Reckless human activity leaves land with ugly gullies

By FRED KIBOR

Elgeyo/Marakwet County; KENYA: Population explosion in Kerio Valley has led to clearing of vegetation to create more space for farming and settlement.

In addition, the vagaries of weather, including heavy rains that have led to massive flooding, have left the environment utterly destroyed.

Over time, deep gullies have been created especially by mass movement of livestock, threatening the survival of flora and fauna in the fragile arid ecosystem.

Lack of proper implementation and enforcement of agricultural policies on land use has also contributed to the mess and on a visit to the region; one is confronted with deep gullies that pose a risk to both people and animals.

Fredrick Chesang, a resident of Rokocho Village in Kerio Valley, names overstocking and human activities as the major factors fanning soil erosion in the region.

He says many locals drive thousands of animals back and forth daily to graze on the expansive freehold land areas.

“The cattle, sheep, goats and donkeys we keep here are ideally indigenous and they will browse on virtually any vegetation, leaving the ground bare,” says Chesang.

Steady lapse

He says the animals also make the way for rainwater to turn the paths into gullies.

“People have cleared thousands of hectares either to build homes or to establish planting ground, leaving the ground bare of protective vegetation,” continues Chesang.

This, he observes, helps storm water accelerate down slopes and form deep gullies every wet season. He recalls that agricultural officials in the early 1980s introduced the contour system of terracing and the planting of napier grass on steep slopes to stop soil erosion, but the practice was abandoned decades ago.

“There has been a steady lapse over time by the agricultural extension officers and local chiefs, as they would promptly arrest anyone violating the stipulated farming practices,” says the elderly man.

According to Chesang, the Ministry of Agriculture had clustered the region into zones that would be cultivated, inhabited or left in their natural form, but people have since encroached on the prohibited areas and caused destruction.

According to the National Environment Management Authority’s (Nema) guidelines on protection of hilltops, hillsides, mountains and forests, any form of cultivation on a slope of between 12-55 per cent gradient must incorporate appropriate soil and water conservation measures according to the Agriculture Act.

The guidelines also stipulate that there must be no cultivation at all on slopes beyond 55 per cent gradient; instead there should be afforestation and the protection of existing vegetation. The Nema regulation consequently proscribes burning of vegetation in areas of intensive agriculture or on steep slopes.

However, these guidelines have not been adhered to, with residents cultivating on the slopes right up to the hilltops, thereby exacerbating run-off water carrying soil and creating gullies. In addition, there is unchecked rampant charcoal burning going on in the region.

Steep slopes

Chesang wants laws concerning land use to be strictly adhered to so that any environmental consequences resulting from degradation can be controlled.

Keiyo North District Agricultural Officer James Kutoyi admits that human activity is the major contributors of soil erosion. “There is over-grazing and clearing of trees for charcoal burning and to create room for cultivation and settlement,” says Kutoyi.

He adds that the government has embarked on a series of sensitisation programmes on the need to conserve the environment, but residents are unreceptive because they have never practised what they are now being taught.

“The county government should come up with policies that forbid interference of vegetation in certain areas, especially on the escarpment and steep slopes,” he observes.