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One of many benefits of a national campaign is the ability to fly over large portions of the country.
Last week, I was accompanied by Raila Odinga, our former Prime Minister, as she toured the entire coast region. We flew over Tana River district and Kilifi, Kwale and parts of Mombasa.
It’s a wonderful experience to see Kenya as it really is. You meet so many Kenyans and learn how Kenyans are different that you start to appreciate the country’s diversity. You also start to see the immense challenges facing our leaders.
The country is still very dry. Although recent rains have given some hope to farmers, they are still anxious as they remember last year’s drought. The maize was harvested, but it died before the cobs were ready.
The crop was lost and hunger erupted in the counties. Farmers are trying to scratch a living – literally. You can see small subsistence farmers trying hard to plow their tiny farms in the parched terrain as you fly through the counties. It seems hopeless.
Rain patterns across the country show that the amount of rain is decreasing year over year. This trend is only going to get worse. In the past 20 year, rainfall has dropped by more 50 percent. Sometimes, floods can occur in dry areas. It’s quite distressing to see the results.
Last year, the government had no choice but to distribute food to Kilifi in order to avoid starvation deaths. I expect that it will do the same this year and make it a regular exercise unless there is a long-term solution.
What went wrong? We have seen climate change all over the world, but we have made it worse for ourselves. As a youngster, I recall seeing thousands of cashew nut and mango trees while traveling by bus from Lamu to my hometown.
Today, you can only see the remains of abandoned plantations and trees over the years. Why did the disappearance of the cashew-nut trees? Because the only cashew nuts factory in Kenya closed many years ago. The cash crop also died in Kenya.
Meanwhile, international prices kept rising! What is the matter with Kenyans, then? In the absence of buyers the farmers cut down the trees to make charcoal. The trees died, and the land became barren. It’s a sad cycle.
If Kilifi politicians don’t start looking forward 10 years and planning from now, then in 10 years they will be feeding the entire county and most of their budgets will end up in famine relief and dealing with undernourished children. It is high time they started an aggressive campaign to plant trees, identify water sources, build dams, preserve as much water as possible during the rainy seasons.
They must encourage farmers to attract investors to build factories to process cashew nuts, coconuts, and mangoes. They must provide economic incentives for farmers. It is time to encourage children to plant trees and adopt them.
Gideon Mungaro, my friend, was flying with me. He is aspirant to become Governor of Kilifi. I advised him to fly from Kenya to learn how to make deserts into farms. They will end up causing hunger and poverty among their people. They will be judged harshly by history.
