Across the rainy and hilly
East African highlands, landslides have become a threat to farming
communities and water resources.
Very often during the
rainy seasons, huge tracks of land- sometimes measuring over a
hectare- has been declared waste land after a massive landslides.
Farming communities have
been rendered destitute after their farms and crops are washed off in
a landslide.
In early 2010, landslides
in Bududa, eastern Uganda, near the Kenyan border left 80 people dead
as well as destroying their crops and livestock. Massive relief
effort to supply food and other needs had to be instituted by the
government and aid organisations.
But now organisations are
working with local farmers in helping curb future landslides as well
as making the degraded sites more useful.
For instance, when Jane
Wanjiru, a resident of Mukurwe village in in Gatanga division,
Murang'a County, Central Kenya woke up one morning in 2007, she could
not believe how a part of her 4 acre piece of land had changed
overnight.
“ It was a period of
heavy torrential rains. Overnight, it was if a heavy load of load had
been placed on a section of the land which had started sinking. We
felt scared”, remembers Wanjiru, in her mid-thirties.
Hilly and sloppy, Gatanga
nestles close to the shoulders of Aberdare Ranges close to Ndakaini
Dam- the reservoir that supplies the city of Nairobi with over 70 per
cent of its water needs. It is also a tea growing area with the
region supplying three processing factories.
It is prone to massive
landslides that have rendered big chunks of farms inaccessible and
dangerous – threatening food security and household economies.
Degradation of this land
also affects the rivers that serve Ndakaini Dam namely Thika, Chania
Kayuyu and Githika.
“ Often, local farmers
believe it is an act of God and do little in terms of thinking of the
best ways to prevent future landslides. Others just leave the
degraded sections unattended -reducing their food production
capacity, increasing poverty levels”, observed Polly Wachira,
project officer with Sustainable Agriculture Community Development
Programme (SACDEP) , a Thika-based organisation working with
landslide victims in rehabilitating landslide sites.
According to local
experts, landslides occur in hilly areas with deep soils and heavy
rains. Often with excessive removal of trees, such areas are usually
bare and prone to erosion.
During heavy rains, part
of the land soaks up huge amount of water and cannot hold the weight
of the soil and slides downwards leaving huge gullies in their wake.
“ Part of this hilly
land moved and almost covered up our spring- the only source of water
for local households. We suffered immensely with the destruction of
our water source”, remembers Lucy Wanjiku, a resident of Gitiri
village in the same region at another degraded site near Gitiri
dispensary.
Like other villagers , the
prospects of rehabilitation of landslide site would revive their
water source as well as prevent future landslides that threatens a
local dispensary constructed under the Constituency Development Fund
(CDF).
“ We need to stabilize
this land before all our efforts are wasted by landslides. With
little development areas left out during land subdivision in the
1950s, the local community has had to raise funds to buy land for the
construction of the dispensary and school now threatened by the
malignant landslide. Action is needed now to save the land”, said
John Nyagia, an official of Thika Water Resources Users Association.
With the immediate and
urgent nature of the problem, different ways have been sought to stem
the tide of landslide destruction.
“ Our approach is
landslide rehabilitation entails two issues- stabilization and
healing. Stabilization involved stopping further loss the land mass
of the affected area and healing involved a permanent solution to
curb any chance of sliding in future”, observed Kennedy Mwashako,
project officer with SACDEP in charge of landslide rehabilitation.
According to Mwashako, an
agriculturalist, farmers in the degraded areas plant Vetiver grass
(Chrysopogon zizanioides)
for stabilizing the area.
Research has shown that
vetiver grass barriers accumulates soil on their up- slope side which
helping to restore degraded soil. It has been recommended as live
barriers on steep slopes typical of those cultivated by small-holder
farmers
Later indigenous trees
such as Meru Oak( Vitex keniensis )and Elgon teak(Oleo
capensis) are planted. Giant bamboo are also being used.
According to SACDEP
officials, the planting of indigenous trees in the region has been
boosted by the Kenya Tea Development Agency's directive to local
farmers to avoid growing of Eucalyptus in the farms.
Even though indigenous
trees take longer to mature compared to exotic trees like Eucalyptus,
their products- timber and fuel wood are more profitable.
“ Increasingly, the
giant bamboo (Bambusa oldhamii)
are also being planted on landslide sites. With their fast growth and
extensive fibrous roots, the bamboo has become a vital tree in
rehabilitating degraded areas”, notes Mwashako.
Using funding from Global
Environmental Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme, SACDEP has been
able to mobilize 22 affected farmers aiming at rehabilitating the
degraded sites.
“ Farmers raise the
seedlings and the project buys them. They are then planted in the
landslide sites by the affected farmers or community groups”, says
Ms Wachira.
And some farmers are
earning huge returns in raising seedlings.
“ At Ksh 500 ($ 5.60)
per a giant Bamboo seedlings, one can make some good returns even
though it is demanding raising them. Survival rate are just around 30
per cent but returns are good”, asserted Paul Kuria, a retired
banker and one of the farmers raising seedlings for the landslide
rehabilitation.
The neeed to prevent
future landslide incidences in the East Africa remains a matter of
concern to regional goverments.
A recent report from
Bulambuli in Eastern Uganda, close to Mt Elgon shows that food
supplies are running low after farms were destroyed by landslides.
Sanitation and school attendance have been affected as famine makes
many residents leave the area -seeking better fortunes elsewhere.
(ends)
