Kenya’s herders torch an invader

KAKUMA, Kenya: Turkana County is one of Kenya’s most arid regions, but land near the town of Kakuma sports a dense thicket of thorny trees. That’s not good news. The plant is Prosopis juliflora, a fast-growing invasive species that has wreaked havoc by taking over land once used for pasture, choking rivers and overwhelming indigenous trees in this part of northwest Kenya. But a clever plot is now underway to clear the invader - by turning it into charcoal for an energy-starved refugee camp nearby, while providing jobs for local people.

More than 180,000 refugees, many from Somalia, Ethiopia and Sudan, live at Kakuma camp, which was established in 1991 on the outskirts of the town of Kakuma. Today they use 23,000 tonnes of charcoal each month, some of it created by felling trees nearby. The loss of trees is a problem for the region, not least because it allows the invasive thorn trees to spread into denuded areas, experts say.

The invader - called “mathenge” - has colonized a huge portion of land used by Turkana pastoralists as grazing for their livestock, said Paul Esekon, an energy and environmental officer at Lokado, a local community organization. “The Prosopis seed can survive in the ground for 10 years, and once it germinates its roots go very deep into the ground,” Esekon said. But now, in an effort backed by Lokado, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, residents that are battling to find grazing for their cattle can now also earn cash hacking down the invasive trees and turning them into charcoal.

Efficient Kilns

Along the Tarach river, which cuts across the refugee camp and meanders west towards the village of Morongole, Peter Palal and 32 members of the Morongole Environmental Group are at work making charcoal. “This area used to have many different trees but now it is only mathenge that is found here,” said Palal, the chairman of the group, named for the village where they live. In a small clearing near the river, two cylindrical metal kilns rise about five feet above the ground. One has firewood in it, and Palal paces around, inspecting it. The kilns are two of more than 20 that have been supplied to 10 groups in the Kakuma area by the county government and the FAO. The project got it start after an analysis of natural resources by the county in 2015 recommended using mathenge to make charcoal on a commercial scale to improve employment prospects for young people and boost the local economy. —Reuters