African Farm News in Review

After hearing about jatropha from biofuel companies and a traditional chief, Burkinabe farmers decided to give it a try this season. Jatropha is a plant used to produce biodiesel. But the farmers say it won’t take priority over their cereal crops. Also, they want to see the jatropha processed and used locally, not exported as cotton is.

In the Nayala province of northwestern Burkina Faso, the production of jatropha is well underway. The plant is growing on 200 hectares of land this year and is expected to grow on10,000 hectares by 2010.

Aimé Charles Ki is president of a farmers’ group known as La Fédération des Groupements de Producteurs de Nayala. He says biofuels present an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed. In order to learn the best practices for growing jatropha, his organization undertook a study tour to Mali this past February. Malian farmers have been experimenting with jatropha production for some 15 years. Upon their return, the Burkinabe farmers decided to follow the Malian model of processing jatropha locally and using the biodiesel for local needs – particularly to fuel tractors and mills.

Jatropha has given rise to hope in the Nayala region and beyond. Marie Thérèse Toé is president of a women’s organization that fights poverty, known as “Claire Amitié” or “Bright Friendship.” She sees jatropha as an important supplemental source of income. Léon Moussiané farms in the town of Toma in Nayala province. He has a grander vision. Mr. Moussiané is convinced that biofuels represent the fastest route towards rural development.

However, development won’t happen at any cost. The farmers refuse to hand jatropha processing over to industry, as Western firms are encouraging them to do. Mr. Ki says that the farmers’ priority is food security, so cereal production remains their focus. Instead of devoting entire plantations to jatropha, farmers use the tall plants to mark the boundaries of their fields. Jatropha is also planted within fields to separate different crop varieties.

Burkina Faso’s farmers also refuse to export raw jatropha seeds to be processed for biodiesel. They want to avoid the type of misadventure they experienced with cotton. They say the exportation of raw materials does not promote local development. Instead, farmers lose their bargaining power and have no control over the selling price.

To boost local development, the farmers’ federation has a simple plan – to install a local processing plant. The plant would be managed by three groups of stakeholders. The first group is farmers, who will provide the basic materials. The second group will bring capital and the third group, technology. This new type of business arrangement is Mr. Ki’s dream, and would be at the centre of the jatropha industry. In anticipation of this stakeholder-run company, Burkinabe farmers are experimenting with jatropha this year. But until this structure is in place, they don’t believe the jatropha industry is a viable choice for their community.

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If you walk through the streets of Accra, don’t be surprised to see heads of lettuce sprouting beneath power lines or cassava growing in culverts. The urban landscape is becoming increasingly green, and Ghanaians are increasingly eating fruits and vegetables grown in cities.

This is what’s known as urban agriculture, and it’s being welcomed across Africa, where nearly all countries face food shortages. But urban agriculture has its own scarcity problems – particularly a shortage of clean water.

Many of the crops grown by urban farmers are irrigated with wastewater from household or industrial use, or a mix of the two. Not all of this wastewater is safe. As a result, some fruits and vegetables grown in cities are actually unsuitable for human consumption.

Karim Salifou moved from the countryside to Ghana’s capital to look for work. When he couldn’t find a job, he started growing lettuce to sell in the market. Mr. Salifou has only one source of water for his crops, a polluted pond. He has seen the water quality in the pond deteriorate. People used to fish in the pond, but now it’s filled with chemicals that have killed the fish and made the water unsafe to drink.

A new study on the use of wastewater in agriculture in developing countries was released by the International Water Management Institute, or IWMI, last week. The report revealed that wastewater is most often used in the production of vegetables and cereals. This leads to health risks for consumers, especially in the case of vegetables which are consumed raw.

Liqa Raschid-Sally is a researcher with IWMI. She says that in 70 per cent of the 53 cities studied, industrial wastewater was not treated, but was returned directly to lakes and streams. Ms. Raschid-Sally says the serious risks associated with industrial wastewater are not well known to the general public.

At the same time, urban crops irrigated with wastewater account for a significant portion of the food supply in African cities. And urban agriculture provides livelihoods for many of the poorest urban dwellers.

Since clean water is in short supply, the IWMI study concludes that stopping the use of wastewater in urban agriculture would worsen food shortages. But there are ways to reduce the risks associated with consuming urban crops.

For example, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, some farmers have constructed storage basins to collect wastewater from a brewery. They only use the water when they judge that the water is of acceptable quality, based on its appearance, smell, and taste.

In Ghana, many farmers stock wastewater in ponds, allowing solid materials to settle to the bottom. This method reduces the level of bacteria in the water.

Around the globe, some 200 million farmers irrigate their crops with wastewater.

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At the Lubumbashi zoo in southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, tucked behind a tiger enclosure, you’ll find the Centre for Aquaculture Research. It’s a small cluster of ponds for breeding stock – mostly tilapia and catfish. And it’s at the centre of efforts to rebuild the region’s fish farming industry.

Jules Luwamba is the head researcher at the centre. He explains that there were 8,000 fishponds operating in the region prior to the civil war. During the war, more than half were abandoned. The goal of the centre is to restore all of the fishponds and keep them running.

About 30 kilometres from the city of Lubumbashi are some of the fish farms that the Centre for Aquaculture Research supports. In the small town of Kipushi, 150 women have dug rearing ponds, which they now operate. They purchase tilapia fry and raise them to a size of 600 grams. Tilapia is a favourite Congolese food, so the fisherwomen have no trouble finding buyers in their village. All of these women are rebuilding their lives following the civil war, which ended in 2003. Most are widows, resettled refugees, and former combatants. Through fish farming, they earn enough to support their families.

But there are still not nearly enough locally raised fish to meet demand. Last February alone, the province of Haut-Katanga imported more than 2,000 tonnes of dried, smoked, and salt-cured fish.

As the country recovers from war, there are many obstacles for fish farmers to overcome. Fish theft is common. In Quartier Congo, on the outskirts of Lubumbashi, so many fish were stolen from fish farms that seven farm associations abandoned their aquaculture ponds in favour of vegetable beds. Poor roads also make it difficult for some to get their fish to market.

Still, the potential of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s fish industry has attracted the attention of local and international development organizations. The World Bank is supporting the coastal villages of Moanda and Nsiamfumu to restore once vibrant fish markets. Last year, 60 leaders from Congolese fisher associations attended a World Bank sponsored training program. They learned new fishing techniques, as well as methods to preserve fish with smoke and salt. The association members were also trained to organize local fishers and preserve fish stocks.

Assani Bin Assani is president of a fishers’ group known as the Association for the Development of Fishing and Youth Training. He said: “we need this type of training because our life depends on fishing.”

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Like many other South African farm workers, David Mashele used to live in a mud hut. Typical mud huts are drafty and do not protect against heavy rains. He never imagined that he would move into a house with four rooms, big windows, a ceiling, and a toilet. But Mr. Mashele and his family did just that when a block of 118 houses was handed over to farm workers in Limpopo, South Africa, courtesy of the government and their employer.

The provision of homes to farm workers in Limpopo is one of the recent news items that reflect moves to improve conditions for farm workers in Southern Africa and defend their rights. Farm workers are typically housed on the farm of their employers. For years, human rights advocates have said that this arrangement makes farm workers and their families extremely vulnerable. Often, if the man of a household becomes unable to work, his wife and children will lose their home as well, even if the woman and children also work.

A report released three years ago found that, between 1993 and 2004, over 900,000 people were evicted from South African farms. The problem of farm worker eviction is similar in neighbouring countries. In Namibia for example, nine farm workers and their dependents were kicked off their farm after the farm changed ownership. Their situation gained national publicity, as the evictees ended up living on the side of a road for years before the government allotted them a home and farmland.

Raimar von Hase is president of Namibia’s National Agricultural Union, or NAU. He said that commercial farm owners have cleaned up their practices and “no member of the NAU has evicted and dumped workers in the street in the last 12 months.”

There are also encouraging signs that farm workers have better access to health care and education. Earlier this year, Namibia’s Agricultural Employers’ Association formulated a policy to support HIV-infected farm workers. According to the policy, employers are obliged to facilitate access to affordable HIV treatment, including anti-retroviral drugs, for all employees who need it. The Association also pledged that workers would not be refused employment if they were HIV positive.

In South Africa, employers in the agricultural town of Christiana are backing a basic education program for farm workers. The government and a private media company also contribute to the program which teaches farm workers basic literacy, math, and computer skills. Mieta Booysen is one of the program facilitators. She says the farm workers are all eager to learn. The training also benefits employers, as it means that their workers will have higher skills and can do more complex tasks, such as taking measurements.

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At 70 years old, Ephrance Nakamya knows how to grow maize. For years, she has worked through the cycle of planting seeds, tending plants, harvesting yields, then saving seeds to start again next season. During the first rainy season of 2007, Ms. Nakamya thought she found a way to increase her profits. But the experiment backfired.

In 2007, Ms. Nakamya’s daughter gave her some hybrid seeds purchased in a nearby city. The seeds grew well and at the end of the season, she harvested 800 kilograms of maize from her three acres, becoming the envy of her village in Kayunga District, central Uganda. Unfortunately, that was Ms. Nakamya’s last good harvest. She saved seeds from her hybrid maize harvest and planted them the next season. But the seeds would not germinate. She tried again the following season, only to be disappointed again.

Hybrid seeds, often called “improved” seeds, are engineered to include preferred plant characteristics. They typically resist disease and produce high yields. But since hybrids are created from more than one species of plant, seeds saved from hybrids may not grow. Farmers who use hybrid seeds usually have to purchase new seeds each growing season.

Hybrid crops were the topic of discussion when scientists met for the Open Forum for Agriculture Biotechnology in Africa, held in Kampala, Uganda. John Tabuti is a Professor of Botany at Uganda’s Makerere University. He says the widespread use of hybrids could result in the loss of traditional crops.

Mr. Tabuti urged farmers to constantly look for and acquire different varieties of crops for their farms. This diversity could be crucial to maintaining livelihoods in the face of unanticipated economic or environmental changes.

The Monitor newspaper in Kampala spoke with several farmers concerned about the disappearance of traditional crops in their area. Joseph Magezi represents the Mityana Farmers Association of central Uganda. He uses his farm to preserve traditional crop varieties such as wild passion fruit, climbing peas, and sweet pepper.

Mr. Magezi was invited by the National Agriculture Research Organization to establish a demonstration farm at the Entebbe Botanical Gardens. He also travels to farmers’ shows in Kenya and Uganda to promote traditional crops.

He believes that traditional crops are important to farmer independence and food security. He notes that small-scale farmers such as Ms. Nakamya may not know that the hybrid seeds that produce one season cannot be saved for the next. Mr. Magezi has researched the causes of increased famine in the traditional kingdom of Buganda since 2004, and believes that hybrids are the culprit.

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Some are calling it the “Death of Doha.” At the end of July, the latest round of negotiations on world trade – known as the Doha Development Round – broke down. All the ramifications are yet to be known, but it’s already clear that some groups, such as cotton farmers, were disappointed. Advocates for subsistence food farmers, on the other hand, are hailing a victory.

West Africa’s top cotton producers had a strong agenda heading into the meetings, which were held in Geneva, Switzerland. Representatives from Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali demanded that the United States cut subsidies to its farmers by 80 per cent. In a statement, Africa’s negotiating group said that the huge subsidies given by developed countries to their farmers had depressed world cotton prices, driving African cotton farmers out of production.

The United States reportedly refused such a large cut to its farmers. The reports suggest that clashes over subsidies between the United States and other large players such as the European Union, India, and China, contributed significantly to the breakdown of the talks.

Other commentators suggest that a mechanism designed to protect small scale farmers was the real sticking point. The Special Safeguard Mechanism is meant to prevent “dumping” – that is, the import of subsidised agricultural produce at a price so low that it undercuts local production, thus bankrupting local farmers. The mechanism would allow a country to apply additional tariffs to prevent an import surge and a drop in local market prices. Representatives from developing and developed countries could not agree on the size of a surge that should be allowed before the mechanism kicks in.

Anti-globalization activists celebrated the collapse of the talks. La Via Campesina, an international peasants movement with members in 56 countries worldwide, hailed the breakdown as a victory for those who want to protect the livelihoods of three billion peasants worldwide. In a statement, the organization urged governments not to spend any more time and resources trying to find compromises for the Doha round.

Summing up the negotiations, the Inter Press news service described the talks as a battle between the commercial interests of agricultural exporting countries, and the livelihoods of subsistence farmers in Africa, Asia, and elsewhere. They suggested that, had the proposed deal been agreed upon, African development concerns would have been ignored while exports from the United States and the European Union would have been given preferential treatment.

However, those developing countries seeking to re-negotiate the terms of trade for export crops such as bananas and cotton, still hope for a revival of the Doha Development Round.

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In the years before the civil war, Kolubah Gayflor grew cocoa on his farm in northern Liberia. Cocoa provided his only income and the means to sustain himself. Now that peace has returned to Liberia, Mr. Gayflor and thousands of other farmers desperately want to re-establish there livelihoods. But several obstacles stand in the way.

Liberia’s 14-year civil war left the country’s agriculture sector and basic infrastructure in ruins. Cocoa trees were left untended. They were occasionally harvested, sometimes by people other than the owner. Farmers returning to their land after the war found their plantations in poor condition and their access to markets even worse. These days, cocoa trees are often valued only as firewood.

Macarthur Pay-Bayee is the manager of the Sustainable Tree Crops Program-Liberia, an initiative to support cocoa farmers and restore value to cocoa trees. He explains that farmers who rehabilitate their cocoa plantations struggle to sell their crops for a good price. Since the road system is poor, farmers usually sell to any traders who show up at their door. In these situations, farmers have little bargaining power.

The Sustainable Tree Crops Program is working to ensure that cocoa farmers have the resources they need to produce good yields and get their product to market. To date, some 900 farmers from Lofa, Nimba, and Bong counties have participated in field schools to brush up on their pest management and quality management skills. These 900 trainees have shared their learning with nearly 2,000 others.

All of the trained farmers will receive access to hybrid cocoa plants – varieties from neighbouring Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cocoa producer. The hybrids are high yielding and disease resistant. They are also early-maturing and should bear fruit within three years – two years earlier than traditional varieties.

Mr. Pay-Bayee says that farmers are currently harvesting as little as 150 kg of cocoa per hectare. With the new resources and lots of determination, he hopes to see farmers like Mr. Gayflor harvesting up to 800 kg per hectare.

In this post-war period, farmers are also re-establishing cooperative groups. At the community level, farmers’ groups will grow hybrid seedlings in nurseries before moving them to plantations.

The shortage of marketing connections and good roads are challenges that farmers can’t address on their own. The Sustainable Tree Crops Program hopes to create market links for Liberian cocoa. The Liberian government, meanwhile, has expressed a commitment to rebuilding the country’s road network.

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Aweke Teshome was in for a pleasant surprise the first time he brought his crops to the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange. Although he is an experienced farmer, he never knew the market price for his produce or how it rated. At the exchange his crops received the lowest grade, but he knew that he was paid a fair market price. He left with a strengthened resolve to produce larger yields of higher quality.

The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, or ECX, opened its trading floor in April. It is a new system to connect farmers and traders around the country, making commodity trading easier and more reliable for both parties.

Farmers are now assured a fair market price for their products. Previously, Mr. Teshome was at the mercy of local traders. He was unable to negotiate price, but rather forced to sell his product for whatever price was offered. Through the ECX, farmers can access information about market prices at any of 200 locations.

Mr. Teshome explains that the ECX also ensures that he can sell any surplus. Since he does not have any storage facilities, he used to lose money during times of surplus. The ECX, however, runs six storage warehouses spread throughout the country, so farmers are always able to sell their crop. Mr. Teshome explains that the system encourages him to produce higher yields for this guaranteed market.

Eleni Zaude Gabre-Madhin is an Ethiopian economist who was the driving force behind the founding of the exchange. She was struck by the fact that Ethiopia can have a bumper harvest one year and severe shortages the next. Or that there can be surpluses in one region and famine in another.

Ms. Gabre-Madhin worked with farmers, traders, and the Ethiopian government to develop the ECX. She says the exchange will help to balance out the surpluses and shortages by improving farmers’ access to the larger domestic market. It should also open up access to the export market.

Ms. Gabre-Madhin expects that more farmers like Mr. Teshome will be encouraged to produce more food, thus reducing the risk of severe food shortages in the future.
Farmers will also have more information to help them decide which crops to plant.

So far, six commodities are traded through the ECX: coffee, sesame, haricot beans, wheat, maize, and a traditional grain called teff. It’s expected that small scale farmers will make up 95 per cent of the contributors to the ECX.
Click here to see the notes to broadcasters on the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange

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Birds infected with a highly infectious strain of avian influenza have been found in two Nigerian poultry markets. On June 27, veterinary officials detected the virus in a chicken at a live bird market in Kebbi state, in northwestern Nigeria. On July 19, animal health workers found the virus in a duck at a live bird market in Gombe state in the east-central part of the country. Both cases involved the highly pathogenic bird flu virus known as H5N1.

Junaidu Maina is the agricultural director for the livestock department at Nigeria’s Ministry of Agriculture. He said that immediate action was taken to control the latest outbreak. According to Mr. Maina, all poultry at affected farms have been culled, and the farms have been disinfected.

Bird flu was first detected in Nigeria in early 2006. The disease spread through 25 of the country’s 36 states before it was contained. These were the first incidents of the virus in sub-Saharan Africa. Since then, the virus has been detected in several West African countries.

Earlier Nigerian outbreaks led experts to detail reasons why the disease can spread easily in this country. Dr. Joseph Domenech is chief veterinarian for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. He said the sheer number of poultry raised in Nigeria is a factor. Poultry are raised in high density. They are also part of everyday life for the majority of Nigerians.

The Africa Radio Drama Association’s research department analyzed the link between Nigerians’ love for chicken and the risk of avian flu. Chicken is a favourite meal – whether for weekday meals or holiday feasts. Live chickens are also part of the household, whether clucking around the table at mealtime or bunking down alongside children. This kind of human interaction with poultry goes against biosecruity guidelines recommended to decrease the spread of avian flu.

Basic hygiene can help stop the spread of the H5N1 virus. People should avoid unnecessary contact with poultry. Farmers should keep their poultry in fenced areas and wash their hands and boots after they visit the chicken coop. To prevent cross-contamination between farms, other poultry farmers should not visit the coop.

Farmers may have less control over other factors that encourage the spread of bird flu. These include the migration of wild birds and the cross-border trade in eggs and day-old chicks.

The H5N1 bird flu is a serious concern because it can be passed from birds to humans. To date, over 240 people around the world have died from the disease. One person in Nigeria is reported to have died from bird flu in the only case of bird flu death reported in sub-Saharan Africa.
Click here to see the notes to broadcasters on avian flu

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Augustine Yanney has always helped his mother to produce oil from the coconuts that grow along the beach in the Ankobra region of Ghana. Like many other Ghanaians, Mr. Yanney’s mother makes her living by extracting oil from dried coconut meat. But the beaches no longer offer an abundance of green coconut trees like they used to. They have been struck by coconut lethal yellowing disease.

Coconut lethal yellowing disease is caused by bacteria carried by insects. The bacteria enter the veins of the coconut tree and begin to destroy it. It causes the coconuts to fall and the leaves to yellow and eventually fall. The trees die in a matter of months, leaving behind a field of bare trunks. Scientists have not yet found a cure for the disease.

Mr. Yanney says that his mother’s income dropped sharply following the arrival of lethal yellowing disease in the Ankobra region. A severe economic impact has been felt in other coastal regions as well.

Phillippe Courbet is a French researcher studying lethal yellowing disease in Ghana. He says the disease was first discovered in Ghana in 1932 around the Cape Saint-Paul area of the Volta region in eastern Ghana. The disease reappeared some thirty years later, but in the west of the country, at Cape Three Points. It is currently spreading along the coast.

Faustina Sewornu lives in a small coastal fishing village in the southeast of Ghana. She used to live well off the coconut trade. Now, she has nothing but an empty hut where she used to produce coconut oil.

For people who live in coastal areas, there are few alternatives. Fishing is the other principal source of income, but it is also suffering due to low fish stocks.

One proposed solution to coconut lethal yellowing disease is to replace the diseased trees with hybrids. But Mr. Courbet says these hybrids are still not immune. The only advantage of hybrid coconut trees is that they take only two years to bear fruit. Traditional varieties take about five years. So hybrid trees may give people the chance to collect coconuts before the disease strikes again.

At a workshop on coconut lethal yellowing disease held recently in Accra, scientists declared that the disease had affected some one million trees across Ghana over the past 30 years.
Click here to see the notes to broadcasters on coconut lethal yellowing disease

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In Dap Dior, Senegal, a small group of villagers sits around a pile of freshly harvested groundnut plants. They chat as they pluck the groundnuts, occassionally stopping to snack on their harvest. This common scene came early this year thanks to a new irrigation system.

Dap Dior is one of several villages in Senegal experimenting with drip irrigation –
a technique that slowly delivers water to plant roots, minimizing the amount of water needed. . Farmers are using a low-cost model developed by an Israeli scientist familiar with the dryland conditions.

Fields using drip irrigation are marked by blue water barrels perched atop metre-high pedestals. Water must be pumped into the barrels using a fuel-powered generator. From there, gravity does the work. Water flows through pipes and into plastic inserts that are laid alongside crops.

Mamadou Diouf is one of the farmers who recently tried this new system. He used to wait until the rainy season to plant groundnut seeds. But this year, he is harvesting his groundnut crop early, around the time when he would normally plant it.

Planting during the dry season has many benefits. Mr. Diouf can sell his groundnut harvest before the market is flooded. When the rainy season arrives, he will cultivate another crop – tomatoes. The bottom line, he says, is that he will have more money to buy rice and vegetables for his family.

In a nearby village, farmers have been using the drip irrigation system for two years now. On average, farmers using the system have doubled their profits. Ibrahima Diop grows onions. His water costs have been cut in half since he switched from watering cans to drip irrigation. His fields are more productive, too. In a field where he used to harvest 550 kilograms of onions, he now reaps 800 kilograms.

But Mr. Diop explains that not all of his fellow villagers are eager to invest in the system. They have seen other irrigation systems fail, because they were too expensive to operate or difficult to maintain.

Others, however, are expanding their use of drip irrigation. The Israeli Embassy and local and international NGOs introduced the systems to the area. Now, some farmers are re-investing their higher earnings to purchase additional systems.
Click here to see the notes to broadcasters on drip irrigation

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Thankanyana Mosime hopes that more single women farmers will be as successful as she is. Ms. Mosime grows crops and raises cattle to support herself, her grandchildren, and many of her relatives’ children. But she lives a relaxed lifestyle compared to the past.

Ms. Mosime recently shared her story of hardship and success with a Botswanian newspaper, in hopes of inspiring others. She urged Botswanian women to unite in farmer cooperatives, and called on the government to do more to support women farmers.

As a young teenager, Ms. Mosime was pulled out of school. Her parents were content that she had learned to read, and wanted her help on the family farm. It was a bittersweet time for Ms. Mosime. Although she had always been fascinated by agriculture, she also wished she could stay in school.

By the age of 16, she went to South Africa to sort peanuts on a commercial farm. She continued to work for large farmers until, one day, she decided to take two bags of maize she had earned and do something for herself. She used her earnings from selling maize to return home and put herself through school.

Ms. Mosime began worked as a typist and bookkeeper. Her salary allowed her to invest in what she really loved, and plan for a retirement in which she would concentrate on agriculture. She began cultivating a small plot of land and purchased cows and a bull.

For some 15 years, Ms. Mosime worked office jobs from Monday to Friday and tended to her farm on evenings and weekends. She laments that there was never time to relax, either emotionally or physically. Commuting from town to her land meant taking a public bus, then walking 10 kilometres. Physical tasks such hauling large harvests and repairing fences were never easy.

Today, Ms. Mosime has retired from her weekday job and enjoys focusing on her crops and cattle. She encourages other women farmers to make their lives easier by working together in cooperatives, to share workloads and profits.

Now an active member of the Botswana Farmers Association, Ms. Mosime recently met with the Assistant Minister of Agriculture at a farmers’ convention. She advocates for the Botswanian government to do more for single women farmers. The government is preparing to allocate farmland, and Ms. Mosime wants to see some of this land devoted to women farmer cooperatives.

Although Ms. Mosime overcame many hardships on her own, she hopes that other women will receive more support. She says the government should assist women farmers by drilling borehole wells and providing soil tests.
Click here to see the notes to broadcasters on single woman farmer

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Pastoralist leaders from Kenya’s Tana River Delta area are speaking out against a controversial sugarcane project, saying it would destroy their dry season pasturelands.

Kenya’s environmental authority recently approved a plan to grow sugarcane on 20,000 hectares of coastal wetlands. The plan is a joint project of the Mumias Sugar Company and the Tana and Athi Rivers Development Authority. It is supported by the Kenyan government, but opposed by local and international environmental groups, as well as local herders. The herders say that the plan threatens their livelihoods.

At a recent meeting with government officials, local leaders said that pastoralists should be allowed to maintain their traditional grazing lands. The government has proposed to move herders to an area known as Galana ranch for the dry season. But pastoralist representatives say this isn’t an option. Local councilor Abaloni Racha said the proposed grazing area is infested with tsetse flies.

Government representatives, mean