The recent announcement that the Kenyan government was considering lifting a ban on cultivation in its forests has proven to be controversial.
Environment and Natural Resources minister David Mwiraria said the re-introduction of non-residential cultivation was a cheap way of replanting depleted forests, adding that this would benefit both government and local communities. He explained that his ministry’s small workforce could not plant and effectively look after the trees with its small budget.
But the suggestion has elicited stiff opposition from conservationists, who have warned that the shamba system posed a threat to natural biodiversity.
Environmentalist and Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai dismissed the minister’s assertion that farmers would only be allowed to cultivate on the periphery of forests, where lantana, a wild flowery weed akin to the water hyacinth, grows. She insisted that the system was vulnerable to abuse.
“Natural biodiversity cannot be protected if human activity like growing of farm produce is going on,” she said. She dismissed the Government’s strategy to use free labour as colonial mentality that should be done away with. “The Government does not provide money for the management of forests. Instead, it relies on free labour from farmers. This is an ancient way of doing things and is retrogressive to efforts to conserve the environment.”
But squatters applauded the minister’s announcement. Mr. Samuel Muhoro Gachoka, the chairman of Ragati Squatters Association, said forest cultivation would improve food security. He said he had farmed in the Ragati area of Mt Kenya Forest for more than 15 years and had inherited the forest plots from his fore fathers. “Since the Government threw us out in 1989, we have been living by the road side,” said the 39-year-old father of two. “The rest live on road reserves and rely on relief supplies. Children have dropped out of school and families live in squalor,” the squatter lamented.
Mr Fred Ogombe, the Central Province forest officer said the re-introduction of the shamba system would benefit the squatters. He lauded the system as a noble idea that could help the landless earn a livelihood but had been misused by politicians to woo voters.
The officer explained that politicians pressured the provincial administration to carve out larger chunks of land than agreed, resulting in destruction of indigenous trees.
“The families were allowed to plant annual crops such as maize, beans and potatoes but not perennial ones. But as the families expanded, the system became untenable due to the increasing demand for land,” he explained.
Prof Maathai has promised a long and hard battle against the re-introduction of the shamba system. Her Greenbelt Movement plans protests and tours to educate the public on the dangers of the system. “No amount of legislation will prevent politicians from abusing the system. People need to understand the importance of protecting our biodiversity and stay out of the forests,” she said.Daily Nation
