CONNECTING KIDS WITH NATURE

I rarely allowed my kids to go out during the month of March. The sun fell every day. It was a struggle we had to adjust to having to contain them indoors, I did not like it but it was necessary because of the heat, it was on overdrive. The month has experienced the highest temperatures we have seen yet, hitting up to highs of 31°c (87.8°F).

Here in Malaa, Machakos county Kenya, there are very few native trees (usually acacia), and those that are planted are usually within people's compounds. We have no sidewalk trees (matter of fact, we hardly have any sidewalks!), no parks with trees, nothing. If you’re not carrying with you an umbrella, you would walk a long distance without finding a shade to take a breath.

Hosting neighborhood kids in my house every so often has become a thing. The kids feel the pinch of the sun. They are naturally attracted to places they can find shelter and play at the same time. There are no shaded playing grounds so they find themselves playing in people’s homes where a provision of playing games and toys has been made.

My husband and I have endeavored to make such an environment for our kids so, naturally, their friends are attracted. I always have scores of kids come visiting.

It is our dream as Green Spaces to provide green playgrounds for our children here in Malaa, Machakos County, Eastern Kenya, and other surrounding areas. There are no parks around Malaa, Joska, Ruai, Ruiru, Utawala, and other nearby regions yet there are many children.

Apart from private resorts which many cannot afford, you cannot access areas with some quality green cover to relax. Green parks will help children understand the importance of green cover from a tender age.

We will need support on this endeavor as it is a daunting task to achieve. Conversations have started around how to provide free public access to parks that can be created in various areas for kids and all of us. Let’s connect our kids with nature.

THEY CUT THIER TREES, AND CUT THEMSELVES DRY

The former tales of my area having more trees, a good population of hyenas, being less windy and rainier would leave you in disbelief when you visit today. It is a somewhat forgotten little town in the Eastern part of Kenya that has occupants struggling for close to everything. There are hardly any rivers here, no diving water and people are trying to propel development by starting up businesses that provide solutions to everyday problems.

The question that lingers in my mind since I heard these tales by the veterans of this land is, how did we get here? How did it go from being a savannah sort of area to being more of a desert? I sought to find out more on what happened and found out that what happened is still happening right now in fact – charcoal business. They are cutting themselves dry.

The population is slowly growing so development has also played a role in reducing the tree cover, but there is still a good huge piece of land that is unoccupied and barely has native trees. Some residents who pursued quick money would cut indigenous trees to sell cheap charcoal without minding the adverse effects their actions would have on the climate. So the region began to dry and became drier over the years, now, the climate is affecting the farmers in the region. They cut down the indigenous trees, leaving the land bare. The sad part is that this practice still lives on today because exotic trees continue to crop up. I met an old man cutting down an acacia tree that was barely his height, said he needed the 'shrub' for purposes of making charcoal. He removed the thorns from the tree using a machete, leaving those thorns at the very spot, something which I considered very hazardous considering that the tree was on a sidewalk.

This is why we need support to educate the masses about the importance of these trees. The support will also go a long way in helping us plant and replace the trees around these parts that have fallen over the years. It may take time to restore, but we are better off starting now. Let’s tropicalize this desert. Let one and all arise, with a common bond united to build this our land together.

THE SEASON THAT WASN’T

As a small-scale farmer, I can’t help but lament over the year’s failed

produce. I planted maize, but only ripped about 20% percent of the expected product, about 40% of peas, and equal measures of beans. The output barely reached market quality for all the crops, needless to say, I did everything right, from timely planting, weeding use of fertilizer, etc.

The maize cobs were small, the beans and peas pods produced were scarce per bean and pea plant, while the pods bore small seeds. Even then, I happened to be one of the few farmers who were lucky to have tasted my produce. Farmers are having it rough due to climate change.

The tragic farmers' story started when the August planting season began. Usually, we expected heavy rains around mid-August in these parts of the world and since, unfortunately, most small-scale farmers are not aware that the current climate change patterns have drastically affected weather patterns especially here in the Eastern part of Kenya, the farmers decided, after some scanty, showers to do their due diligence as good farmers do. They started preparing their pieces of land and sowing the seeds. The showers were few and far between and only lasted a fortnight. The crops had gotten a little bit of rain, enough to help with sprouting. Then the rains stopped. From late August through to November 2nd when there was significant rain falling. During August and October, we experienced high temperatures of up to 25.6°celsius (78.1° F) which was enough to kill the young plants by drying them out. Depressing!

At the onset of the November rains, some farmer’s replanted again with the hope that these rains would do well, it was pretty good, around 203mm 8 inches. I decided to plant my crops after about 3 days of what I thought was significant rain, just to be sure that this was a good time to plant, ignoring the weatherman telling us that this period is usually of short rains. Other farmers delayed about two weeks into the rain as they had to uproot the dried-up crops and replant again. Malaa, Machakos County, doesn’t play by the cards. It rained well over December and January and just some days into February. The maize we plant usually matures after 3 to 4 months so one would say that the rainfall was sufficient. After the rains died down, there was scorching sunshine with temperatures averaging 26.5° C (79.7°F). Somehow this, coupled with the type of soil (black cotton), was enough to stunt the growth of the crops. For most farmers, the maize had reached the budding stage, which requires water to propel the ‘fruits' to grow. Without water, the cobs stunted while most were never produced. The flowers dried, there was no pollen grain.

It is the season that wasn’t because most farmers suffered heavy losses. Calculating the cost of buying seeds, plowing, sowing (some did this process twice), fertilizer, weeding, pesticides, and top dressing, the harvest barely matched the investment. It’s now March, and according to the weather forecast, we are supposed to be expecting long rains starting mid-month through to May.

So far we are experiencing extreme temperatures of up to 32° C (89.6°F) which are doing further damage to the fruit trees and vegetables.

My family and I are seeing climate change happening right before us, we are feeling it, it is affecting farmers around us and their livelihoods, it will affect food security that's not a doubt. We need to plant more trees, reduce waste and turn to renewable energy if we hope to survive. We have already begun the initiative of repopulating the Eastern regions of Kenya with trees but we're counting on your support to propel the process further.