Machakos
climate awareness
Integrating
environmental conservation strategies into
the so hyped Machakos County development blueprint will be a step in
the right direction. Climatic awareness has recently received global
attention, and overlooking local effort would be outright dangerous.
Simple statistics of the County indicate a temperature range of 18 to
25 degrees Celsius throughout the year and a bimodal average rainfall
of 500mm – 1300mm annually, which is unevenly distributed and
unreliable. The total human population is slightly above a million
and the main economic activity is mixed farming. That withstanding,
impacts of climatic hazards desperately impede the County’s growth
potential. Food security, as an example, grossly is compromised and
the belly of a meaningful livelihood ripped open.
Climate
change has highly been attributed as the cause. This predicament has
profound and far-reaching effects on the environment, ecosystems,
natural resources and human life. Its impacts and food security are
directly interconnected and it is not surprising why households have
completely reverted to markets for food supplies. Droughts, floods,
pests and diseases, fluctuating temperatures, water scarcity,
unpredictable precipitations – bedevil this County.
According
to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental panel on
climate change, most severe consequences of climate change will
likely be on food security and livelihoods of agricultural dependent
populations in vulnerable countries. The report further indicates
that climate change will likely reduce agricultural productivity,
production stability and income in areas that already experience high
levels of food insecurity. Long-term changes in the patterns of
temperature and precipitation will shift production seasons and
contribute to the emergence of new animal and plant diseases or
introduce diseases in places where they formerly did not exist. It is
aptly then understood that the food security trend in this County is
and has been deteriorating. Other prerequisites of good health as
water and air have also been adversely affected.
All
concerned parties should then swing into action and turn the image of
Machakos County into its right place. Concentrating on conservation
techniques will guarantee hope for generations to come.
Throughout
my childhood years, wild fruits would supplement our daily meals but
the fate of climatic calamities has swept into extinction the
indigenous plant species that bore the fruits. It would be dead hope
for any of the present generations’ offspring to locate or know by
name single existing wild fruit tree. To cope and survive these
depriving situations, house-holds sale firewood, burn charcoal, do
casual labor, borrow and rely on remittances and gifts from
relatives. In extreme cases, jarring strategies such as reduced food
intake, skipping of meals and reliance on relief food are employed.
However,
a new U.N report suggesting fortification of everyday diets with
nutrient rich insects makes me squirm in my seat. This may not be a
comfortable idea to the world especially in my local community where
a mere mention of certain insects makes people cringe. The study’s
findings on what the researchers call ‘six-legged livestock’ –
edible bugs, crickets, caterpillars, grasshoppers, termites – is
such a worthy debatable topic in striving to end the food security
crises. Entomologists may emphasize the protein-vitamin-mineral
triple richness source of these worms, but heaven would open up if
the rural poor of Africa will embrace their wisdom.
That
being a classic case, our commitment on matters environment should
receive a boost or else we acquiesce to the U.N’s option.
Institutional capacities in alleviating hunger, diseases and climate
related hazards in Machakos County must be strengthened. Assessment,
identification and prediction of impacts on vulnerable
micro-environments and associated households should be a priority.
Dissemination of the so needed information on climate awareness would
scale down anticipated catastrophes of environmental degradation.
The
County steering committee is already in place and their performance
record would positively or negatively enter historical books – we
are watching!
