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Alarm bells over climate change
A graphic illustration of the deforestation in Mau forest. A new definition of a forest suggests that land that has been cleared or burned, but which remains under the control of a forest institution, is still considered to be a forest. Photo/FILE PHOTO/ GRAPHICS
Posted Sunday, February 15 2009 at 18:07
In Summary
- Kenya’s food security faces new threat, report warns
World environmental ministers meet in Nairobi on Monday as a new report warns that Kenya’s food security is under serious threat from climate change.
If unchecked, the report by environmental experts says, the food crisis could just be a tip of the iceberg as worse things are to come.
In its recent findings, the United Nations Environmental Programme (Unep) says the agricultural sector is losing up to Sh200 billion revenue because of soil erosion.
Of 58 million hectares earmarked for agriculture, only 17 per cent has high to medium potential for farming.
The arid and semi-arid lands cover about 83 per cent, and only a small percentage is suitable for livestock rearing.
The report, “Kenya: Atlas of our changing environment” says productivity in high to medium potential lands is declining in the face of growing demand for food and other agricultural products.
“Changing environmental factors related in part to climate change have already had an impact on food security for Kenyans who would benefit from reliable forecasts, increased water availability and improved soil fertility,” it says.
Some 400,000 Kenyans who grow 60 per cent of the tea in the country risk losing their livelihood if a temperature rise of only two degrees Celsius occurs due to global warming as large areas would be declared unsuitable for the crop.
The experts have also sounded the alarm on the destruction of water catchment areas through deforestation and other human activities.
“Large-scale, uncontrolled human activities like charcoal production, logging, settlement and crop cultivation pose a huge threat.”
Water towers
The five water towers — Mau forest complex, Aberdares ranges, Mt Elgon, Cherangani hills and Kakamega forest — are under threat.
One quarter of the Mau forest — some 100,000 hectares — has been destroyed since 2000 by charcoal production, logging and encroachment and settlement.
The report also notes that large mechanised wheat farms in the area surrounding the Maasai Mara have expanded by more than 1,000 per cent, significantly reducing natural grass for wildebeest.
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