Miwani residents receive tree seedlings to plant on the banks of River Oroba under a Smejak programme. PHOTO | DAN OBIERO | NMG
There is a “Garden of Eden” in Miwani, Kisumu County, overlooking the picturesque Nandi Hills.
With
nearly 100 varieties/species of trees, the owners called it so to draw
attention to its concerns about the environment and for its
bountifulness and similarities to the farm in the biblical tale on Adam
and Eve.
The about 10-acre agro-forest has fruit trees,
those with medicinal values and species that can be cut for wood,
animal feeds and flowers. It sits on a flat land beside the fast flowing
waters of Oroba River that emanates from Nandi Hills and lets its
waters into Lake Victoria.
It is a model garden meant
to help people understand the importance of conservation from the
scientific and biblical perspective and how they can directly benefit
economically from nature.
Sugarcane has been grown in the area for many decades.
Walking
through the grassland within the farm, you will notice egg shells of
freshly hatched birds, wild mushrooms, chirping sounds of insects,
escaping squirrels and a variety of butterflies crisscrossing each
other. Simply put, its nature that well deserves the name ecosystem
(variety).
Mrs Margaret Oluoch, its owner who used to
work with World Agroforestry in Finance and later with UN World Food
Programme in Human Resource, says the farm has trees that give natural
pesticides and those that can replace chemical fertilisers that are
unfriendly to the environment.
She examines the thick
trunks and marvels at the height of dendrocalamus giganteous, a giant
bamboo species recommended for the region by the World Agroforestry
Centre (formerly Icraf).
A stretch of 40 kilometres on
the Oroba river bank has a variety of bamboo, the strongest and fastest
growing woody trees and other creeping plants for soil erosion control.
“Do
you notice the difference between this side of the bank and the small
stretch that has no bamboo? Clearly, the bank is firm here because
bamboo has held the soil together. We left the other side bare for
demonstration,” she told Business Daily.
Bamboo
rhizomes anchor top-soil along steep slopes and river banks. It also
purifies air of greenhouse gases, absorb pollutants including heavy
metals and has several economic uses.
Having worked
with research organisation, Mrs Oluoch has accessed a lot of research
about preventing degradation in the Victoria basin and poverty
alleviation of its three million people who rely on the waters, but only
30 per cent of it access clean water.
Despite her
professional background, she desired to be part of the conservation
effort and sought permission from individual researchers at the centre
and others outside to replicate their idea and do it practically.
Together
with her husband, Mr Ken Oluoch, she started the project 12 years ago
as an experiment on how the eight rivers and several streams that feed
Lake Victoria can be conserved upstream, hence end the problems of
pollution which contribute to the growth of water hyacinth.
The organisation is called Smejak Nutrition Trees Promotion.
“Literally,
I forced my neighbours to plant bamboo on the shores of River Oroba.
Now its banks are firm and the trees ready for harvest. We are currently
planning to produce charcoal from bamboo,” Mrs Oluoch said.
Bamboo
can replace forest trees for charcoal as it yields more than 7,000
kilocalories per kilogramme which can be compared to half the yield
equivalent of petroleum.
It is also economical since
one bamboo seedling can generate about 100 ratoons as it is
self-regenerating, making it cheaper in the long run.
“From
research findings, the lengthy, but surest way to elimination water
hyacinth is through conservation of feeder rivers. Mechanised or manual
removal of the weed is only a short cut,” said Mrs Oluoch.
Dr
Christopher Aura, the Kemfri Assistant Director for Freshwater Systems
Research at the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KEFRI),
Kisumu Centre, said high usage of fertilisers in agriculture and
subsequent drainage into the lake causes serious eutrophication, a
condition in which the lake has excessive nutrients which causes a dense
growth of plant life including the problematic water hyacinth, and
death of animals from lack of oxygen.
“With increased
fertile agricultural soil, industrial and sewer waste and additionally
the decomposing water hyacinth, there will be increased nutrient loading
which speeds up the germination of hyacinth plants,” said Dr Aura.
Wetlands
that would otherwise filter the pollutants before water flows into the
lake have been encroached on and converted into farmlands.
Mrs
Oluoch, who is the chairperson of the Oroba River Water Resource Users
Association (Wrua), said despite the intense lobbying by state and
non-state actors, people were reluctant to plant trees because they
don’t see how conservation can address their social issues at a personal
level, other than talking about L Victoria.
“That is why we introduced the agriculture component,” she said.
“People
narrowly associate the importance of trees with charcoal and firewood,
but not as other profitable uses like medicine, animal fodder,
pollination agents, shade and beauty,” said Mrs Oluoch.
To
capture the people’s attention, she then chose to tailor her course on
biblical teachings about environment, right from when God created his
first human Adam and Eve and put them in The Garden Of Eden, asked to
till the land and take care of it in the book of Genesis. The gift in
the garden was plant- bearing seeds.
She draws
knowledge from write-ups that link environment to the Bible, among them,
Stewardship of God’s World by Dr Roger Sharland who is the Director
of Rural Extension With Africa’s Poor (REAP).
She has
received support from churches and other organisations with like minds,
including the Anglican Church of Kenya, the Catholic church, Church of
Peace in Africa, Church of Christ in Africa, Evangelical Christ Church
of Africa (ECCA) and the Voice of Salvation and Healing and has been
recognised as an Africa- Champion for Creation Care and The Gospel.
They
talk people out of blaming the government and other bodies for their
failure to take up crucial lessons on environmental conservation.
So
far, they have a membership of over 1,000 women conservationists across
the 13 counties of the lake basin who are keen on taking environment
Laureate Wangari Maathai’s gospel of conservation to another level.
Some
do specific projects like orchards, bamboo farming, natural medicine or
just fodder. But all are conscious about protecting nearby streams and
rivers by preventing soil erosion using vegetation like vetiver which
can be used as fodder, thatching material and perfume making and lemon
grass which is also used to make beverages.
People with
small land portions initially wondered how they would sacrifice the 30
metres stretch from the river bank into their land and still manage to
sustain their food security.
Reverend Rosalia Oyweka of
ECCA is a patron of a group that has also initiated an agro-forest,
mostly with medicinal plants in Kajulu, Kisumu County on less than a two
acre farm.
“In the less than two acre demonstration
farm, we have an energy saving kitchen that uses less firewood, herbs
and medicinal trees of all kinds, food and fruits, a tree nursery to
help members find seedlings, a fish pond and drought tolerant trees that
reverses climate change like pigeon pea,” said Ms Oyweka.
The
assortment of trees is fenced off using closely planted species that
make up what they call the 7 F Hedge comprising guava, calliandra,
pawpaw, passion fruit, mulberry, sesbania and mango trees.
Other
than being a fence, it is also for fuel (straws and branches are dried
for wood), fodder, food, fertiliser (from the leaves) and a pharmacy,
according to Rev George Matengo who oversees the garden.
Sesbania
tree growing over the fish pond has become an orthonological paradise.
Birds have built nests all over its branches. Indigenous trees are said
to allow the animals to nest, feed and shelter from predators.
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