IPS – Kenyan NGO Pioneers HIV and Aids Phone Counseling | Inter Press Service

IPS – Kenyan NGO Pioneers HIV and Aids Phone Counseling | Inter Press Service

Water-sparing rice farming proves viable in Kenya

Moses Kareithi Mwangi works on his rice paddy in Mwea, Kenya.
The system of rice intensification discourages flooding the
paddy throughout the season, and encourages wider spacing of
seedlings.

By Isaiah Esipisu

MWEA, Kenya (AlertNet) – Faced with pressure on supplies of irrigation water due to climate shifts and an increasing population, rice farmers in four Kenyan irrigation schemes have adopted a new crop management system that allows them to grow their crops without flooding their paddies throughout the season.

The Kenyan government, through the Mwea Irrigation Agricultural Development Centre (MIAD), has borrowed a technique from India known as the system of rice intensification. It has proved to be an effective way of growing rice with limited water in this east African country.

The system has been widely practised for at least 10 years in Asian countries, where it has been shown to produce greater yields. But the MIAD initiative marks its introduction to Kenya.

Kenya tackles climate threats to wildlife, tourism

By Isaiah Esipisu

NAIROBI, Kenya (AlertNet) – Climate shifts are forcing Kenyan experts to take drastic action to preserve the stunning scenery and wildlife that have drawn millions of tourists to the east African country, bringing vital revenue and providing thousands of jobs.

Flamingos fly over Lake Nakuru in Kenya's Rift Valley on September 18, 2010.
 REUTERS/Noor Khamis

From collecting rainwater in national parks to providing animals with hay in hard times and preventing alien species of vegetation from taking over grassland, Kenyans have joined regional and global projects to grapple with the changes, which are having deep and rapid effects on the country’s natural resources.

One of the sites most severely affected by recent changes is Lake Nakuru, in the Rift Valley about 140 km (80 miles) northwest of Nairobi. The soda lake is home to millions of flamingos who make a dazzling display as they wheel and swoop in huge flocks before settling on the water to browse on the dense algae.

The flamingos and other water birds make the lake one of the country’s most magnificent spectacles, watched by thousands of tourists from the 14 hotels overlooking the lake and giving jobs to thousands of Kenyans, as well as bringing in more than 3 billion Kenyan shillings ($36 million) a year in revenue.

Cutting food waste crucial to ensuring food security, experts say

By Isaiah Esipisu

NAIROBI, Kenya (AlertNet) – Sticking to what’s written on your shopping list, checking food expiry dates, cooking just enough but no more and a few other simple practices can help curb global food waste, which amounts to 1.3 billion tonnes of food every year, experts say.

Pigs, marabou storks and human scavengers
compete for food waste at Dandora dump on the outskirts of Nairobi.

This is vital at a time when climate change and population growth are reducing the availability of food for millions of vulnerable people around the world, they add.

“With the World Bank warning of the possibility of a four-degrees-centigrade temperature rise by the end of the decade and an expected world population of nine billion by 2050, global food production and supply is going to be highly affected,” Dennis Garrity, United Nations drylands ambassador and senior fellow at the World Agroforestry Centre told AlertNet in Nairobi. “The time to act is now.” 

There are 870 million hungry people in the world today, experts estimate, but droughts, floods, storms and climate-related plant diseases, among many other factors, continually reduce access to food.

Voters gave both genders equal chances, so why are more women not vying for office?

Yvonne  Chaka Chaka, an example
of women who have stood tall in their own areas

NAIROBI Kenya (Daily Nation) As the world celebrated the International Women’s Day in March, the main message that went out indicated that African women were still sidelined and denied full support in political engagements.

However, this may no longer be true in the Kenya’s situation. An analysis of numbers from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) reveals that voters who participated in the March 4 polls gave women candidates equal opportunities as their men counterparts and the trend was evenly distributed all over the country.

The main reason why men dominated, perhaps, is that more men presented themselves to vie for all the competitive elective positions than women.

For example, there were only 129 women vying for a National Assembly seat, where 16 of them made it to Parliament. This figure compares very poorly to 1,968 men who vied for the same position but only 274 made it to the House.

However, comparing the total percentage of women who made it to the National Assembly to that of men, one easily notices that the difference is nearly negligible.

Kenyan farmers turn to new weapons against 'Osama'

By Isaiah Esipisu

EMBU, Kenya (AlertNet) – The most important post-harvest pest in Kenya’s dryland areas is the larger grain borer, locally known as ‘Osama’ in testament to its aggressive destructiveness.

Farmers say it flourishes in high temperatures – a particular problem as climate change brings warming conditions in many parts of the country.



Benjamin Njue Ngari a tinsmith at Kiritiri market in Embu
explains how to use a metal silo ideal for storing two 90 kg bags of grains



But smallholder farmers in Eastern Kenya and other parts of the country have found a way to combat the pest: metal storage silos that help protect grain from both insects and fungal infections.

At Kiritiri market in Embu County, in semi-arid Eastern Kenya, Benjamin Njue Ngari, a local tinsmith, and his assistants are now busy moulding galvanized metal sheets into airtight cylinders to meet surging demand.

“It has two openings, one on top for filling, and the other one at the bottom for emptying,” explains Ngari. “We make them in different sizes to store between one and 20, 90kg bags of grain.”

Drought farming lessons join reading and writing at Kenyan schools

By Isaiah Esipisu

Purity Njigi attending to her mango tree at Kamunyagia school

MBEERE, Kenya (AlertNet) – At Kamunyagia Primary, year seven student Purity Njigi is learning something new alongside her usual lessons – how to produce enough food to eat when there isn’t enough rain.

As part of an effort to help area farmers – and their children – adapt to changing climate conditions, Njigi and other students at the school have formed a Junior Farmers Club, with each member allocated a small portion of land to grow crops and fruit trees.

“It is like a competition,” she says – and the results are clear.