KENYA : The national government through the Ministry of Information, Communications and The Digital Economy has promised to pay stipends to youths who would be engaged in protection of grown tree seedlings in counties of Nandi and Kisii.
A Senior Deputy Secretary in the Ministry Hezron Nyamberi revealed that funds would be set aside to pay a few youth scouts who would be involved in weeding for tree growing areas, while offering protection.
Nyamberi who made the remarks during the tree growing exercise in Kubujoi Forest, Nandi South Sub-County said engagement of youths in Kisii County to protect grown trees was bearing fruits and this would soon be initiated in Nandi.
“We started engaging the youths from the month of September in Kisii to protect grown seedlings and so far, no tree seedling has been uprooted or destroyed as previously reported,” he said.
He said the Ministry is working closely with the community to identify a few scouts to provide protection in tree grown sites. “They will do the weeding and protection of the grown trees,” he said.
Nyamberi challenged agencies, non-state actors and various partners to work with the Ministry of Information, Communications and The Digital Economy towards greening degraded sites in Nandi County.
He said the Ministry target is to plant 10 million trees with the State Department of Broadcasting and Telecommunication doing 5 million and the State Department of ICT and Digital Economy also have to plant 5 million trees in the counties of Kisii and Nandi.
“So far, we have done 20,000 tree seedlings as opposed to the target of 500,000 trees this year due to unpredictable rain patterns in the region,” Nyamberi said.
“Today in Kubujoi Forest, we were supposed to have planted 10,000 tree seedlings but due to weather vagaries, we have only done 1000 trees,” he added.
Nandi County Forest Conservator Dennis Kerengo reiterated that they would provide the needed support in identifying the right individuals from the community to protect grown trees since already, the community of Nandi had been sensitized on planting and protecting trees.
Kerengo revealed that a total of 8.6 million trees had been grown in Nandi County since the beginning of the year against the year target of 17.4 million trees.
“We are bulking trees in the nurseries so that by February, March and May next year, we will be able to surpass our target,” he said.
He said the Kenya Forest Service had mobilized One Acre Fund, Eastern Produce Kenya, various agencies CBOs and NGOs to provide sufficient trees seedlings to be planted by next year.
“We also encourage fruit tree seedlings for its high demand in areas outside gazetted forest. Our farmers have a high affinity for fruit trees,” he said.
According to him, gazetted forests in Nandi is 63,000 hectares which forms about 26 percent of the land mass, this falling below the target area.
He said the bigger area which needed to be planted is within the private firms; the tea estates and also government owned land such as institutions and schools.
“To meet the President's Directive to plant 15 billion trees in the next 10 years, we are ensuring every land unit has 30 percent trees cover,” the County Forest Conservator said.
Kerengo noted that Nandi County is privileged to work together with the area Members of Parliament, local communities through Kenya Forest Association and Planting Protection of the Forests.
“My team and relevant partners will ensure trees grown areas are protected from weeds and animals or human destruction,” he noted
Deputy County Commissioner Nandi South Mokin Ptang’uny said residents of Nandi were now passionate about this Presidential Directive on tree planting as a strategy to combat the life threatening effects of global warming.
Mokin said after spirited sensitization residents across all villages in Nandi County had adopted trees growing as a matter of agency for their future survival.
“One of our very local initiatives that we have adopted is to encourage everybody in the household to plant a number of trees that is in agreement with their accumulative ages and its working out,” he said.
He said every Friday in every month, Chiefs, Assistant Chiefs and the village elders are engaged in the communities in the exercise of planting trees.
“People in Nandi have owned the enterprise of planting trees and must meet this particular target,” he continued.
Other various partners and agencies present and committed towards growing trees together with the Ministry of Information included the National Government Administrative team, Semi-Autonomous Government Agencies representatives, Media Council of Kenya, Communication Authority of Kenya and the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.