Environmentalists and conservationists are now calling for adopting integrated approaches in managing invasive plant species that have spread in most Arid and Semi-Arid Areas in the country, thus reducing pasture land and affecting the livelihoods of pastoral communities.
Speaking at a two-day workshop held at a Nanyuki hotel, the stakeholders opined that there was a need to come up with different pathways in finding solutions geared towards the management and control of Opuntia, an invasive cactus-like weed that is rapidly spreading on grasslands in the counties of Narok, Baringo, Nakuru, Taita Taveta and Laikipia.
Laikipia Wildlife Forum (LWF) Chairman and former Agriculture Permanent Secretary in the Kibaki era, Dr. Romano Kiome, said that there was a need to involve all stakeholders in finding a solution to tackling the spread of the weed and come up with a policy brief that would guide the county and the national government on ways to manage and control the spread of the invasive plant.
“We need to be open-minded and think of multi-pathways in tackling this invasive species of this weed and ask ourselves if we can make use of it, manage its manifestation, and control its spread, said Dr. Kiome.
The former PS added that the management of the species in the affected areas would require both mechanical and biological ways to tackle the spread and thus need the input of different stakeholders.
“There are some communities who are opting for the manual uprooting and burning of opuntia, while there are those who have innovative ways of utilising its fruits to make juice, jam, and wine.
There has also been the introduction of cochineal insects that feed on the plant to control its spread. All these approaches should be incorporated in the policy brief we adopt in this forum,” Dr. Kiome observed.
He further challenged young scientists and researchers to adopt the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in finding solutions to tackling the weed.
Meshack Muga, a Project Coordinator with the Food and Agriculture Organisation on Arid and Semi-Arid land restoration, said that FAO, through the Restoration Initiative (TRI) project, was supporting local organisations and community groups in addressing the spread of opuntia in Laikipia by piloting biological control and utilisation of the weed in the production of animal feed, oil, wine, and jam.
He, however, noted that this practice was not yet widely established in Kenya, adding that FAO was working closely with LWF in coming up with sustainable ways of empowering communities to make good use of opuntia.
Locals, however, through their representatives from community conservancies, proposed the total removal of opuntia from the grasslands, saying that the invasive weed had affected grazing areas for livestock.
Maiyanat Community Conservancy Chairman Joachim Kuraru said that over 60 per cent of the grazing land had been consumed by opuntia and thus called for the total eradication of the plant. “This is where, as a community, we differ with the scientists as they seek other ways of its management; our livestock suffer due to lack of enough pasture,” he added.
Mukogodo Community Forest Association (CFA) Chairman Wilfred Mejooli faulted the use of cochineal insects in the control of the spread of opuntia, saying that the bugs were not effective as they would get washed away by rainwater every time it rained.
Mejooli regretted that opuntia had started encroaching on grasslands within Mukogodo forest, threatening the existence of the only savannah forest in the country.
Opuntia was first introduced in Laikipia by white settlers in 1940 but has since spread to other areas of the country in national parks such as Tsavo East and grasslands used by pastoral communities for grazing.
The workshop brought together Non-Governmental organisations on conservation, researchers and scientists, and National and County government officials on the environment, as well as local community conservation groups.
By Martin Munyi
