The green gold of Ukambani

By Joe Ombuor

The dry and rocky Kanyaa River in Migwani District pales in contrast to its former self.

The older generation talk nostalgically of a river where the croaking of frogs never ceased and a green landscape filled with food and water. Drought and hunger were uncommon.

Today, the residents are determined to restore the village to its former self through an approach known as Rise. It involves soil conservation, re-forestation, growing of drought resistant crops — mainly aloe vera and sisal — and building of sand dams.

"We are determined to rise and retrace our steps to the plentiful past," says Rise founder director Temi Mutia. Rise is acronym for Regional Institute for Social Enterprise.

"Our 10,000 or so members are divided into 21 groups of community-based organisations (CBOs), each of which nominates five people to be trained in agroforestry, fruit tree grafting, weaving, chemical mixing for micro industries, crop and animal husbandry," he says.

Water Harvester

The locals ferry construction stones and sand to rehabilitate the river while the NGO provides cement, steel and other hardware. Once complete, the Sh500,000 sand dam project will be an important water harvester.

"The water will be used to convert this waste land into a bread basket through irrigation," says Mutia.

Part of the badly eroded land near the weir in Kiandani village has been reclaimed by the Kanyaa CBO with bench terraces and cropped with aloe vera. Mutia says plans are under way to build similar weirs on dry rivers all over Migwani District to harvest rainwater.

"We are determined to succeed where successive governments have failed since independence," he stresses.

Besides aloe vera, the members also grow sisal to reverse the environmental degradation caused by charcoal burning.

Group aloe vera fields dot the region. The locals sell the crop to micro industries making soap, creams and lotion. Sisal, an exotic crop favoured by the local climate and used to mark boundaries, is rivalling aloe vera as a source of income. Its fibres come in handy for making mats and handbags.

"It has dawned on our people there is more money in manufacturing aloe vera-based beauty products and weaving than burning charcoal. Our trees are now safe and we are planting more," says Mutia.

"To that end, each of the 21 CBOs has a tree nursery," he discloses. Across the ridges and valleys of Migwani, the power of change can be seen in once sleepy shopping centres where life is slowly creeping back. Not only are the shops open again, but also among the products on the shelves are locally produced soaps, lotions, creams and juice from locally grown fruits.

Housewives who once lived in boredom and hunger, scratching the barren earth to grow crops that never matured, now happily tend aloe vera and sisal.

Together, they bleed aloe vera to extract its green juice and mixing items such as silicate, caustic soda, coconut oil, ungaron, salt and colour with the juice to make detergents, bar soaps, toilet soaps, lotion and cream. The industrial raw materials are initially supplied by Rise, after which the groups buy their own from their profits.

Those in the weaving business plant sisal to supplement what they get from fences and hedges. They spend their time making mats nicknamed CD from their round shape.

The weaving co-ordinator for all the 21 CBOs, Mrs Juliana Kithyo Musyoka, says some of the members make as much as Sh1,700 per week.

Politicians’ handouts

Mrs Musyoka, a mother of six, describes economically empowered women as the engines of development in any society.

"Gone are the days when other women and I entertained politicians at public functions for handouts," she says.

She, like all her counterparts in the Wasya wa Mwaitu (the voice of women) group, says she will never again sing praises to politicians for handouts.

"Rise has helped us reclaim our esteem and pride in a society that despises the poor," she says.

Musyoka says residents of Migwani have been economically empowered to a point where school dropout and deaths from HIV/Aids due to food deficiency are diminishing.