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Kenya: As extreme weather drives rustling, pastoralists turn to farming
Posted by AlertNet: Isaiah Esipisu on April 2nd, 2013
AlertNet: In Nambeyo village in Kenya's semi-arid Isiolo County, former pastoralist Joseph Elila and his wife Pauline are busy threshing sorghum to remove the grain from the stalks. The couple has been converted into smallholder dry-land farmers after they lost their entire animal stock to cattle rustlers two years ago.
The area is well known for pastoralism. But this kind of livelihood is threatened by worsening banditry, something experts say is a result of more extreme weather.
Herders living in areas...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on Kenya: As extreme weather drives rustling, pastoralists turn to farmingWater-sparing rice farming proves viable in Kenya
Posted by AlertNet: Isaiah Esipisu on March 25th, 2013
AlertNet: Faced with pressure on supplies of irrigation water due to climate shifts and an increasing population, rice farmers in four Kenyan irrigation schemes have adopted a new crop management system that allows them to grow their crops without flooding their paddies throughout the season.
The Kenyan government, through the Mwea Irrigation Agricultural Development Centre (MIAD), has borrowed a technique from India known as the system of rice intensification. It has proved to be an effective way of growing...
‘Sand dams’ bank water for dry season in semi-arid Kenya
Posted by AlertNet: Isaiah Esipisu on February 20th, 2013
AlertNet: Barely a month after heavy rains pounded Kenya, many seasonal rivers in the country's semi-arid east are already drying up, and residents are preparing for the months-long dry season.
But some, like Paul Masila and other members of the Woni Wa Mbee self-help group, are not worried about the looming dry spell. Instead, they are preparing to plant crops or are harvesting fields they planted before the rains.
The group -- the name means "progressive vision' in Kamba, the local langage -- have...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on ‘Sand dams’ bank water for dry season in semi-arid KenyaKenya: Cutting food waste crucial to ensuring food security, experts say
Posted by AlertNet: Isaiah Esipisu on February 13th, 2013
AlertNet: Sticking to what's written on your shopping list, checking food expiry dates, cooking just enough but no more and a few other simple practices can help curb global food waste, which amounts to 1.3 billion tonnes of food every year, experts say. This is vital at a time when climate change and population growth are reducing the availability of food for millions of vulnerable people around the world, they add. "With the World Bank warning of the possibility of a four-degrees-centigrade temperature...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kenya: Cutting food waste crucial to ensuring food security, experts sayKenya tackles climate threats to wildlife, tourism
Posted by AlertNet: Isaiah Esipisu on January 10th, 2013
AlertNet: Climate shifts are forcing Kenyan experts to take drastic action to preserve the stunning scenery and wildlife that have drawn millions of tourists to the east African country, bringing vital revenue and providing thousands of jobs.
From collecting rainwater in national parks to providing animals with hay in hard times and preventing alien species of vegetation from taking over grassland, Kenyans have joined regional and global projects to grapple with the changes, which are having deep and rapid...
Kenyan farmers cut tilling to raise yields, store carbon
Posted by AlertNet: Isaiah Esipisu on September 11th, 2012
AlertNet: In the west Kenyan village of Siilila, 27-year-old Geoffrey Wanjala and other members of his farmers' group are trying out a way of working the land that avoids ploughing and releasing the carbon dioxide stored in the soil. So far it is also cutting their costs and boosting yields.
Traditionally, farmers across Kenya till their land at least twice before planting, then weed it after their seeds have germinated. But the new method, known as conservation agriculture, aims to leave the land in its...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Kenyan farmers cut tilling to raise yields, store carbonWater filter campaign aims to cut emissions in W. Kenya
Posted by AlertNet: Isaiah Esipisu on June 15th, 2011
AlertNet: In the tiny west Kenyan village of Ejinja, eye-watering smoke emanates from Edith Adisa's grass-thatched kitchen. The choking pollution comes from the firewood the mother of three uses to boil water for her family and anyone else who might drop by.
"My house is close to the road. And in this part of the country, it is a common habit for thirsty people trekking along the road to ask for water from nearby homesteads like mine,' says Adisa. "Yet it's only fair that I offer them safe water.'
She...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Water filter campaign aims to cut emissions in W. Kenya