Agriculture - MESHA

Kenya to host global meeting of agricultural journalists

May 24, 2023

by Mesha with 7 Comments Agriculture

By Christine Ochogo I christawine@gmail.com

Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA) will host the International Federation of Agriculture Journalists (ifaj) Congress in 2025.

While making the announcement to members of the giant Kenyan science journalist’s association, the Board Chairman, Bozo Jenje said the decision to host the conference in Nairobi was a move in the right direction and that it would allow the country to showcase its milestones in agricultural development.

The showpiece, he added, will also give the world a glimpse of how Kenyans tell the African science story.

“Perhaps this is the peak of MESHA’s recognition for the excellent trailblazing it has undertaken in bringing science journalists together not just in Kenya but in Africa as well,” added John Riaga, the treasurer.

The annual fete will take place in Africa only for the second time after South Africa hosted in 2017. Initially, Kenya was to host in 2026 but the decision to bring it to Nairobi a year earlier was made after Israel dropped its bid to host in 2025. The congress brings together journalists from all over the world.

MESHA Secretary, Aghan Daniel termed the decision “a huge responsibility” that had been bestowed upon MESHA. “This is a very big honour, big statement of trust that the world has about our ability and I am confident that we will hold a memorable conference bringing together agriculture journalists from all over the world,” he said in a statement to members of Africa’s most active science journalists’ association.

Other MESHA members also welcomed the decision and vowed to get down to start preparations for hosting.

“We have a strong team of agriculture writers who will be meeting in the next few days to begin the preliminary discussions,” said Aghan.

Hellen Nasha Lelegwe pose in her farm Lching'ei village.She has turned to kitchen garden to dodge climate change

Samburu women turn to kitchen gardens to dodge changing weather patterns

May 24, 2023

by Mesha with No Comment Agriculture

By Clifford Akumu

Across the open plains of Lching’ei Village in Samburu County, a herd of goats roam the scape, nibbling at tiny twigs of stout acacia shrubs scattered across the expanse.

Further afield, manyattas – dome-shaped temporary pastoralists shelters made of mud and sticks – dot the village like overgrown ant-hills.

Not far away, Hellen Nasha Lelegwe’s one-acre farm rolls by with rows of leafy sukuma-wiki and amaranth intercropped among maize, with napier grass seated on the edges of the farm.

The veggies, says Mrs Lelegwe, have been an important source of food and nutrition for her family and fellow villagers, particularly during the searing drought that tore the region’s food security apart.

She grows a variety of vegetables, ranging from sukuma-wiki, cabbages, onions, tomatoes, saget, African nightshade (managu), green pepper to sweet potatoes.

In most villages in the larger Suguta Mar Mar ward in Samburu Central where Lelegwe lives, the aftermath of failed rains is evident; pastoralists possessing a handful of livestock, and men have migrated as far as Isiolo and Laikipia in search of pasture and water for their livestock, leaving women to head households.

The women, abandoned by their husbands, are at the core of family life and the economy of the villages. They have a key role in food production, animal husbandry and raising children.

With nearest water sources running dry, food production has slowed and livelihoods have worsened. What now worries the community most is the ripple effect on their nutritional status.

“Dry seasons are now progressively getting worse. This time, our livestock have perished and left us with nothing,” Lelegwe narrates while weeding her plot. Her family lost 17 cattle and over 100 goats to the drought.

Unfortunately, in Lching’ei, it’s not only the changing weather patterns or conflict with wild animals that the locals are wary of. Armed bandits too have been a cause of pain, injuries and loss of livelihoods as they forcefully break into cattle sheds and drive away with droves of livestock. Every few miles of our journey to meet the farmer was met with pockets of the National Police Reservists patrolling the area to provide security.

Although the government has continued to upscale the security operation against banditry, pastoralist communities are still losing the remaining livestock to bandits. Lching’ei village borders Amaiya and Nasur villages.

However, Lching’ei residents have since found ways of adapting. Every evening, together with their children and livestock, they flock to the Logorate shopping centre one by one ready to spend the night.

“We neither sleep in our houses nor do our animals in the compound. We only come during the day to cook and tend to the crops,” says Mrs Lelegwe, adding that the police provide security at the Logorate centre.

“We are safer at the shopping centre.”

Pirauni Lebarleiya is an agro-pastoralists who used to help his wife water their vegetable garden planted on gunny bags before drought set in and pushed him and the cattle to as far as Isiolo County in search of pasture and water.

“I used to go for water in the dam with my motorcycle to water our vegetables. When drought set in, I took all my sheep and goats to Kilimon area. And later moved with 25 cattle to Ngarantare (Nanyuki-Isiolo border) and later proceeded to Sieku in Isiolo in search of water and pasture. I only came back with three cows,” says Lebarleiya, gazing at his empty Kraal. He lost the rest of the cows to the drought. Lebarleiya reckons that his farming activities have reduced following prolonged drought. Currently, he is preparing a comeback with new vegetable seedlings to transplant in new gunny bags. He used to grow cabbage, sukuma wiki, managu, onions, among others.

Classified as an Arid and Semi-Arid area, Samburu is a water scarce county, and the situation has been getting worse due to the frequent and prolonged bouts of intense drought.

According to the March 2023 Drought Early Warning Bulletin produced by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), Samburu County was in the alarm drought phase.

The report further indicates that the majority of villagers accessed water from boreholes and wells. Boreholes and wells were relied on by 40 and 30 per cent of the households, respectively.

Mrs Lelegwe is part of a 30-member Sipat Women Group (formerly Beans Growers Women Group) who have sought out new farming methods to respond and adapt to the changing weather patterns and save their village.

She is practising climate-smart agriculture to diversify her source of livelihood, from solely depending on livestock keeping to other income generating activities like agro-pastoralism.

Until the women group received training on kitchen garden, multi-cropping, seedbed establishment among many other climate smart farming techniques, Mrs Lelegwe and other members of the group engaged in businesses and traditional small-scale farming.

But income from their farming was low and produce did not yield enough profits to sustain the activity.

In 2022, Caritas Maralal engaged an agronomist to train the women group on climate-smart agriculture under the WWF-Kenya’s Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA) funding programme to strengthen indigenous communities’ response and adaptation to climate change.

The VCA project aims to raise the voices and capacity of underrepresented or marginalised groups to enable them take on a central role as creators, facilitators and advocates of innovative and inclusive climate solutions. The mission is to create awareness of how climate change affects vulnerable/marginalised groups such as pastoralists, women, children and people with disability and efforts to alleviate these effects.

“I partitioned the farm as per the lessons from our training and I must admit, the harvest has been plenty and lasted longer than the previous harvests. I’m able to sell to my neighbours and other business people in Longeiwan and Suguta markets and restaurants in Maralal town,” says Mrs Lelegwe.

The aim of the livelihoods diversification programme across the pastoralists region was to rehabilitate farmland in an environmentally sustainable way, and ensure households have a supply of fresh vegetables for food security and nutrition, says Coleta Nyaenya, the programmes manager at Caritas Maralal.

“Women farmers who planted indigenous vegetables recorded improved intake and growth from their children as compared to when they only fed them on porridge (locally known as Kitegen),” Nyaenya says.

“Now the women have become entirely independent. They are now able to sustain their households during drought periods even when their husbands migrate in search of water and pasture for the livestock.”

But in Samburu, as is the case in many parts of ASAL regions, women and children are disproportionately affected by the drought, which has increased their vulnerability to food security, ill health, violence and drastically reduced their access to nutritious food.

According to the ‘2022 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’ report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Agrifood Economics Division, the number of people affected by hunger globally rose to as many as 828 million in 2021.

In Kenya, more than 37 million people representing over 80 per cent of the population cannot afford a healthy diet, which has particularly negative nutritional consequences for women and children.

According to a recently released report by Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), at least 970,000 children below five years and 142,000 pregnant women and lactating mothers are suffering from acute malnutrition.

Nationally, one out of five children below five years are stunted, meaning they are short for their age, with a majority living in rural areas, according to the 2022 Kenya Demographic Health Survey (KDHS).

Kepha Nyanumba, consultant nutritionist at Crystal Health Consultants Limited, says kitchen garden farming promotes food and nutrition security.

“It ensures people have access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and preferences,” says Nyanumba.

“It plays a key role in fighting the nutritional deficiencies associated with food scarcity.”

This oasis on the border with Amaiya village has had a fair share of challenges in the quest to grow and consume indigenous vegetables. Until Mrs Lelegwe started irrigating her plot of land using pipes, she used to fetch water from Logorate dam, 500 metres away, to water her crops.

“I started farming in 2019 on half an acre. I planted green pepper, onions, sukuma wiki and tomatoes,” she says.

She would later expand to one acre. “I later bought pipes for irrigation through the help of World Vision. I also bought a generator at Sh35,000 after selling maize from my farm that I used to drain water from the dam and irrigate the field.”

Several kilometers away in Lorrok village, Porro ward, Miriam Lekarabi, 32, has tasted the fruits of climate-smart agriculture.

She says, “Last year I planted sukuma-wiki which I sold at Porro market at Ksh50 (US$0.37) a bunch. I also harvested two full sacks of potatoes, which I sold at Ksh3,500-4,500 ($26-33),” says Lekarabi who belongs to Mayian Village Savings and Loans Group.

Lekarabi and Lelegwe’s practice of climate-smart farming has led to improved living conditions and they are now beginning to put back power in women’s hands and halt the climate migration.

“We now have money in the family, even when the livestock dies due to drought, we live better. Our children too are able to go to school and are feeding on nutritious food,” says Mrs Lelegwe, who has since become a model farmer in her village.

“We now have financial independence and a choice. If we all change our ways as a community and get bumper harvests from our farms, we will get rid of climate-change-induced hunger and malnutrition.”

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

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

April 18, 2023

by Mesha with No Comment Agriculture

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

April 18, 2023

by Mesha with No Comment Agriculture

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

March 22, 2023

by Mesha with No Comment Agriculture

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.

AU: Africa ‘ready’ to adopt gene editing

February 20, 2023

by Mesha with No Comment Agriculture biodiversity

By Mekonnen Teshome I mokish03@gmail.com

Experts from five project piloting AU member states have said that most African nations have shown readiness for the adoption of Genome Editing (GEd) technology.

The AU member states came together to strategise on the use and adoption of genome editing technology in boosting agricultural productivity.

The experts made their statement in their communiqué released following a three-day genome editing communication strategy development and policy dialogue meeting held in Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria last week.

The meeting was organized by the Centre of Excellence in Science, Technology, and Innovation of the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) in collaboration with the Nigerian National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA).

Participants expressed optimism that some projects in the pipeline in the countries may be ready for commercialisation within the next three to five years.

According to the communiqué, there are growing GEd capabilities in Africa as identified at the forum and most countries involved in the pilot phase as well as other African countries have some level of enabling environment to adopt the technology.

Moreover, the experts agreed that there is a need for accelerated development of experts on genome editing and mainstreaming in the curriculum of various universities in Africa.

They added that there is need for synergy and collaboration among African countries to foster the desired benefits from genome editing adding that such a move will spur industrial development and improved livelihoods.

They also underscored the need for Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) and improved funding made available by the private sector, adding that AU member countries need to proactively develop guidelines to facilitate the adoption of the technology and to develop communication strategy for awareness creation and public education.

In connection with the continental meeting, Press Secretary to the Director-General of Nigerian National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA) Mrs Toyin Omozuma, indicated the AUDA-NEPAD project has been initiated and driven by member states of Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ethiopia, Eswantini and Zambia.

“The goal of the Genome Editing (GEd) project is to foster a broader understanding of GEd among different stakeholder groups through communication and advocacy for enhanced uptake of the tool to optimise agriculture in Africa,” she said.

Scientists say that genome-editing technologies including clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein (CRISPR/Cas) have become powerful tools for modifying plant genomes and achieve precise genetic modifications by inducing targeted DNA double-strand breaks.

This article first appeared in E-Review Magazine, a publication of the African Seed Trade Association, December 2022 edition.

https://afsta.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AFSTA-E-REVIEW-DEC-2022.pdf

Striga Smart Sorghum Project Launched

February 20, 2023

by Mesha with One Comment Agriculture

By Don Ngome | info@meshascience.org

A new project, Feed the Future Striga Smart Sorghum for Africa, has been launched in Kenya and Ethiopia.

The project utilizes genome editing technology to develop new sorghum varieties resistant to Striga.

Striga is a parasitic weed responsible for up to 100 percent yield loss in Africa’s staple cereals, thus posing a great danger to the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers on the continent.

The three-year multi-institutional, multisectoral project is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) which has awarded nearly US$3.8 million to support the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) AfriCenter, Kenyatta University (Kenya), and Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia).

In Kenya, Dr. Gatama Gichini, a representative of Kenya’s Education Cabinet Secretary, presided over the project launch.

“The Ministry encourages the partners to anchor the project within Government agricultural programs for synergy and optimum success,” he said.

The lead partners say the project is a game-changer in Africa’s quest to combat the effects of climate change on agriculture. “We are grateful for this outstanding award.This is a clear demonstration of USAID’s commitment to address agricultural challenges and empower African smallholder farmers through yield improvement interventions,” said

Dr. Margaret Karembu, the project’s contact.

Prof. Steven Runo, a co-chief scientist termed the new project a win for agriculture in the region. “Striga infestation is a real menace in sub-Saharan Africa. We convey our utmost gratitude to USAID for the big support in arresting this mammoth challenge and ensuring the region becomes food sufficient,” remarked Prof. Runo.

Technology assists fisher folks avoid post-harvest fish spoilage

November 25, 2022

by Mesha with No Comment Agriculture

By Tebby Otieno tebbyotieno62@gmail.com and Ruth Keah rkeahkadide@gmail.com

A new fish preservation technological intervention is set to assist fisherfolk reduce the possibility of fish spoilage. Set up in Kwale County, the SolCoolDry system, which stands for Solar Cooling and Drying system, is an innovation that consists of a small cold room and an ice-making machine.

Dr Linus Kosambo of the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI), said a research assessment revealed a lot of post-harvest fish spoilage was due to poor handling, lack of equipment and a lack of ice to preserve fish. Hence the invention of solar-powered technology that can generate ice for 24 hours.

“The ice is to ensure quality handling of fish from the time it is caught in the deep seas to the time it is brought to the shore to the time it is delivered to the market and even on our tables,” Dr Kosambo said during an exclusive interview.

While the researchers had the option of setting up a cold room for fish storage before sale, they felt it was necessary to provide fish dealers with ice through the SolCoolDry system to transport to their fishing spots. They say the decision was reached after their findings showed that storage was not a major issue in the area due to high demand for fish.

“It is important to supply fish dealers with ice so they can maintain the quality of fish throughout the supply chain. This can also be used in supermarkets,” Dr Kosambo noted.

After observing difficulties during the rainy season, which coincided with high spoilage rate, the researchers came up with the drying component. The system has inbuilt thermal collectors and can dry fish even during the wet season when covered. The system can also be integrated for 24-hour drying.

“Most of fishermen are off-grid as the landing beaches don’t have power supply; therefore, even if they have the technology, they don’t have the power to plug in. We thought we should get 100 per cent off-grid system to help the fishermen do some basic good handling and preservation of fish,” he explained.

Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (KIRDI) initiated the SolCoolDry system, in collaboration with AgriF1, Institute of Solar Energy, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), and Technical University of Mombasa.

Hussein Hasan, 41, a member of the Mwazaro self-help group and a fisherman, hopes that the innovation will increase his sales by not limiting the number of hours he spends fishing. For example, without access to ice, he stops fishing at 9am so that he can supply fish to retailers before the temperature rise. A challenge, he says, has been solved with the availability of the SolCoolDry system.

“This ice helps me because I come here to buy it when I go fishing. When I catch fish, I put them in ice to keep them from spoiling,” he says.

Neema Abdallah, another member of the group, agrees with him. She says the SolCoolDry system aids her husband, a fisherman, who nearly lost all of the fish he caught one day.

“I recall my husband returning home one day with a total of five large fish, but because they had gone so long without ice, they were all spoilt,” she says.

Neema adds that each fish weighed about 5kg and would have fetched Sh250 in the market had they not gone bad. Instead of throwing them, they found an alternative in drying them first before selling at between Sh100 and Sh150 each. Neema says her husband has become a frequent visitor since the installation of the SolCoolDry system, stopping by to buy ice before heading to the ocean to fish.

‘This ice has aided a lot of fishermen here; we have not heard any complaints about their fish going bad recently. I can say that this project has benefited a lot of fishermen,’ she says.

The SolCoolDry system also looks forward to addressing barriers faced by women eking a living from the ocean including those engaged in seaweed farming. One of such farmer is Mwajumbe Mwabedarusi, who got into seaweed farming as an opportunity to make some money. She later learned of other women practicing the same farming and they formed a group.

While they make a living from seaweed farming, she admits that drying them has been difficult. It was until recently this challenges were reduced in the two months the SolCoolDry system has been in place, thanks to the project’s technological drying site.

“After we harvest the seaweed, we put them in a sack and transport them here to dry. Before, we used to spread mats at homes and dry them. When it rained we would have to remove, else they get destroyed,” says Mwajumbe.

The SolCoolDry system and the drying site are located at the Mwazaro in Kwale county because it is easily accessible to the community and researchers.

Meanwhile, another initiative has been reached in Kwale and Kilifi. Dubbed the, Blue Empowerment project and funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the system aims to develop an innovative and integrated technological model that will allow women to grow seaweed and rear fish in a controlled set-up along the Indian Ocean shore.

“Right now, it is becoming worse for people in the Coastal region, especially those who depend on natural resources, because climate variability affects them more. They need a solution that can build their capacity to endure them, and that is what we are doing,” says Dr. Joel Onyango from the African Centre for Technology Studies and the project lead for the Blue Empowerment Project.

Blue Empowerment Project aims to address barriers fisher women in the Coastal region face through adaptation of climate-smart Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture technology.

Low-Res_Screen-Shot-2022-10-31-at-9.35.31-AM-1.png-1

COP27: New report urges innovative building solutions as Africa’s response to reducing greenhouse gases

November 14, 2022

by Mesha with No Comment Agriculture

by Aimable Twahirwa

Despite an increase in energy efficiency investment and lower energy intensity, the building and construction sector’s energy consumption and CO2 emissions have rebounded from the COVID-19 pandemic to an all-time high, a new report finds.

Released at the latest round of climate talks in Egypt, COP27, the 2022 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) finds that the sector accounted for over 34 per cent of energy demand and around 37 per cent of energy and process-related CO2 emissions in 2021.

The sector’s operational energy-related CO2 emissions reached ten gigatons of CO2 equivalent – five per cent over 2020 levels and two per cent over the pre-pandemic peak in 2019. In 2021, operational energy demand for heating, cooling, lighting and equipment in buildings increased by around four per cent from 2020 and three per cent from 2019.

This, according to the report from the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction (GlobalABC), means that the gap between the climate performance of the sector and the 2050 decarbonization pathway is widening.

Reacting on the report, Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) observed that years of warnings about the impacts of climate change have become a reality. “If we do not rapidly cut emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, we will be in deeper trouble,” she said.

The Paris Agreement deals with GHG emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance, the headline principle being to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels. To put it in more relatable terms, the agreement aims to cut global emissions to zero by the end of this century.

Currently, real estate is in the sights of governments when forming new carbon reduction policy and will be particularly affected by new targets and the resulting regulatory impacts over time.

Energy efficiency

Decarbonizing the buildings sector by 2050 is critical to delivering these cuts. To reduce overall emissions, the sector must improve building energy performance, decrease building materials’ carbon footprint, multiply policy commitments alongside action and increase investment in energy efficiency.

The report says that investments in energy efficiency must be sustained in the face of growing crises – such as the war in Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis, and the cost-of-living crisis – to reduce energy demand, avoiding CO2 emissions and dampen energy cost volatility. The buildings sector represents 40 per cent of Europe’s energy demand, 80 per cent of it from fossil fuels. This makes the sector an area for immediate action, investment and policies to promote short and long-term energy security.

However, it shows that the sector can still change. For example, rising fossil fuel costs due to the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis are providing incentives to invest in energy efficiency – although the erosion of purchasing power and the impact of labor and materials may slow investment.

“The solution may lie in governments directing relief towards low and zero-carbon building investment activities through financial and non-financial incentives,” said Andersen.

Also, critical to reducing the sector’s emissions are including buildings in climate pledges under the Paris Agreement – known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) – and mandatory building energy codes.

In Africa, experts point out that raw resource use is predicted to double by 2060 – with steel, concrete and cement already major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Materials used in the construction of buildings already account for around nine per cent of overall energy-related CO2 emissions.

Embodied carbon in buildings – the emissions associated with materials and construction processes – needs to be tackled to avoid undermining energy-saving measures. However, the sector can reduce its impact by, for example, looking at alternative materials and decarbonizing conventional materials such as cement.

Use of alternative materials relevant for Africa.

The African population is expected to reach 2.4 billion people in 2050 and 80 per cent of this growth will occur in cities. An estimated 70 per of the African building stock expected for 2040 has yet to be built.

To avoid increasing emissions while building the stock necessary to move people out of informal settlements, and to create buildings that are resilient to the impacts of climate change, experts recommend the African sector to look at sustainable construction materials and design techniques, in which the continent is rich.

Africa is also rich in renewable energy sources, solar and wind, which nations can use to power their buildings sustainably, the report said.

To mitigate these impacts, experts recommend to African Governments, especially cities, to implement policies that promote the shift to ‘circular material economies’.

The construction and real estate industries must implement zero-carbon strategies for new and existing buildings, it said.

Some of the avocados packed for the export market in China. (Credit_ Tebby Otieno)

Kenya’s first batch of fresh avocados land in Chinese market 26 days after departure

September 5, 2022

by Mesha with No Comment Agriculture

By Tebby Otieno tebbyotieno62@gmail.com

The first batch of Kenya’s fresh avocado exports has finally landed in the Chinese market.

The arrival comes 26 days after Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise Development Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) David Osiany flagged off a lorry with fresh avocados from the Sunripe export farm in Limuru, Kiambu County.

In a press statement by Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (KEPROBA), the official handover ceremony was graced by Kenya’s Ambassador to China Muthoni Gichohi in Beijing.

The entrance of the fresh avocado into the Chinese market also marked the first export of such fruits from Africa.

Amb Gichohi applauded the efforts made by the two governments and affirmed Kenya’s commitment to supporting the business communities in both countries as they look forward to enhancing trade facilitation as well as market access to their products and services to China.

Other fresh prioritised agricultural products the two countries aim to fast-track for export clearance include legumes, flowers, vegetables, herbs, mangoes, peanuts, meat, hides, skins, bixa, gum Arabica and myrr.

Also read: https://meshascience.org/farmers-roll-their-sleeves-as-kenya-flags-off-its-first-batch-of-fresh-avocados-to-china/

KEPROBA’s Chief Executive Officer Wilfred Marube described the Chinese market as a big win for Kenya.

“China has the potential to pull Kenya’s economic growth through one export of avocado. The factor endowment for production favours Kenya. With the high population, exports to China will additionally increase foreign exchange earnings as well as youth and women employment,” Dr Malube said.

He urged Kenyans to popularise avocados and satisfy the Chinese market, noting that by so doing, many people’s lives will be improved.

“Kenya aims to export over 100,000 tonnes of avocados. The 1.4 billion population in China is a huge market for Kenya not only for avocados but also for other fresh produce such as mangoes and bananas,” said Dr Marube.

KEPROBA is a State corporation established after the merger of the Export Promotion Council and Brand Kenya Board. Its mandate is to implement export promotion and nation branding initiatives and policies to promote Kenya’s export of goods and services.

Kenya is currently the world’s sixth largest producer of avocados and the largest in Africa. The fruits are mainly grown by small-scale farmers.

The export of avocados to China has huge potential and experts estimate that the exports could account for up to 40 per cent of Kenya’s total avocado output. The market opportunity is also very huge as close to 400 tonnes can be shipped each week.