weight and their necks became elongated. Faced with a mysterious disease that killed people within no time, communities struggled with terminologies and used descriptive words in line with physical symptoms of HIV/AIDS to define the disease.

“We were afraid of her. We had a room in the compound that we used as a store. That became her home until the day she died a few months later. We were extremely afraid of her. It is the first time we had come face to face with the disease,” says Njau.

While the landscape is today significantly different and stigma levels have significantly decreased, it is still not yet dawn for people living with HIV.

Data released by Kenya’s National Syndemic Diseases Control under the Ministry of Health to mark the Worlds AIDS Day on December 1, 2022, painted a most worrisome picture: AIDS-related deaths increased in 2021 for the first time in a decade.

The data shows a steady progression in reducing AIDS-related deaths from 2013 to 2020. In 2013, there was a 30.1 per cent reduction in AIDS-related deaths followed by a 5.4 per cent reduction in 2015.

There was a significant leap to 19.4 per cent and 25.6 per cent reduction in AIDS-related deaths in 2017 and 2019, respectively, followed by a 7.2 per cent drop in 2020. In 2021, there is a significant increase in AIDS-related deaths by14.9 per cent.

Overall, 8,291 men aged 30 and above died of AIDS-related illnesses compared to 6,923 women in the same age group.

Nelson Otwoma, National Coordinator at the Network of People Living with HIV in Kenya (NEPHAK), says, “Most of the AIDS-related deaths in 2021 occurred among men who, compared to women, are less likely to be diagnosed. They are also less likely to start and stay on treatment and reach an undetectable viral load. We call on communities to support men’s access to testing and retention care.”

Early diagnosis and immediate entry into HIV treatment and care is critical to ending the AIDS pandemic by 2030. UNAIDS has outlined ambitious new targets to prevent an estimated 28 million new HIV infections globally and 21 million AIDS-related deaths.

To do so, research by UNAIDS shows there is an urgent need to provide additional investment and focused efforts to remove barriers to HIV diagnosis, treatment and retention in HIV care.

Speaking during the commemoration of Worlds AIDS Day in Bungoma County, Health Cabinet Secretary Nakhumicha Wafula, said, “In more than three decades, our collective efforts have restored dignity and hope to people living with HIV and affected families. We also know that along this journey, we have lost more than 2 million Kenyans; men, women, and children to AIDS-related deaths.”

Wafula said investments in the HIV response had yielded impressive results, adding that people are more knowledgeable about the disease, with many of them adopting protective behaviour and practices. There is now increased use of scientific technologies and tools and empowered communities to access HIV services.

“The initial sense of powerlessness that acquiring HIV would undoubtedly lead to untimely death experienced 38 years ago has been replaced by a movement of strong actors, including the communities of people living with HIV, represented here today,” she said.

Working together, Wafula added, “our HIV response yielded a 58 per cent decline in annual AIDS-related deaths from 52,964 in 2010 to 22,373 in 2021. This encouraging performance reflects a five-fold increase in the number of people living with HIV on life-saving antiretroviral treatment, from about 250,000 in 2010 to 1.12 million in 2021.”

It is these gains that are now at the risk of being rolled back, with HIV experts, activists and families infected or affected by HIV/AIDS calling for urgent responses to bring the fight against the pandemic on track to reach the goal to end the epidemic in the next eight years.

Premier African Seed Trade 2023 congress online registration open

By Aghan Daniel |aghandan09@gmail.com

The online registration for the AFSTA Congress 2023, which will be held in the capital city of Senegal, Dakar from 6th to 8th March 2023, is now open.

To register, please visit the AFSTA website (www.afsta.org) and click on the AFSTA Congress 2023 logo, which will redirect one to the various links on the AFSTA Congress 2023, including the online registration.

Once you finalize your registration, please book your room at King Fahd Palace, the Congress hotel, or in one of the surrounding hotels listed on the congress 2023 website under “information on accommodation” link.

“We are happy to welcome all the delegates from around the world to our country for what we know will be another magnificent forum for seed people”, said Modou Thiam, President of the Senegalese National Organising Committee (NOC).

Thiam, who is also the President of the Senegalese Seed Association (UNIS) added that his committee, in conjunction with the AFSTA Secretariat, is already working hard to ensure all preparations are complete in time.

Palm fringed beaches, colourful cities and a reputation for world class hospitality, Senegal deserves a spot on everyone’s travel list.

Located at the westernmost point of the Africa continent, Senegal is known as the “Gateway to Africa” and has been welcoming travelers from Europe and the Americas for centuries.

This peaceful sub-Saharan country has always flown beneath the tourism radar and that’s everyone’s loss.

Not only is it one of the continent’s and most accessible countries, it is also blessed with a rich culture, dreamy beaches and some of the best wild-life spotting opportunities anywhere in Africa.

JKUAT technology boosts Kenyan maize yield amid drought

By Tebby Otieno | tebbyotieno62@gmail.com

Agricultural researchers and scientists at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) couldn’t contain their excitement as they witnessed a bountiful maize harvest.

The Kenyan maize variety, DKC90-89, was planted on June 2 in JKUAT’s Modern Agriculture Demonstration Area (MADA) and yielded 50 per cent more harvest than those in surrounding farms.

“We have been doing research mainly on maize in the agricultural research farm here in JKUAT, focusing mainly on how to improve the yield per hectare of our main crop besides mitigating the climate change impacts,” said lead researcher, Prof David Mburu.

The researchers and scientists said DKC90-89 is not genetically modified. The improvement in yield was simply an outcome of optimised agronomic practices such as proper spacing, mulching, irrigation and effective pest control.

Registering 2,700kg yield per acre in the demonstration area, the crop has shown potential to reverse maize shortage in Kenya and contribute to food security for the population.

As COP27 discussions concluded in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Prof Mburu said his team has been conducting agricultural experiments that can feed the masses while keeping a tab on climate change.

He said they have been monitoring greenhouse gas emissions in the agricultural production system and experimenting with different treatments to see which one emits the least. They have also conducted experiments outside the university in farmers’ fields in some of the driest parts of the country.

“We have done trials with farmers in a way of transferring the technology that we develop here to the farming community so that they can also benefit from technologies that improve the maize yield while reducing carbon emissions,” said Prof Mburu.

Prof Robert Gituru, the Kenyan Director of the Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre (SAJOREC), says food security is a prerequisite for development, comfort, and good life. He says the three cannot exist without agriculture.

“The harvest time has come and we are very glad to note that the productivity of the crop that we established inside this plot was very good. Actually it was extremely encouraging compared to the similar crop outside the demonstration area,” said Prof Gituru, adding, “We realised 50 per cent more produce.”

In 2019, the Wuhan Botanical Garden under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and JKUAT, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on collaboration and the establishment of MADA at JKUAT.

According to Prof Yan Xue, Executive Director of the SAJOREC at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the researchers have also worked on other cutting-edge agricultural produce that can adapt to local climate and have yielded successful results in the past three yields.

He added that in the upcoming months, they hope to introduce kiwi fruit from their Botanic Garden and support the expansion of numerous varieties, including high-yield peanuts, hybrid rice, and other crops.

“It’s my high expectation that the existing collaboration between CAS and JKUAT will continue to grow from strength to strength for the mutual benefit of our research and capacity building. I hope that the achievement of MADA can be taken up and validated by the local people,” said Prof Yan.

Zhou Pingjian, the Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, stated during the harvest ceremony at JKUAT that hard work is not enough. Instead, he added, it was necessary to merge it with science, technology, and education to increase the output of maize and other agricultural produce.

“Everybody values the importance of food adequacy. So as a policy we are willing to deepen cooperation with our friends particularly African friends who is Kenya, through our cooperation in this field,” said Dr Zhou.

Prof Victoria Ngumi, Vice Chancellor of JKUAT, said witnessing the ceremony was one of the most fulfilling outcomes of JKUAT researchers and scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences on maize production.

She said the news of the 50 per cent more yields than crops in the surrounding area planted with the same cultivar revealed the importance of international research partnerships in solving cross-border problems.

“In this project, a Chinese technology was applied in Kenya and the outcome now promises to revolutionise maize production with potential impacts going beyond Kenya. As a university we are proud of this enviable outcome of our collaboration with Wuhan Botanical Garden Chinese Academy of Sciences,” said Prof Ngumi.

Many farmers, especially those in water-scarce areas, can only feel hopeful with this agricultural technology that has increased maize production for Kenya when the nation is experiencing a food supply shortage due to the prolonged drought.

According to Prof Ngumi, the technology will significantly increase local production of the staple crop while also demonstrating the validity of research as the only viable solution to societal obstacles like those encountered in the agricultural sector.

Kenya’s October 3, 2022 decision to lift the 2012 ban on GM crops has raised mixed reactions among advocates and critics of the technology.

In November 2012, then Public Health and Sanitation Minister Beth Mugo banned importation of all Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) into the country.

Ten years later, President William Ruto has now overseen the opening up of the country to GM crop cultivation in a move that promises to unlock a multi-billion-shilling market for researchers and firms involved in the development, sale and marketing of genetically engineered seed and other planting materials.

Soon after the president’s announcement, the Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA) hosted a panel of scientists from both sides of the GM divide in a cafe on October 4, 2022.

Horticultural trade specialist Dr Sarah Olembo said the decision was taken in haste, without public participation and in violation of the 2000 Catargena Protocols that require buffer zones between GM and natural zones.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement that aims to ensure the safe handling, transport and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on biological diversity, taking also into account risks to human health.

It was signed by 103 countries in 2000 and came into effect in September 2003.

“The protocols provided for the cultivation of GM crops in specific zones while creating buffer zones between them and other natural zones. This has not yet been done in Kenya,” said Dr Olembo.

She said the country’s phytosanitary standards that regulate the movement of seed and plant materials had not been fine tuned to accommodate the changes, terming them “an ambush on Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS), the country’s phytosanitary regulation arm.

“I lack confidence in the current capacity of KEPHIS to handle the introduction of GM crops,” said Dr Olembo.

She said lifting the ban will put pressure on Kenya’s neighbours as it has now heightened the possibility of GM seeds and other planting materials crossing their borders.

“With the GM ban lifted, neighbouring countries will have to step up their surveillance protocols. Without that, they might as well allow the free movement of GM crops and related materials,” said Dr Olembo.

She also warned that the capacity of communities to maintain stocks of indigenous seed varieties would be compromised by the ban.

“Lifting the ban will jeopardise the seed sovereignty, human rights, and the traditional role of women as the community custodians of seed,” she said.

Seed expert and organic farming advocate Daniel Maingi said the introduction of GM food crops means that women will no longer be able to afford the seed varieties.

“The proposed punitive fine of Sh10 million or six months’ jail term for those found planting unauthorised GM varieties will also discourage many from the uptake of the new varieties,” Mr Maingi said.

He said the entry of GM crops would herald a new era of local seed market domination by agrochemical giants.

“Seed colonisation will strip communities of the ability to independently produce food, make them GM seed dependent and threaten food security,” Mr Maingi said.

He lamented what he called Africa’s disappointing move to adapt technology that the West was slowly abandoning.

“It is sad to see that we are going for industrial food, which requires lots of pesticides. This type of food, which Europe is abandoning in favour of organic crops we grow here in Africa, is also mostly tasteless,” he said.

Dr Murenga Mwimali, who is the Principal Research Scientist and Maize Breeder at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO), said GM technology had provided a way out of the country’s pressing perennial food shortage crisis by providing a platform to undertake product development through engineering.

“We must find solutions to the problems we face. We have to apply new thinking to solve them. We cannot be thinking in new ways but living and acting in the old ways,” he said.

Prof Douglas Miano, an associate professor at the Department of Plant Science and Crop Protection at the University of Nairobi, reminded the audience that the GM crop introduction into the country would be on a case by case basis, and not a haphazard process without the required safeguards.

“The lifting of the ban is not a free for all kind of declaration that will open the floodgates to random and uncontrolled GM crop cultivation. This is because the National Biosafety Act and the National Biosafety Authority that oversees the process of development and release of GM technology in the country are both in force,” said the lecturer and researcher.

“We have the laid down laws and regulation governing the development, assessment, release and follow up of GM crops and these have clearly not been done away with. They will still be followed,” he added.

He lamented that the ban had stifled local efforts to develop food security solutions using the technology.

“Our work was previously disappearing into a dark hole due to government policy that had outlawed food imports that were grown using GM technology,” said Prof Miano.

“Now we are free to pursue our research knowing that it can be applied once the approvals are sought from the required regulatory agencies and secured,” the scientists said.

According to Prof Justus Onguso of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), the lifting of the ban had revived interest in biotechnology countrywide.

“Students who had given up on biotech are calling us. They are interested in re-enrolling so that they can apply what they have learnt in developing solutions for the local market,” he told Sayansi.

Prof Onguso clarified that GM research had not been banned, but the negative publicity around the technology had driven scientists in the sector out of the spotlight.

“We were doing some projects in secret but now we can share the findings for the benefit of Kenyans and the world at large,” Prof Onguso said.

“The ban’s lifting provides a massive opportunity for us to develop solutions tailored for the Kenyan market all the way from concept, development, performance testing, approval, release and post-release surveillance and follow up.”

Among the ongoing research projects is a vaccine that can be taken as a banana.

“An edible banana vaccine is under development, for those people who do not find the idea of an injection appealing or palatable. It will be easier to dispense vaccines to children, for example, through such an innovation,” he said.

Prof Joel Onyango of the University of Nairobi asked Kenyans to trust in the capacity and experience of local scientists in developing home grown solutions for the country.

“Not everything must come from the West for us to see it as good or high quality. Let us learn to appreciate and respect the education and scientific talent or capacity in our midst,” said Prof Onyango.

“We do not need to see GM as a threat. It is also not a panacea to all our pressing food security challenges. But if it has been proven to work elsewhere, it will work here given the opportunity and following the laid down regulations.”

He assured the public that the National Biosafety Authority will not license any GM crop or tech that is unsafe.

“NBA has been mandated to monitor the tech’s use and carry out comprehensive surveillance of such varieties’ release and cultivation,” said the researcher.

He said the technology could be used to boost the country’s production to cover the shortfall in cereal supply.

Kenya produces 2.4 million tonnes of cereal each year compared to a consumption level of 4.2 million tonnes.

Construction technology uses renewable energy to give slum dwellers affordable housing

By Tebby Otieno|tebbyotieno62@gmail.com

Victor Ochieng lives in a single-room block house in Kibera’s Mashimoni estate with his family. He was once homeless so he’s happy to have a roof over his head.

“Life is still difficult, but once I’m in this house, I feel happy and sleep well,” says Ochieng.

Before this house was built, the 32-year-old lived in a tin-walled shack, which he once lost to a fire. Fires are common in Kibera.

“None of us saved any of our belongings. All of them burnt to ashes. The fire started in one house and spread to nearly 100 other houses, leaving us at the mercy of well-wishers,” he recalls.

Ochieng, who has lived in this informal settlement for nearly two decades, says he now feels more secure and comfortable. His house and the 13 others in this apartment block are weatherproof and fireproof, thanks to twist block building technology.

Twist block building technology is a pilot programme in informal settlements where fire problems have been the most difficult to overcome. Given that a majority of the houses in these areas are constructed of sheet metal, the technology hopes to address all these gaps and make life more comfortable for the average citizen.

“On June 5 last year, we had a fire that destroyed all 34 of our houses. So when we heard about this building technology that would save us and our tenants from future losses, we agreed to give it a try,” says Nation Mutua, a house agent.

He says they changed a lot of things with the technique to make their tenants more comfortable. The previous house tenants, for example, paid Ksh2,500 a month for rent and a separate electricity bill. The houses also lacked toilets, so tenants had to rely on public ones, which they had to pay for each time they used them. The new units have addressed some of these challenges.

“These houses may appear small, but they are larger than the ones we had previously. Our tenants now pay Ksh5,000 monthly for rent and their houses are legally wired for electricity. They also have their toilets and bathrooms,” Mutua.

“The doors have locks, as opposed to the earlier houses where tenants used padlocks that could easily be broken.”

Besides the 14 houses in Kibera, the technological project is in Kawangware, another Nairobi slum, where the engineers are building 18 classrooms, an office, and a kitchen. The classrooms have a capacity of 20-30 students each.

“This was a community school, and it was in such disrepair. So, after purchasing this land, we decided to build the school to make our students feel better. Before these, our classrooms were of iron sheets that were in poor condition,” says Walter Olando, Principal of Bethany Joy School.

Twist block is a German technology that is slowly being adopted in Kenya.

Milka Achieng, born and raised in Kibera, is the workshop manager. The 30-year-old has learned the technique and trains other youth here how to make twist blocks.

“We first heat river sand and fine aggregate and do a simple calculation to determine the percentage of water. Then we thoroughly mix it for about three-five minutes. We then put it on a vibrator for three minutes. We the leave the mixture in the workshop store for 18 hours. The next day, we mould and do curing for 28 days before the blocks are ready to use,” explains Achieng.

Concrete twist block is a construction technique that would prevent fires in densely populated informal settlements from spreading to neighbouring houses. If a fire breaks out in one room, the construction materials prevent it from spreading to the next.

The project of Start Somewhere Kenya Limited was established to ensure needy families have fordable housing that is also sustainable.

“We are proud to say that we are around 40 per cent cheaper than the normal machine-cut blocks or any other blocks in the market,” says Lazarus Asewe, project manager at Start Somewhere.

One twist block costs Ksh125.

“There are significant gaps in quality building materials and labour costs. These are the issues that this twist block technology is attempting to solve. Our columns fit in between the blocks for those buildings with formwork. As a result, you save money and time on the formwork, says Asewe.

“You can begin construction and move into your new home within three weeks. So we are working on a game-changing technology.”

He says twist blocks have no mortar between them. That means a landlord or an individual homeowner can demount them without causing damage if they want to redesign or demolish their structure. He says after demolition, the blocks will still be in good condition and can be used elsewhere.

With discussions about climate change continuing ahead of the COP-27 in Egypt, the engineers here say they are doing everything they can to reduce their carbon footprint. This is demonstrated by the solar panels installed, which they use to produce the twist blocks.

“Now we only use small amounts of cement, but we’re working on other technologies with other partners around the world to ensure zero cement and zero carbon on the production by using locally available materials like sand to cut carbon use by 100 per cent,” says Asewe.

According to studies, cement production is damaging attempts to protect biodiversity. Environmental scholars say the damage occurs during ground excavation and in the process of refining the cement, as a lot of energy primarily derived from carbon-based fuel is used.

“We need to move away from the use of fossil fuels in our manufacturing processes,” says Amos Wemanya, Senior Adviser, Renewable Energy and Just Transitions at Power Shift Africa.

Wemanya says cement manufacturing has both health and social consequences on people’s lives. In this regard, he urges stakeholders to support and embrace technologies centred on using renewable energy in construction.

“I believe that would aid in decarbonising the cement industry by shifting cement production away from coal and toward solar and wind energy, which can be stored in more stable hydrogen. As a result, we must abandon coal in favour of renewable energy technology,” he says.

Kenya was the first country to implement the twist block technique and fully commercialised it three years ago.

The programme has grown from Nairobi’s slums to Kisumu’s Ahero and other rural workshops throughout Africa, including Cape town, whose workshops are to begin operation at the end of this year. The Kenya Bureau of Standards has tested and certified it.

Start Somewhere technology was selected to join the Sheltertech Sub-Saharan Africa accelerator in August this year due to the innovation and impact of the twist blocks system for the construction of durable and adjustable homes while also creating know-how and jobs within slum areas.

“We are thrilled to partner with the next generation of housing change-makers and to assist them in further developing and growing their technologies,” said Maurice Makoloo, Habitat for Humanity’s Africa vice president.

Kenya Forest Service to raise 15 billion tree seedlings in 10 years

By George Juma | jumageorge10@gmail.com

The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) plans to raise 15 billion tree seedlings at a cost of Ksh500 billion ($4 billion) in the next 10 years in a bid to achieve a 30 per cent forest cover by 2032.

KFS Deputy Chief Conservator in charge of Advisory and County Liaison Beatrice Mbula said the service currently has about 300 seedling nurseries.

Speaking during a MESHA science café at the KFS headquarters in Nairobi, Mbula said they are going to work closely with individuals, groups and county governments to raise the 15 billion seedlings within the targeted timeline.

Merceline Alumba, an officer in charge of plantation management KFS said they are also using the Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme (PELIS) – also known as the shamba system – where communities living around forests are given a section of the forest to plant food crops as they manage the trees to increase forest cover.

Alumba said this strategy has worked and they now have 10,000 hectares of land under PELIS across the country.

She said the country will be able to achieve the 30 per cent forest cover by 2032 if all the stakeholders, including the general public, work jointly with the government.

Alumba said the land under the government owned forests is small and therefore the only way to increase the forest cover is through individuals’ parcels.

Currently Kenya has a forest cover of about 8.3 per cent that sits on 5.2 million hectares of land. Out of this, the government manages 2.6 million hectares while the remaining 2.6 million is under private land.

Even as the government is moving with speed to plant more trees in a bid to deal with the effects of climate change, encroachment of forests remains a major threat to these efforts. Many forests in the country have been degraded by human activities such as logging.

Mbula said KFS is planning to use a digital system to monitor activities in forests. She said the technology, which is still being piloted in Kwale, is going to help the Service to monitor all activities in forests, including poaching, logging and planting of trees.

She said the technology presents a new opportunity in the fight against poaching in the forests across the country.

Mbula said the Kenya Forest Service is also planning to hire additional 2,700 rangers as directed by President William Ruto during Mashujaa Day celebrations on October 20.

Shamba system a critical tool to increase forest cover in Kenya, says forest service

By Joyce Chimbi | j.chimbi@gmail.com

When Kenya’s Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua recently said citizens should be allowed to cultivate crops on public forest land in the now-popular shamba system, there was an uproar across the country.

Gachagua had to retract his statement days later, saying he was misquoted and misunderstood.

The Kenya Forest Service (KFS) now says the shamba system, officially known as the Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme (PELIS), is a critical tool to help increase forest cover in Kenya.

“Kenyans have become increasingly aware of the benefits of protecting our forests and are suspicious of any activities in and around the forest. But there is nothing suspicious or underhand about PELIS, it is an above board and proven strategy to improve forest cover and its success is well documented,” says James Mwang’ombe Mwamodenyi, Principal Conservator of Forests, Head Biodiversity at KFS.

Mercelyne Khaluruka, who specialises in Forest Plantation Management at KFS, says PELIS is a “non-residential and subsistence cultivation in forests that promotes food security for forest adjacent communities while establishing forest plantations.”

PELIS is a scheme introduced by KFS after the enactment of the Forest Act, 2005 to help increase forest cover and restore degraded forests across the country.

Explaining how the scheme works, Khaluruka says communities adjacent to a particular forest or people who live at a 10-kilometre radius from the edge of a forest, enter into an agreement with KFS and are allocated plots.

Once allocated, they plant seedlings until the allocated area forms closed canopy while planting food crops on the same piece of land over a period of three years when the trees planted can thrive on their own.

Significant success has been noted in farming of potatoes and beans. On average, one hectare can produce 138 bags of potatoes and 17 bags of beans. Studies are still ongoing to find safe approaches to planting maize alongside trees due to the risk of accidentally chopping down trees while cutting down maize stalks during harvesting.

A case study of Malava Forest in Western Kenya showed that there was tremendous success in the implementation of PELIS. In 2001, the forest cover was estimated at 366.9 hectares and this rose to 481.4 hectares in 2016. The increment was driven by increased areas under plantation.

Eric Nahama, a partnership and linkages officer at KFS, says partnerships between KFS and forest adjacent communities are critical as they have a stake in the management of forest resources.

Within the context of attaining the new government target of 30 per cent forest cover by 2030, Beatrice Mbula, Deputy Chief Conservator of Forests, Forest Advisory and County Liaison at KFS, says PELIS will play a critical role.

She says currently, Kenya’s forest cover stands at 8.3 per cent on 5.3 million hecatres and tree cover is currently at 12.13 per cent on 7.3 million hectares.

An estimated 2.6 million hectares out of an overall 5.3 million hecatres of forest cover are under KFS. The remainder is on areas such as private and community land.

An estimated 10,000 hectares of land are under PELIS and a farmer can make up to Ksh300,000 (about $2,500) per year depending on the food crops. Experts at KFS say there is no doubt that PELIS brings a lot to the table in terms of food and revenue, and contributes to the country’s target of significantly improving forest cover.

Mbula says the Kenyan map is more brown than green. She says this is unfortunate because there are countries that have achieved 95 per cent forest cover and there is no reason why Kenya should be lagging behind.

Data on forest and tree cover was revealed during KFS’s survey conducted in 2021 providing a most recent account on where the country stands on its journey towards attaining the 30 per cent forest cover. It is the first time that Kenya collected data on tree cover.

Forest cover is obtained from wall-to-wall mapping of the country using satellite data, while tree cover is estimated partly using high resolution data and partly from field inventory data of Trees Outside Forest (TOF).

KFS has been producing one billion tree seedlings per year to provide quality and certified seeds for its own use and to meet the demands of Kenyans planting trees outside public forests. KFS has 300 tree nurseries, many more are in the hands of schools and women’s groups.

Today, Mbula says there is a need to increase seed production to 1.5 billion per year if the country is to meet the 30 per cent forest cover by 2030. She says technology is in place through the Smart Technology App to monitor, report and act on changes in forest cover in real time, although this is still in its pilot phase.