MITI 5

Meet Jürgen Griesbach, Kenya’s “Baba Matunda“ The road to restoration of the Mau Time to draw the line on Nairobi National Park Running forests as a business Jua Kali furniture maker has big ambitions

I s s u e N o.5 J an u ar y - Ma r c h 2 0 1 0

There is water in ASAL We just need to know where to look and how to harvest it

A tree made for drylands

Faidherbia albida has potential to help cope with climate change, feed people and protect the environment

Commercial forestry takes root

Eat your fruit And make money growing it

MITIIIII.indd 1

7 174000 121003 >

Ugandan farmer-politician shows the way

1/29/2010 11:13:49 AM

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6

22

28

30

2

Editorial

We remain positive

4

Letters to the Editor

Readers’ views

6

A worthy venture

Fruit trees are an investment in food, health and the environment

34 24

Gathering the fruit

Kibwezi farmer points the way to successful mango growing

28

A new approach to tree growing in Uganda

Sheila Mishambi has taken to commercial forestry with a passion

30

Small beginnings

Although operating in the jua kali sector, Dagoretti Corner furniture maker nurses big ambitions

9

Meet Jürgen Griesbach, Kenya’s “Baba Matunda“

32

The man who improved and expanded fruit growing in Kenya

Tree out-grower schemes are the way forward

Partnerships between tree growers and major wood using industries guarantee markets for farm tree products

34

There is water in drylands

We just need to know where to look and how to harvest it

37

Water in the right doses

Effective irrigation is a delicate balance between soil conditions, the needs of the crop and availability of water

12

The road to restoration

After all the noise, it’s time to rehabilitate the Mau Forests Complex

13

Searching for answers

Better Globe Forestry is looking for knowledge on reliable planting in an unreliable climate, with encouraging results

16

Running forests as a business

The law stipulates that all state, local authority and provisional forests must be managed according to a management plan

40

A solid hedge

Mukau: A Ken with a brig yan drylands tree ht future Yatta farm er farming big makes tree business Interview with Uga ndan farm George May er, anja

What the experts say about investing in trees

20 Time to draw the line

MITIIIII.indd 1

Stand up to be counted as we save the Nairobi National Park for posterity

22

Which way for macadamia nuts?

John Waithaka sheds some light on the potential and future of this food tree

A two-and-a-half-year-old mango orchard under drip irrigation in ASAL. At maturity, one hectare should produce an average of 15T per year.

Planting distance is wide, at 7x8m, to provide for a healthy environment (blights!) and plenty of light for flowering, and intercropping with an adapted crop like pigeon peas is possible.

Issu e No.5 Janu ary

There is

- Marc h

2010

water in ASAL

We just nee look and d to know where how to har to vest it

Made fo

r drylands

A tree wit h feed peo potential to slow ple and pro down clim ate change tect the environme , nt

Commer cial forest Ugandan farmer-po

Eat your

And make

ry takes

litician sho ws the wa y

fruit

money gro wing it

root 3 >

Faidherbia albida has potential to slow down climate change, feed more people and protect the environment

12100

Meet Jürge n Griesbach , Kenya’s The road “Baba Matu to restoratio nda“ n of the Time to draw Mau the line on Nairobi Natio Running forests as nal Park a business Jua Kali furni ture make r has big ambitions

On the cover

7 1740 00

18 Made for drylands

1/29/2010 11:13:57 AM

Editorial

We remain positive

T

he year 2010 is well and truly with us. We at Miti wish all our subscribers and occasional readers, our contributors and our well-wishers, a very happy new year. Unlike 2000 a decade ago, we started this new year without apocalyptic fears and sleepless nights watching our computers for some killer bug and waiting helplessly for the world to end.

So, all is well and in our forestry thinking, we hope for abundant rains at the right time, many healthy trees planted and a widely understood concept that trees are a profitable key to a better future. The alternative is that one day, the earth will effectively become desert.

In this issue, we explore the importance of fruit trees. You will be happy to meet Jürgen Griesbach, or “Baba Matunda” as he is fondly known, a pioneer who has done a lot to develop fruit growing in Kenya.

Another pioneer, John Waithaka, tells the story of macadamia trees in Kenya.

In a candid letter to the editor, Eric Van der Linden, the Head of Delegation, European Union Delegation to Kenya, gives a careful but hopeful picture of Kenya (or should we say Africa?) today and tomorrow in matters of afforestation. Meanwhile, we examine the route to rehabilitation of the Mau Forest.

We are covering new ground in afforestation and healing our land from physical degradation as demonstrated by the Green Line initiative. This is a public-private partnership to create a green buffer zone between Nairobi National Park and Nairobi’s Industrial Area.

The article by KEFRI scientists Joshua Cheboiwo and David Langat on partnerships between tree growers and major wood-using industries is a revelation. KFS’s contribution on forest management is very informative. You will also enjoy reading of the Ugandan politician who has taken to tree growing with a passion.

There is water in drylands. Yes, but it is all going to waste. Read what Herman Verlodt and Erik Nissen-Petersen have to say on water management in drylands.

All articles in Miti are positive. We always look for the good even when there is reason for concern.

Enjoy your first Miti of 2010.

Jean-Paul Deprins

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Contributing Editor

Editor-in-chief

Designer

Managing Editor – Kenya

Advertising and subscription - Kenya

Technical Editor

Advertising and subscription – Uganda

Rino Solberg

Jean-Paul Deprins Wanjiru Ciira

Jan Vandenabeele

Managing Editor – Uganda

Julie Solberg

Editorial Coordinator – Uganda Joshua Ondyer

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We must protect forests everywhere

Throughout history and all over the world, forests have protected people and provided a livelihood. In days gone by, the exploitation of forests took place in a way that respected nature. Technological progress, however, has put this in serious danger. Agricultural techniques have improved, allowing for higher yields necessary to feed a fast growing population. With increasing scarcity of fertile land, farmers - legally or not – have encroached on forest land. This has happened in many countries.

In Kenya these days, all attention is focused on the biggest water tower in the country - the Mau Forest Complex. Over the years, the Mau has suffered from severe encroachment as the land/people ratio has fallen continuously. Unscrupulous politicians, for whom the longterm interest of the country and of the vast majority of its people is less important than short-term financial and/or political gain, have sometimes (mis)used this fact.

It is sad to see how the whole Mau issue has been politicised, and this precisely in the country of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Prof Wangari Maathai. It appears that her relentless fight for the rehabilitation of forests is still falling on many a deaf ear.

The steadfastness of the Kenya government in pursuing a policy of restoration of its five water towers is to be lauded. This must be and should remain a national priority as Kenya’s forest cover has fallen to a paltry 1.7 per cent, one of the lowest in Africa.

The Kenya government has stated that within 10 years, the forest cover should be increased to 10 per cent. This objective is laudable although I fear it will not be achievable. If indeed a forest cover of even 5 per cent is realised, we can all celebrate but even that seems a Herculean task given that Kenya’s population increases every year by more than 1 million people. Clearly, the population pressure will only increase and the fight for ever-scarce arable land will increase as well.

Climate change will add a further burden on the people, rendering a situation created by human mismanagement even worse.

We must protect our forests everywhere, in the interest of future generations. Provided appropriate policies are implemented, Kenya could even turn afforestation into a lucrative business through carbon trade. This will require vision and good governance.

Eric van der Linden Head of Delegation European Union Delegation to Kenya

You have done a good job

I

received the third issue of Miti magazine recently and the layout, editorial, picture and general quality looks and feels marvellous.

Congratulations to all for an outstanding publication. It could not have come at a better time when all the attention is focused on the depletion of national forest cover with disastrous effects such as famine, power rationing, human-wildlife conflict, high food prices and much more, all very scaring. Thanks some more!

Through your publication, I hope to learn how to identify appropriate species, and how to plant and care for trees.

Anthony Kamau Nairobi

4

MITIIIII.indd 4

of ration imum infilt s as a for max leave our lines shed their along cont trees have been done n grams. The ghing has of gree work: Plou a cover crop the soil y for ezi. Note perfectly read all is

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0.85 u’s farm Spacing on Mr Kituk 3.84 planting 4.5x4.5m Number Mukau 1.63 eved Year 4x4m 419 are achi 6.91 latter two s 4x4m 2005 2,400 esting. The with green gram g water harv 13.22 cropping 4x4m land alon 2006 1,016 inter the ly g ghin by year and plou maximum off.

2007 4,320 has or cowpeas lines, to achieve runbut he mal year, mini our 2008 8,155 ting this the cont tations water and cowpeas are for plan au plan n of rain s and seedlings of muk TOTAL s, infiltratio art gram , n ertie the prize her. g prop that gree ity. The the teac mastered ing up gen-fixin fit. The It helps wood qual lengths of better than farmers are pick can bene not , with nitro g almost ading the bole au trees ring do legumes mentorin thus degr in clean of some au trees h the muk Neighbou Kituku is now ds , is to obta es a difference l from whic clean, so the muk , and Mr with wee however technica mak h trend ients them kept s the whic mukau land is r and nutr . He give up to 6m, 3,000 per tree. ding the for wate 36 of them 0 to es inclu growing Kituku compete Ksh 2,00 ers are sometim right, Mr es. advice, the farm formula ting , and one and bush . Most of ing the m in plan 0 seedlings ) of Mr keting . seedlings 1,00 uate Since gett a steady rhyth trees mar to page re adeq this is Futu of 100 from (standing tained table on au trees patches t 0. Apart p value has main n in the ctares, thick muk e, The stum even 4,50 single factor mos as is show a total of 13he ting of them future 40cm 0 - 6,000 per piec a the mukau, growers red au plan aration, Kituku’s biggest now cove essful muk at Ksh 5,00 into timber with soil prep e this He has stop one of the ing to succ the goats. Onc Ksh estimated es him doesn’t e up to essing them contribut out mukau and he which mak the valu nwide, , young keeping ious while proc au natio is simply conveyed would push tree. Even a caut of muk s, erly gets ht land chainsaw age standard idea prop ually boug acreage lished for an aver money by any thrive. there.

14,000 u has grad u has estab doing lings just asing the is good of a poor seed Kituk Mr Kituk 00 ng incre Mr is . plot, it all, Ksh 12,0 the setti ery and ultural To cap hectares) his core au nurs inly so in re agric around 2009 acres (64 ial muk visited the . One and certa ezi whe for the than 160 a commerc ness. When Miti like Kibw h this level River, aring land to more be busi rural area can never matc s of Athi ns are , he is prep re spacing will excellent es the bank plantatio waiting Currently the trees ted on alternativ re Mr Kituku’s stments r rains. Futu 0 seedlings is around, allow for place, loca whe ng his inve Novembe er, at 5x5m, to about 8,00 ion. can see market ithstandi high competit there were willing buyer to, notw between slightly with less .A leading s.

Kituku anything bigger to be sold ing cost going for l spirit, Mr nsaw, year ’s to grow and runn preneuria seedlings chai piece. Last es was a with entre per hase 75 dule In true his to purc 00 piec and Ksh ment sche to get d to thin Ksh 50 n of 24,0 planning ll lorry, Manage for 14 not inten productio is already out of a sma to grow u does et, with seedling use dreams the trees Mr Kituk ly sold out. evement, beca age DBH and even to the mark He sees the n, leaving an aver straight complete iaries. , for y an achi plantatio the expects timber of med , 2cm reall he , his is ext inter basa 40-4 r then This of or othe in the cont au propagation t, in Mom is height) years. By and is brokers be put at breast at the coas estimation Nairobi, it has to make muk have to mainly (diameter 4-5m high. His in his prices than lities that market ble fruits way. mukau bole s better technica fruit ed, suita the high a clean a DBH standing tic. Inde which offer - 300km over trees, the a single s old, with problema from superior Kituku has lting reach based on now nine year the resu facts, Mr easy to cted ting. d, s. of these ved and be colle tree plan compoun In view be remo the in the seed nist for to ing obta nsio 25cm. like has I, to hly Prun skin ked KEFR an exte slit and lenge. of roug nuts crac to be carefully become ia is a chal tance from g renders wooden (Dalberg they Pruning gets assis when youn of a strong rwards mpingo s then have He still severely of 1,000 icide. Afte (kind of miniThe seed kwood) ing ing in case trees too ors a donation or African blac with a fung ying prun e to bend propagat moisture treated lon in them pron other hand, dela noxy to inate mela right the enough must germ to have the plicated, s strong knots, wind. On get stem ting big rather com nhouses) to It’s r crea s. gree s risks in orde collecting condition d the wind and heat rward like much withstan straightfo without sowing not at all been seeds and technique has eucalypt nately this KEFRI. ntly by care. Fortu nd d compete future of dryla n develope isn’t the This optio Well, if this on what is? s down Kenya, then ent, step areas in ronm available s the envi of locally ey conserve makes full use uce mon ion, prod soil eros s and will resource natural rty. pove ce e and redu

d the then to u contacte anyway. red him , Mr Kituk In 2002 which refer tute ezi, is artment, arch Insti in Kibw Forest Dep a Forest Rese assist who lives

By Jan Vand District, l Keny ded to Kituku, the loca , Makueni onathan r KEFRI deci nsii) tree station. from Wote years ago. Afte ia volke (KEFRI) 2003, au (Mel 51 originally ed these in 40 muk was born he start due him with u planted where he primary school, t was Kituk learn . This . Mr ng survived where he seedlings holes completi 18 of them niques – the ll company e skills, he but only in a sma tech of this, er . With thes working y planting ever, because us Kenya Pow trical skills to fault tion at the all over the some elec small. How u was not a serio ing red a posi were too Kituk ght Mr later secu pany, work set up on his KEFRI thou ting Com ting ded to insis him and Ligh deci born n, in came to farmer. before he some stub a . The idea u out agai country, .

So it took e, where Mr Kituk ing trees seedlings I helped own, grow stationed in Kital mukau growing before KEFR was , with 318 ey from lings while he along river mber 2005 another 101 seed make mon to Dece nursery already mukau added friend used . eries but ezi, as he had Kituku’s tree nurs supplies a in Kibw To this he trees ery that , KEFRI was Jonathan r farmers have He to settle Grevillea own nurs growing biggest. lings usually however u chose ting started from his Athi. Othe certainly the Mr Kituk d. This time arations for plan his seed dable, and tment, with is establishe Kituku’s ty of clients and was affor survival poin the prep g sure ing disap e the land a durin look to mak wide varie in proved present started planting, resulting maize. This ic yields. So he , good sell-out. even the h it was, trees and t and of 4x4m errat Whic plan er. d high spacing low and d in he coul , d, with rol and would be . to see if , as his frien ed this time maintaine llent weed cont around mortality s were bigger and urag low out of them ey exce s disco very and ting hole 200 9 make mon Kituku was not st four year pruning The plan emb er Mr , where done Today, almo Kitale did. was a dry area ber - Dec ssionally 0x50cm. not been ezi at 50x5 n is profe Miti Octo that Kibw tree planting had idea. It had plantatio ial later, the his in merc ved com there d, but belie were growing introduce trees ible, as to be poss

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Article was motivating

I

t was encouraging to read the story of Jonathan Kituku, a successful tree farmer in Kibwezi, which appeared in Miti issue 4. As a scientist and farmer in the drylands, I find the magazine very useful. I planted close to 500 seedlings of Melia volkensii last rainy season, a number I have maintained for three years in a row.

I find the magazine very informative on issues of environment and plants.

Thank you for the magazine and God bless.

Itambo Malombe Nairobi

I am paid up

I

received a complimentary copy of Miti 4 and was pleasantly surprised by the content. I did not even know such a magazine existed. I am now a keen reader of the magazine and so as not to miss any issue, I have paid for a year’s subscription.

However, I have a complaint. In your listing of suppliers, you did not list any supplier of seeds and seedlings for plantation forestry, agroforestry and related activities.

In future, please do not restrict your listing to purely commercial outlets.

Michael Onyango Nairobi Thank you Mr Onyango for your observations. They are well taken.

You can buy tree seedlings from the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (Kefri). For agro-forestry needs, one can get seeds and seedlings from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari). These institutions have field stations throughout the country.

In addition, many private nurseries do exist, even in towns like Nairobi where they can be seen along major roads (e.g. Ngong Road).

Sometimes these nurseries specialise in ornamental or indigenous tree species or in commercial timber species. Most of them have a mixed assortment of tree species.

- Editor

Miti January - March 2010

1/29/2010 11:14:00 AM

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A rich harvest on a mango farm. The varieties in view are Apple (in the background), Van Dyke (purple-red), Kent (foreground) and Dodo (dark green). The yellow fruits are sweet melons

A worthy venture

Fruit trees are an investment in food, health and the environment

M

By Jan Vandenabeele

ost of us associate tree growing with timber. Non-timber products like gum, seeds and dyes mostly come as an afterthought.

Production of fruits and nuts, however important, is not really seen as a tree growing enterprise also capable of sequestering carbon and preserving the environment.

In reality, however, fruit trees do this, in addition to giving us healthy food, rich in vitamins and minerals. Planting fruit trees is an investment in food security. Fruits are also important in the cosmetics industry, with beauty oils and creams prepared from ingredients like avocado kernels or macadamia nuts.

As for the carbon sequestration, small trees conserve less carbon than big ones. A simple rule is that about half of the woody tissues of a tree, be it branches, stem or its root system, is composed of pure carbon, extracted from the atmosphere.

Today, however, the trend in horticultural development is towards smaller-sized fruit trees. New cultivars, relatively small trees or bushes are bred for various characteristics, easy harvesting being one of them. The fruits are within reach and can be harvested without ladders.

6

MITIIIII.indd 6

For instance, the old mango trees at the coast, planted some 50 to 60 years ago, are huge and towering, up to 15 to 20 metres, compared to grafted cultivars that barely reach 6 to 10 metres. The same is true for avocado, with grafted trees growing only up to 5 or 7 metres. However, fully-grown macadamia trees may still reach 15-20 metres.

Nevertheless, fruit trees are woody and conserve carbon in their productive life. They also share other characteristics with forest trees - creating a beneficial micro-climate, fixing the soil through their root system, purifying air and surviving dry years when annual crops wither.

Fruit orchards require more care and maintenance than forest trees, but the pickings are literally richer. Each fruit tree species has its own guidelines for spacing, fertilising, pruning, irrigating and phytosanitary protection, and those guidelines can be pretty intricate. As a reward for good husbandry, they yield fruit, at least once a year, and sometimes more, depending on the species.

As a general trend in Kenya, the areas planted with fruit trees increase on a yearly basis, and specialised nurseries cannot keep up with the demand for quality seedlings by farmers. Important earnings are made in

the export industry, but the bulk of the fruit is consumed locally and provides a living for countless smallholders. The government has recognised this and set up the Horticultural Crops Development Authority to stimulate fruit (and vegetable) growing.

A lot of progress has been made in the last 20-30 years (see interviews with Messrs Griesbach and Waithaka, pages 9 and 22, respectively). As a result, Kenya has led in macadamia growing in the region, showing the way to neighbouring countries like Rwanda. Exports of quality Kenyan fruit to Europe and the Middle East have risen despite fierce competition from Israel, South Africa, Brazil and others. But Kenya is not a fruit-growing giant like South Africa, where very important and sustained investment in research and horticultural development has taken place over a long time. Kenya still has much ground to cover in research and development of the fruit-growing sector.

Kenya, being blessed with a variety of ecosystems - from hot, moist and tropical at the coast and in the Lake Basin, to cool, humid and temperate in the Central Province and Rift Valley highlands - is able to grow an impressive variety of exotic fruit trees. There is indeed a big range, as the table on page 8 shows.

Miti January - March 2010

1/29/2010 11:14:05 AM

A citrus orchard in Yatta district. The orchard suffered serious mortality, perhaps through disease but more likely through drought, as the district was hit hard by drought late last year.

The fruits are “exotic” because originally they came from another part of our planet. It is amazing how interesting genetic material has travelled, and continues to travel, around the world. For instance, mango trees (just like jackfruit) are from the Indian subcontinent and southern Asia. Avocado and the white sapote came from Central America; cherimoya, guava, cashew nut, pawpaw and custard apple from South America while domestic apples are believed to derive from an apple species home to Eastern Europe and Western/Central Asia. All species of pears came from Europe (Pyrus communis) or Asia (Pyrus serotina).

The kiwi fruit and oranges came from southern China, as did the famous mulberry tree, the traditional host of silk worms. Dates most likely originated from the Middle East, from the “fertile crescent” - the plains of the Euphrates and Tigris - the actual Iraq. Figs and grapes (at least Vitis vinifera) for long limited

to a genus native to the Americas. Bananas, though strictly not a tree with woody tissue, originate from southern Asia. The kei apple, valued in Kenya more for its capacity to make a sturdy hedge and less as a fruit rich in vitamin C, finally, is an African species, and still grows in its wild form in South Africa (the Kei is a river in the Eastern Cape). Despite the name though, its little yellow fruits look more like plums than apples.

Often, improved and successful cultivars of a certain species come from a very different place from its original growing area. For instance, new macadamia cultivars are now bred in Kenya. Breeding cultivars of fruit trees started thousands of years ago, and never stops.

According to the 2003 Annual Report of the Horticultural Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, the total area under fruit in Kenya was 151,000ha. In comparison, the forest plantations managed by the Kenya Forest Service in 2009 totalled 125,000ha.

For mango and avocado, probably the two most important fruit tree crops, the following table gives information on total area and yield, for 2001 and 2003 respectively.

to the Mediterranean, originate respectively from the Near East and the South Caspian/ Black Sea areas.

Province

Avocado (ha)

Yield (T)

Central

1,980

25,198

543

4,826

97

649

8,230

45,592

Eastern

1,355

18,162

4,655

99,059

Western

648

6,420

979

7,446

Nyanza

327

11,619

1,458

13,691

Rift Valley

638

8,480

509

5,804

N Eastern

-

-

168

3,220

Coast

Nairobi TOTAL

54

420

5,099

70,948

Coconut and macadamia grew originally in the South Pacific islands (but actually Australia for edible macadamia). The delicious passion fruit, in its different species, belongs

Mango (ha)

Yield (T)

16,542

179,638

As one can see, the total area is over 21,500ha, not counting the many individual trees growing in home compounds of numerous farmers. And this area yields a vast amount of money, far more than forests can. Just look at some figures for avocado: in 2003, the volume of avocados exported represented 17 per cent of the total horticultural exports. This corresponded to a value of Ksh 892m for 20,000T 1.

Let’s conclude by considering that forest and fruit trees complement each other, by providing wind breaks to protect orchards, wooden poles for supporting systems (growing grapes, passion fruits), while soils of poorer quality cannot be used for anything else than forests. Let us also agree that there is still a lot of idle but good quality land in East Africa that can be put to good use by installing fruit orchards on it.

1 Griesbach J, Avocado growing in Kenya, 2005, ICRAF, Kenya.

A young orchard of guava trees in the Makueni countryside.

Miti January - March 2010

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Fruit tree species with potential for growing in Kenya, including non-commercial ones:

COMMON NAME

BOTANICAL NAME

ECOLOGICAL ZONE

ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE

Apple

Malus domestica

Temperate (high-potential areas, low temperature, high rainfall)

Potentially huge but now nonexistent

Avocado

Persea Americana

Temperate and tropical zones (over 2000masl), with 750-1000mm rainfall

Extremely important, good for export and local consumption

Cashew nut

Anacardium occidentale

Coastal but able to grow in altitudes up to 1200masl in a warm, relatively humid climate

Very important

Cherimoya

Annona cherimola

Not too hot and relatively humid, for altitudes between 1400-2200masl

Small

Citrus fruits (orange, grapefruit, mandarin, lemon, lime)

Citrus spp.

Ideal zones are hot and relatively humid, like the coast, Lake Basin and parts of Machakos/Makueni

Very important and with big potential far from fulfilled

Coconut

Cocos nucifera

The coastal zone

Important and with more potential

Custard apple

Annona spp.

From the coast up to 1400masl, relatively droughtresistant

Very small but with potential

Fig

Ficus carica

Sea level up to 1800masl, drought resistant

Very small

Date palm

Phoenix dactylifera

Hot dry climates

Only one known plantation in Kenya; has some potential

Grape

Vitis vinifera

Temperate – warm (depending on cultivar), relatively dry climate, preferably with some cold season; from the coast up to 1900masl

Well established in Kenya as a crop in semi-arid zones, with potential for more, especially table grapes (seedless)

Guava

Psidium guajava

Semi-arid zones, though growing up to 2100masl

Widely grown in homesteads, with big potential for improvement

Jackfruit

Artocarpus heterophyllus

From sea-level up to 1600masl, supporting a semiarid climate

Not high

Kei apple

Dovyalis caffra

1300-2400masl, prefers humid climate but is droughtresistant

Potential mostly tapped as a hedge plant, fruit collection is small, for jams and jelly

Litchi

Litchi chinensis

500-1500masl, prefers a dry and cool period for fruit setting then needs hot and wet weather

Small potential

Loquat

Eriobotrya japonica

1200-2100masl, quite drought resistant

Serious potential for improved cultivars

Macadamia nut

Macadamia spp.

1200-1800masl, the lower tea zone and coffee zones, with 1000-1500mm rainfall per year

Very important, with potential for expansion.

Good export crop

Mango

Mangifera indica

From the coast up to 1200 (1600)* masl, with 7001000mm rainfall and needing a dry period before flowering and a hot period during ripening

Extremely important, and growing. Good export crop and for local consumption

Mulberry

Morus alba, M. nigra

From sea level to 2000masl, quite drought resistant

Not commercially important now but with good potential

Passion fruit

Passiflora spp.

Purple passion: 1100-2000masl, does best in the highlands. Yellow passion: for the lowlands and more drought-resistant

Very important, and with big potential both for export and local consumption

Peach

Prunus persica

1600-2500masl, requires cool climate with 8001000mm rainfall

High potential, on condition of use of improved cultivars

Pear

Pyrus serotina (the “Asian pear”)

1700-2700masl, requires cool climate, some drought tolerance

High potential, on condition of use of improved cultivars

Plum

Prunus salicina (the “Japanese plum”)

1700-2600masl, requires cool climate, some drought tolerance

High potential, on condition of use of improved cultivars

Pomegranate

Punica granatum

Sea level to 1100 (1900)* masl, can withstand long dry spells

Not important but with potential

White sapote

Casimiroa edulis

1000-2200masl, relatively drought resistant

Underestimated and not enough known, good potential

*More marginal altitudes between brackets The writer is a forester and the Executive Director, Better Globe Forestry Ltd

8

MITIIIII.indd 8

Do bananas grow on trees?

Bananas, or plantains, that go under the botanical name Musa paradisiaca, of the genus Musa, belong to the family of the Musaceae. These giant herbaceous plants can grow up to 3m high, and have no lignification or secondary thickening of the stem as is characteristic of trees.

Hence, bananas do not grow on trees, but botanically are closely related to grasses. There are over a thousand cultivars of bananas, and they can be very tasty.

Miti January - March 2010

1/29/2010 11:14:10 AM

Jürgen Griesbach, Kenya’s ‘Baba Matunda‘ The man who improved and expanded fruit growing in Kenya

I

horticultural crop measures, the mmediately after Kenya’s training included techniques independence, a good number of vegetative propagation like of large-scale farms previously grafting and budding. Mr Griesbach owned by European settlers were visited the different prison farms transferred to indigenous ownership. three to four times a year to discuss To uphold the high productivity, the problems and programmes.

Kenyan government requested the In effect, the prison officers German government, among others, were running the scheme, to send teams of experts to assist producing outstanding farm in the management of these farms and dairy produce exhibits that were engaged in dairy and beef that won many first prizes in production, and growing crops like Agricultural Society of Kenya shows maize, wheat, sunflower, coffee and countrywide. others.

As this was a sustainable Jürgen Griesbach was one of project, making money through the managers in these teams of sales of improved fruit quality and experts. In 1965, he started working good quality planting material, as a group manager in charge of 35 other donors became interested. large-scale farms around Kitale in For instance, the Americans came Trans Nzoia District. Mr Griesbach in to support the quarantine station soon found that the country had in Muguga for importing cultivars great potential for proper fruit while the Israelis supported a drip growing. However, for the potential irrigation project for fruit trees in to be realised, a fruit tree nursery Kitale. However, the drip irrigation, and a secure place for field research with powerful and expensive needed to be put in place. Mr Jürgen Griesbach next to an apple tree. Mr Griesbach played a inputs, did not work very well. Jets leading role in the wider distribution of improved cultivars of fruit and pipes would clog up, as the Griesbach concluded that the best trees in Kenya. place to do so was the government water was dirty because the filter prison farm in Kitale. He saw the system was not well maintained. and altitudes. These stations, in places prison as neutral ground, with space There were other challenges. Imported as diverse as Malindi, Kwale, Manyani, to grow a fruit orchard and availability of cultivars needed to be in good condition and Machakos, Mwea, Nyeri, Kisumu and Homa prison staff members who could be trained be quarantined properly to ensure survival.

Bay, offered the opportunity of testing very in propagation techniques and other Important material sometimes overheated many different fruit species and cultivars, horticultural crop husbandry practices. and dried during the journey. Sometimes from tropical to temperate, in secure Mr Griesbach organised field days to scions were rotting and not growing, and locations. sensitise people on that initiative, and it at times, there was no personnel to do the Mr Griesbach imported cultivars of became quite successful. He proved that a grafting. tropical and temperate fruits from research well functioning fruit tree nursery, offering Once planted in different locations, the stations in other countries. For instance, he good quality seedlings of adapted fruit tree cultivars were screened for different factors imported Van Dyke, Sensation, Tommy Atkins such as survival, growth and yield and only cultivars, was profitable. After a functioning and other mango varieties from Florida, Horticultural Production Centre had been after approval were they sold for commercial USA, avocado cultivars from California, citrus established in Kitale, it was handed over to use outside the project. A good example of cultivars from France (Corsica) and pawpaw the trained prison staff and relevant local this is the government prison in Manyani varieties from Hawaii. He also imported authorities. The government seized the along Mombasa Road, in the hot and semithe first improved cultivars of macadamia, opportunity and requested the German arid midst of Tsavo National Park. It is still among others.

Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) to known for its different citrus cultivars, and it During the time of his attachment to the extend the initiative to the whole country. was from there that growers in Voi obtained Prisons Department, Mr Griesbach trained In 1974, Mr Griesbach was transferred citrus cultivars like Minneola and Pixie, which 110 prison officers who in turn trained to the Prisons Headquarters in Nairobi and are today found on the shelves of Kenyan inmates. Every year, some 4,000 – 4,500 this led to the so-called Horticulture Prisons supermarkets. male and female prison inmates worked in Project of GTZ. In all, 56 stations were set up Even sweet melon production from the horticultural section. Besides the basic nationwide, covering all ecological zones Voi traces its origins back to the varieties

By Jan Vandenabeele

Miti January - March 2010

MITIIIII.indd 9

9

1/29/2010 11:14:12 AM

Improved cultivars of pawpaw have been introduced in the countryside, after testing in the so-called GTZ “prison project�.

imported by the prison project to fill the open space between the wide rows of fruit trees in the Manyani prison garden. However, the fruit producers first had to fight off the elephants of Tsavo. Once the elephants tasted the sweet fruit, they wanted to eat it all. The problem was finally solved by digging a deep and wide trench around the orchard.

Even then, occasionally a determined elephant would be trapped in the trench and would have to be helped out.

Baboons were another headache, and a

10

MITIIIII.indd 10

platoon of prisoners, armed with slingshots, was employed to keep them at bay.

Pawpaws in Kenya normally are dioecious plants, meaning male and female flowers grow on different seedlings. The prison project imported hermaphrodite cultivars from Hawaii, which get male and female flowers on the same plant, so that all the plants are productive, and the fruit tastes better. The use of these cultivars - Solo and Sunrise - quickly found its way into commercial production too.

Temperate fruit Growing temperate fruit trees is a different story. Cultivars of pears and plums are grown along Naivasha road, approaching Limuru, in a rather chilly climate. In other words, the potential physical environment is there.

Some of these cultivars were introduced in colonial times and are still being maintained.

However, finding good cultivars of grafted apples, pears, plums and peaches now in Kenya is almost impossible.

Imports of South African apples,

Miti January - March 2010

1/29/2010 11:14:13 AM

A mixed orchard of citrus and mango trees, and even a pawpaw, in the Makueni countryside.

pears, plums and sometimes peaches, undercutting local prices, dominate the shelves of supermarkets, effectively scampering efforts to build a local industry.

No nurseries these days offer cultivars properly adapted to Kenya and grafted on adequate rootstock. So far, this is a missed opportunity to capture a lucrative market.

Mr Griesbach thinks that the full potential of fruit growing in Kenya is still not realised, and that much more can be done to improve the many species and cultivars

Miti January - March 2010

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of fruits that can thrive in the many Kenyan ecological zones. Others have taken note as well, and South African-based international fruit growing companies have come to Kenya to grow avocado and passion fruit in ecological zones that complement those in their home countries. This way, the production can be spread and overseas markets can be supplied almost all year round, a factor that is much valued in commercial terms.

Smallholders also can increase their

acreage, if they unite and can get loans through the Horticultural Crops Development Authority (HCDA). Another example for obtaining sufficient production volume is the out-growers’ movement for the macadamia nut industry, which supplies Kenya Nuts Ltd and other companies. Growing of fruits and nuts can bring in good returns for smallholders, and there is a growing market.

Some criticism however, is not out of place. Mr Griesbach particularly mentions the handling of harvested fruit, transporting, grading and packaging. For example, fruits like mangoes and avocados should be handled with care, to eliminate bruises and spots that reduce their shelf life. They should not be thrown around like potatoes.

More than ever, research is required, for example to fight the greening disease, a virus that has attacked the citrus crop in Kenya.

Being away from everything that could transmit the virus actually determined the choice of Manyani Prison as a quarantine station for citrus cultivars, among others.

One can still get some special cultivars of fruit tree species in some Kenyan prisons.

However, this is diminishing and the task of fruit tree research is being continued by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) with Thika as its main station.

Considering his special knowledge, it is no wonder that Mr Griesbach became known as Baba Matunda. He still receives letters of appreciation from former prison inmates who have become successful producers of seedlings or growers of fruit trees.

After completing the prison project, GTZ took advantage of Mr Griesbach’s special knowledge and skills and requested him to set up similar projects in Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Malawi, Madagascar, Somalia (where camels ate the fruit trees) and Yemen.

In addition, he has visited the Philippines, Sumatra and Jamaica to share his knowledge.

These days, Mr Griesbach takes it easy due to his age and health, though occasionally does some consulting work. He lives in Nairobi, capital of the country where he developed his fruit-growing career.

Some of Mr Griesbach’s publications on fruit growing in Kenya are: • A guide to propagation and cultivation of fruit trees in Kenya - GTZ, Eschborn 1992 (Schriftenreihe der GTZ: Nr 230), 180pp.

• Mango growing in Kenya - ICRAF 2003, Nairobi, 117pp.

• Avocado growing in Kenya - ICRAF, 2005, Nairobi, 109pp.

• Growing temperate fruit trees in Kenya - World Agroforestry Centre 2007, Nairobi, 128 pp The writer is the Executive Director, Better Globe Forestry Ltd

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1/29/2010 11:14:14 AM

The road to restoration After all the noise, it’s time to rehabilitate the Mau Forests Complex

A

fter all the bad news on Mau Forest, as documented in the previous edition of Miti, as well as all the discussions and exchanges in the media, what is being done to salvage and restore it?

In fact, the restoration of the forest is less a technical question than a socio-economic one. The bottom line is that the forest can heal itself if it is left in peace, even in a relatively short period. A good soil cover with healthy regeneration of saplings can be there in less than a decade.

Hence, the important thing is that the stakeholders agree on its management, and essentially, on its conservation.

To maintain the vital role of the Mau Forest Complex in contributing to the health and prosperity of the country, Prime Minister Raila Odinga decided to engage all the stakeholders, including all relevant government ministries, to provide a sustainable solution to the current crisis. A stakeholder consultative forum, comprising some 300 persons representing government Restoration of degraded plantations, in this case by institutions, members of parliament, planting cypress seedlings. the private sector, community-based organisations (CBOs), local and private sector and NGOs; national non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as international organisations, b) Consensus-based. Agreement was held on July 15, 2008. reached at committee level before To address the views and concerns being presented at task force level. Two expressed during the forum, the government consensus-building workshops focusing established a multi-stakeholder task on key findings and recommendations; force that was officially launched by c) Based on facts. Over 200 kg of official the Prime Minister on July 22, 2008. The government records collected, keyed in mandate of the task force was to formulate database and analysed; and, recommendations to the government on: d) Based on science. Three assessment a) An effective management structure to studies commissioned, involving teams stop any further degradation in the Mau of experts from National Museums of Forests Complex; Kenya, Moi University and legal advisers. b) Providing for the relocation of the people who are residing in the forests; c) The restoration of all degraded forests and critical water catchment areas in the Mau Complex; and, d) Mobilising resources to implement the above-mentioned objectives and secure the sustainability of the entire ecosystem.

In the conduct of its work, the task force followed a number of key principles: a) Participatory-based. Multistakeholder membership, including government, affected communities,

12

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The report of the task force was completed and submitted to the government in March 2009. It was approved by the cabinet on July 30, 2009 and by parliament on September 15, 2009.

In line with the recommendations of the task force, an interim coordinating secretariat was established in the Office of the Prime Minister in September 2009 to spearhead the implementation of the recommendations. All together, approximately 14 months were needed to move from assessment to consensus building and finally to the implementation of agreed recommendations.

The mandate of the interim coordinating secretariat is primarily to coordinate the implementation of the Mau Task Force recommendations. This coordination is to ensure an orderly, systematic and timely implementation involving the relevant government ministries and stakeholders. The actual implementation is carried out by the relevant ministries and stakeholders based on their mandate and capacity.

Some of the key ministries directly involved in the implementation of the recommendations are: Forestry and Wildlife; Lands; Water and Irrigation; Environment and Mineral Resources; Special Programmes; Education; Provincial Administration and Internal Security and Finance. Other ministries also involved are: Agriculture; Fisheries; Regional Development Authorities; Health; and Local Government.

The plan of action of the interim coordinating secretariat is based on a phased approach. The repossession of forestland comprises five phases. By mid December 2009, phases I and II were implemented (see Table 1). These two phases deal with forestland for which no title deeds have been issued. The other three phases which deal with title deeds and the delicate issues of compensation and resettlements will be implemented from early 2010 onwards.

Table 1: Phases I and II of the plan of action for the repossession of forestland

Forest area / Forest block

Status

Area (Ha)

Phase I: Forestland excised but unpacelled or unoccupied Likia Extension / Eastern Mau

Excised but vacated

530

LR 25148 / Eastern Mau

Excised but not parcelled

1,050

Mariashoni / Eastern Mau

Excised but not parcelled

2,950

Phase II: Encroachment in gazetted forest reserves (no title deeds issued) South Western Mau

Gazetted Forest Reserve

19,000

Miti January - March 2010

1/29/2010 11:14:16 AM

Fertiliser trial on mukau in Kiambere. An application of 50g, given twice to the seedlings, so far yields the best results in survival, growth and overall health.

Searching for answers Better Globe Forestry is looking for knowledge on reliable planting in an unreliable climate, with encouraging results

T

By Jan Vandenabeele

he research done by Better Globe Forestry (BGF) is still at an infancy stage, but is already very important for the company’s fieldwork. As expected, it fits into BGF’s philosophy of massive dryland afforestation. This means: i. The results must be useful for largescale application, ii. Watering, irrigation and moisture conservation play a major role, and iii. The company’s favoured tree species figure high, notably mukau (Melia volkensii), Jatropha curcas and Acacia senegal.

A small definition of drylands here is in order. We are talking about areas with average annual rainfall of 400-700mm, most of which falls in one season (November December) with less reliable precipitation in April - May. Temperatures are high, fluctuating between 24o and 30o Celsius.

Evapotranspiration ranges between 16002200mm per year. According to the agroclimatic zoning of Kenya, evaporation of 1650-2300mm per year defines semi-arid

Miti January - March 2010

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land, while evaporation of 1900-2400mm per year characterises arid land.

As rainfall in drylands is quite unpredictable, good and commercial tree growth will depend on management practices, soil improvement methods and the genetic material of the tree species itself. The research so far can therefore be distinguished under the following headings:

1. Irrigation and water conservation In order to plant all year round, trial plantations have been conducted with mostly mukau but also with Jatropha in the dry season. In Kiambere, 1ha blocks of mukau were planted in all months from June to December. Jatropha was planted in August and September.

Different watering regimes were tried, with the most satisfactory being 4 to 5 litres per week depending on the month of the year (May-July and November-January being colder, hence 4 litres; and February-April and August-October being warmer, hence 5 litres). To avoid run-off, the water was poured

Dry season planting of mukau. Optimal watering dose has to be determined to get excellent survival in the midst of the dry season. Note the presence of mulch to limit high soil temperatures.

manually into small basins constructed around each seedling. At a moistened area of 20cm diameters, this dose of 5 litres corresponds to a rainfall of 159mm (1mm of water per sq metre being equivalent to 1 litre).

The irrigation was done on a top soil of loamy sand and a subsoil going towards sandy loam. In both cases therefore, a relatively high presence of sand, easily penetrable by water and with relatively low moisture retention capacity.

The effectiveness of this operation is however greatly enhanced by mulching.

This has not been the subject of research so far, but a grass/weed mulch of 5-10cm thick with a diameter of 50-60cm is applied as a standard measure around one-year-

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Monitoring of temperatures inside propagators of mukau in nursery. A delicate balance has to be maintained between heat and moisture inside the propagator, for optimal germination of the seeds.

old seedlings. However, this mulching is degraded by termites, and has to be renewed every three months. Plans are under way for trials using chipped wood mulch.

Other measures of water conservation include elimination of competing vegetation and construction of small individual water catchments around each seedling.

Indications are that chemical weed elimination by a herbicide (e.g. glyphosate) is more beneficial than hoeing, because of less damage to superficial roots around the seedlings. Using a herbicide also diminishes erosion as the dried rests of grasses and weeds are left standing and act as a break to run-off, thus favouring infiltration of surface water.

Half-moon shaped - and other small catchments - are likely to trap more water, but research is needed to study the effectiveness, including cost, of other kinds of catchments, like negarims.

doses of a commercially available agricultural fertiliser were applied, with clearly discernible effects on survival, growth and health of mukau seedlings. The fertiliser used so far (Mavuno) has a high phosphorous content, good for kick-starting a vigorous root system, and also includes trace elements like zinc (Zn) and boron (B).

A split application of 100g (50g at planting and 50g after three months of growth), seems to be the best option so far. Growth and vigour are enhanced, and possibly resistance against the red spider mite (Tetranychus urticae) though more research has to be done for confirmation.

This research was done in cooperation with the University College of Ghent, Belgium, as part of a Master of Science (MSc) thesis.

Another series of trials is under way, regarding fertiliser of one-year-old mukau plantations, as well as defining the components for an ideal tree fertiliser for red tropical soils in drylands.

2. Soil improvement

3. Genetic improvement of mukau, Acacia senegal and Jatropha

A first series of trials was done in 2009 to determine the effect of fertiliser on survival and growth of mukau and Jatropha. Different

14

MITIIIII.indd 14

The Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI) and BGF are working together on a strategy

for enhancing the genetic quality of mukau by amplifying the selection of plus-trees nationwide and applying a mass-selection of the best material. This is still in the planning stage, but is definitely the way forward for a sound breeding programme. Already, KEFRI has a collection of superior trees and the idea is to enlarge this collection to cover a wider variety of genetic material. The next step will be to clone superior trees and cross them.

KEFRI also has unique expertise of genetic variability of Acacia senegal, both nationally and internationally, and provenance trials have been planned to compare yield in gum arabic, based on KEFRI’s Kenyan collection. Harvesting of seeds has already started, and is scheduled to continue this year.

In collaboration with Endelevu Energy (an NGO) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), BGF has established an international provenances trial of Jatropha curcas in Kiambere.

4. In-vitro propagation of mukau and Jatropha curcas Mass production of genetically identical

Miti January - March 2010

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Management schedule for mukau in semi arid to arid areas YEAR

ITEM

REMARKS

1

Clearing, ripping and harrowing

By bulldozer, ripping down to 80cm, and tractor

1

Pitting

20x20x20cm, 400 pits

1

Planting

400 seedlings + 20% beating up (5x5m planting distance)

1

Fertilising

Twice 50g fertiliser per seedling

1

Maintenance

Ploughing or harrowing, 15-20cm deep

1

Spraying with herbicide

Close to the trees where the harrowing did not reach

1

1st pruning

Up to 1m, at 4 months (secateur and by hand)

1

2nd pruning

At 6 months (pruning saw, secateur and by hand)

1

3rd pruning

At 8 months (pruning saw, secateur and by hand)

2

Maintenance

Ploughing or harrowing, 15-20cm deep, 4 times

2

Fertilising

100g fertiliser per tree, mixed with superficial soil layer

2

Spraying with herbicide

Close to the trees where the harrowing did not reach

2

4th pruning

With ladder, selectively removing branches

2

5th pruning

With ladder, selectively removing branches

3

6th pruning

With ladder, selectively removing branches

3

Maintenance

Ploughing or harrowing, 15-20cm deep, 4 times

3

Fertilising

200g fertiliser per tree, mixed with superficial soil layer

4

7th pruning

Up to 5m

4

Maintenance

Ploughing or harrowing, 15-20cm deep, 4 times

5-7

Maintenance

Ploughing or harrowing, 15-20cm deep, 2 times

8

Thinning

1/4 or 100 trees, DBH 25 cm, 5 m

Maintenance

Ploughing or harrowing, 15-20cm deep, 2 times

20

Felling

300 trees, DBH 50cm, 5m

volume/ha (m3)

206.06

TOTAL VOLUME/HA

223.23

MAI – mean annual increment (m3/ha/y)

11.16

and superior germplasm is the objective of this research. It is now in its third year, and is conducted by the University College of Ghent (Belgium) in collaboration with the Faculty of BioEngineering of Ghent University. Researchers are fine-tuning the method (called “protocol”) for multiplying tiny pieces of plant tissue towards healthy rooted seedlings that can be removed from the laboratory, passed to the nursery for hardening-off and planted in the field.

For the moment, the researchers are concentrating on consistent formation of a healthy taproot, the last stumbling block regarding mukau. This phase is expected to wind up by the end of 2010.

5. Pest and diseases management on mukau and Jatropha curcas This research activity is concerned mostly with identifying the pests and diseases that attack both species. It is conducted with support from KEFRI’s phytopathologists (see the article in Miti 4 “Jatropha under attack”)

Miti January - March 2010

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17.17

8-19

volume/ha (m3)

and the University College of Ghent. Cultures of fungi are still being followed to identify which species exactly is affecting young mukau trees.

6. Silvicultural management of mukau and Jatropha curcas The ideal silvicultural management schedule of mukau is a work in progress. Information about spacing, pruning and thinning in monoculture plantations is gradually merging into a coherent management table.

Several crude models have been established, such as the one on the table above.

Serious work still needs to be done on optimisation of pruning schedules, while the concept of a single thinning can be challenged, as superior genetic material is not yet available. The number of thinnings is related to planting distance, as thinnings are only a means to eliminate inferior material and favour better quality trees.

A silvicultural treatment trial has been established in Kiambere for Jatropha

curcas, concentrating on the interaction of different levels of fertilising (0, 50 and 100g of Mavuno) with two different spacings (2mx2m and 3mx3m) and different pruning treatments. The trial was done in cooperation with Endelevu Energy and ICRAF.

Conclusion The body of knowledge required for reliable planting in an unreliable climate - as characterised by drylands - is low but quickly gaining importance and yielding some early results. Much is still in the planning stage, and a lot is expected from the genetic improvement component. Superior plantations, however, are the result of good and simple management techniques based on continuous applied research. The latter is only attained by a policy of openness and cooperation with other institutions, each with its particular strengths.

The writer is the Executive Director, Better Globe Forestry Ltd

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A small nursery in the centre of a forest to supply seedlings for replanting and restocking plantations. A sound forest or plantation management plan allows for exploitation of the resource, but on a sustainable basis.

Running forests as a business Section 35 of the Forest Act 2005 stipulates that all state, local authority and provisional forests must be managed according to a management plan

F

By John K. Macharia

orest management planning involves the application of business methods and technical forestry principles to the operation of a forest property.

According to the Forest Act 2005, a forest management plan refers to a systematic programme showing all activities to be undertaken in a forest or part a forest during a period of at least five years, and includes conservation, utilisation, silvicultural operations, ecotourism and infrastructural development.

Within KFS, a specialised service helps with the drafting of such management plans.

Forest management planning levels Improving forest management is an iterative (stepwise) process. It starts with agreement on relatively broad objectives for management of entire regions or forest management areas and moving down through site specific planning, to agreements for the management of more specific forest resources.

Broadly, five levels of forest management planning are recognised, as follows: • Forest Sector Master Plan: This sets out national goals and

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MITIIIII.indd 16

•

•

•

objectives for the forestry sector and defines strategies to achieve them, usually with a long time frame.

District Forest (management) Development Plan: This defines long-term management objectives, priorities and implementation strategies for all defined forest zones within a district. These may cover a whole forest management area or an entire district.

Strategic Forest Management Plans (SFMP): These define broad objectives and strategies to achieve them. SFMPs have long-time frames, usually over ten years. They are less detailed and therefore can be prepared quickly through a rapid process of consultations with key stakeholders. These kind of plans address large areas such as forest ecosystems Operational (working) plans are site specific and define detailed management objectives and means of achieving them (rules,

•

regulations, activities, budgets, responsibilities etc) for a specific area of forest. There could be many working plans for one forest reserve. Working plans usually develop activities to implement strategies identified in a strategic plan.

Work plans that define in detail all the annual activities to be undertaken. A work plan is derived from the operational plan and covers a period of one year.

Objectives of a forest management plan include; 1. To enable owners of a forest estate to undertake the responsibility of managing the forest effectively 2. To suggest the type of organisational set up and resources required for running the forest 3. To act as the basis for operational planning for sustainable management of the forest 4. To harmonise the different roles played by different partners/ stakeholders in implementation.

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Forest management planning is more about people than about trees. Stakeholders in a meeting to discuss obtain a viable management plan (Nakuru and Ol Bolossat).

Approach to forest management planning Generally speaking, preparation of the plan may be viewed as mainly comprising two major steps which include a good understanding of the resource that is the subject of the plan and the prescriptive part which indicates the actions that need to be undertaken for the plan to meet its objective(s).

In reality, the approach is more complex, as besides the resource, one also needs to understand other factors that impact on it. Below are some of the important considerations when preparing a plan; Vision Every plan must be driven by the desire to achieve a certain status in future, which therefore becomes the vision. For most forest plans, sustainability of the supply of forest products and services, coupled with an improvement in environmental conservation, are some of the aspirations.

Purpose The purpose for which the management plan is being prepared should be clearly stated. This may range from joint agreement between Kenya Forest Service (KFS) and a third party, to concession, licence, contract, etc.

Objectives The overall objective and the specific objectives of the plan should be clear as most of the prescriptions will be geared to their attainment.

Approach to the planning process The product may be as important as the process that has generated it. Both the Forest Act and Draft Policy acknowledge the important role played by partners and communities in forestry development. Plans that ignore the roles of these stakeholders

Miti January - March 2010

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are likely to receive very poor support at implementation and are therefore bound to fail.

Besides the Forest Act, other policies and Acts that impact on forestry should also be considered, e.g. Wildlife, Water, NEMA, Chiefs, Agriculture, etc. Kenya is also a signatory to a number of international treaties and principles whose provisions should be taken into consideration.

It is important that all stakeholders, their roles, responsibilities, rights and benefits in that particular forest are identified to avoid future conflicts and to appreciate the diversity of needs catered for.

The necessary assessments of the forest should be undertaken (flora=both plantation and indigenous, fauna, avifauna), socioeconomics of the beneficiaries, value and threats, according to priority, boundary mapping, management zones, special interest areas, etc.

Having collected all the required information, it is then analysed and from the resulting scenarios, definite prescriptions can be made for different parts of a forest based on available evidence.

Contents of a forest management plan The management plan should have at least the following chapters; 1.

• • • •

Chapter 1-Introduction Vision and overall goal Approach to plan development Plan period Funding of the plan

2.

• • • •

Chapter 2 - Description of the forest Geographic location Legal status Biophysical description Socio-economics

3. Chapter 3 - Planning considerations • Relevant policy and legal frameworks

• National development strategies • International treaties and principles • Chapter 4 -Management programmes • To include all programmes covered by the plan, e.g. natural forest, plantations watershed, infrastructure, human resources, etc, and to include the strategies to be adopted and the actions to be undertaken.

4.

• • • •

Chapter 5 - Plan implementation Financial management Resource mobilisation Revenue projections Environmental impact assessment and audit • Plan monitoring and evaluation • Institutional arrangements for plan implementation Responsibility for preparing management plans The responsibility of preparing management plans rests with the owner of the forest. In the case of the state, local authority and private forests, it is the Kenya Forest Service, the local authority and the owners of the private forests respectively.

Conclusion In accordance with section 35 of the Forest Act 2005, all state, local authority and provisional forests must be managed in accordance with a management plan. It is therefore our responsibility as stakeholders to ensure that the forests we depend on comply with this requirement.

‘Let us join hands and prepare forest management plans for all our forests’ The writer is a Forest Management Plans Officer at Kenya Forest Service

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Faidherbia albida trees

Made for drylands

Faidherbia albida has a vast potential to help cope with climate change, feed more people and protect the environment

By Otto George Dangasuk

F

aidherbia albida (previously called Acacia albida) is an important agroforestry tree species. For a long time, it has been used by farmers throughout arid and semi arid zones of Africa, including Kenya, for soil conservation and to improve soil fertility.

This tree is unique in that it sheds its nitrogen rich leaves during the rainy season, the crop planting season when crops need nitrogen. Decomposition of matter and microbial activity in the soil, shed foliage as well as animal dropping under the trees increases the organic thus improving soil structure and permeability. The leafless trees do not shade crops from sunlight during the growing season.

The tree then retains its leaves in the dry season when other plants have dried up, thus providing shade for livestock and mulch, which reduces evaporation, hence conserving the available soil moisture. In addition, the tree provides fodder that is rich in protein and carbohydrates – critical need in the dry season.

Faidherbia albida has a remarkable capacity for recycling nutrients from under the soil to the surface, due to its deep root system. The tree also stabilises sand dunes and prevents soil erosion. The species is perfectly suited for agro-forestry in that it does not compete with inter-planted crops for soil nutrients as it

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enters a period of growth dormancy during the normal crop growing season.

Studies in the Sudan have recorded an improved yield from crops grown underneath the trees. This has been attributed to an increase in soil fertility due to atmospheric nitrogen fixation, dung from stock browsing and decomposition of fallen leaves and pods.

Under a full canopy (100 -150 trees per hectare) in Niger, the trees can provide nutrients equivalent to 300kg per hectare per year of nitrogen, 30kg per hectare per year of phosphorus, and 25kg per hectare per year of magnesium.

Soil water retention was 40 per cent higher under Faidherbia albida than in open fields in Niger. Finger millet grown underneath the trees yielded a 2.5-fold increase in grain and 3.4-fold increase in grain protein in Senegal.

Sorghum doubled in yield and groundnuts yield increased by 37per cent in Niger.

In Burkina Faso, a carrying capacity of 20 animal units per square kilometre has been recorded under Faidherbia albida dominant savannah, compared to 10 animal units per square kilometre when the tree is absent. In Malawi, maize yield under F. albida canopy were 280 per cent higher than outside it.

Faidherbia albida has many other uses.

For example, it has medicinal properties where a decoction of the bark is used to treat diarrhoea, coughs, fever, bleeding and

inflamed eyes, its seeds are boiled for human consumption, and during famine, pods can be dried and ground into flour for food.

Faidherbia albida is grown on farms in many West African countries as well as in Ethiopia, Malawi and Tanzania. Despite the fact that Kenya is well endowed with the species, which is widespread in the arid and semi arid lands, the tree has not been domesticated.

Studies by the author at Noiwet, in Mogotio division of semi arid Baringo District in Kenya, showed significant increase in the following soil properties and nutrients during five years of growth of the species ; soil pH, organic carbon percentage, total nitrogen, phosphorus (P), sodium (Na), potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) as indicated in Table 1. This is a clear indication of the potential of the tree in soil fertility improvement and restoration in arid and semi arid lands of Kenya. Efforts just need to be made to plant it.

Although there is very little information in the public domain on the relationship between soil nutrient availability and Faidherbia albida growth in Kenya, the tree forms an important component of the traditional farming system in Kenya in areas where it occurs naturally. Farmers in northern Kenya normally leave behind a number of indigenous tree species after clearing the land for cultivation. Such trees are valued

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Faidherbia albida pods

Faidherbia albida branch and flowers

as component species in the dryland farming system. These trees include Faidherbia albida, Erythrina abyssinica, Acacia tortilis and Acacia nilotica among others.

In Kainuk division of Turkana District, the species is found in almost pure stands along Weiwei River and farmers grow cabbages, tomatoes, kale (sukuma wiki) and onions in between the trees. In areas far from rivers, where soil moisture is limiting, farmers grow sorghum in between the trees. The same happens in the Turkwel River flood plain in Turkana District where the species grows in almost pure stands.

In all these farming activities, farmers do not apply any inorganic fertilisers yet they get reasonably high yields from the land. This suggests that Kenyan farmers, particularly those living in areas where the trees grow naturally, are aware of the benefit of free organic fertiliser derived from the canopy of Faidherbia albida.

In the main agro-forestry parklands of Kenya, which cover about 80 per cent of the arid and semi arid lands, the entire annual precipitation occurs in less than one quarter of the year, soil erosion is a serious problem, causing food insecurity and poverty, with the resultant destruction of the environment. Therefore planting of fast growing, drought tolerant, nitrogen fixing Faidherbia albida is an important soil conservation and fertility restoration strategy that should be encouraged and supported.

The tree has a vast potential to help cope with climate change, feed more people and protect the environment.

The writer is a Forest Geneticist, Moi University, Eldoret

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Table 1 Comparison of soil properties at six months (1997) and at five years (2002) after planting 16 provenances of F. albida at Noiweit. Sand, clay and silt percentages were determ ined only at six months and classified the soil as clay-loam.

Soil parameter pH (H2O)

Time (year) 1997

Mean 4.72

KEY: *=significant at P < 0.05, **=significant increase or decrease at P < 0.01, ns = not significant change (P > 0.05) SD 0.23

SE 0.059

2002

>5.82**

0.11

0.029

Organic C %

1997

0.98

0.06

0.016

0.27

0.070

Total N %

1997

0.11

0.03

0.007

2002

>0.28**

0.09

0.022

1997

0.01

2002

Olsen P (ppm)

2002 Na (cmol kg-1)

1997 2002

K (cmol kg-1)

1997 2002

Ca (cmol kg-1) Mg (cmol kg-1)

>1.36**

>0.96** 6.97 >8.60** 24.13 >26.44**

0.04

0.009

0.43

0.110

1.93

0.499

0.45

0.116

2.62

0.677

2.21

0.570

1997

9.81

2.56

0.662

2002

<7.45**

1.26

0.326

1997

3.83

0.72

0.185

2002

<1.77**

0.54

0.140

1997

1.50

0.46

0.119

2002

<1.47ns

0.64

0.165

41.65

Clay%

1997 1997

37.63

1.51 2.09

0.399 0.500

Silt%

1997

20.71

2.27

0.582

Al (cmol kg-1)

Sand%

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A giraffe feeding on Acacia drepanolobium bushes along the boundary of Nairobi National Park with Industrial Area in the background.

Time to draw the line

Stand up to be counted as we save the Nairobi National Park for posterity

By Damaris Kimilu his February, a major tree planting exercise will break ground in Nairobi, drawing the attention of the country perhaps to the second most important national heritage after the Mau Forest.

Many Kenyans have fond memories of the Nairobi National Park. Some have childhood memories of weekend family picnics, memorable school trips and drives into the park.

Many visitors to Kenya may recall how – pressed for time – sparing just an hour in and out of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport was enough to earn them the experience of a lifetime at the Safari Nature Walk as they interacted with the diversity of Kenya’s herbivores and carnivores. From the king of the jungle to the cheetah, leopard, zebra, buffalo, giraffe, black rhino, warthog, hyena, to cheeky monkeys, apes, baboons and even the proud peacock, among others.

The Nairobi National Park is indeed a unique wildlife sanctuary, one of a kind in the world, conveniently located hardly 10km from the central business district (NCBD) – a priceless natural resource for Kenya.

T

The problem In recent years, the generous, tranquil Nairobi National Park – lying in the background of a growing capital bustling with life and

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activity – has experienced increased human encroachment as the city outgrows itself. Its vicinity to the capital city has exceedingly exposed the park, its rich ecosystem, flora and fauna to great environmental risks because of:• Land grabbing by politically connected looters • Human settlements that nibble the edges of the park bit by bit, day by day • Increased economic activities that release gas emissions and dust, especially from the boundary with industrial area along Mombasa Road • Effluent discharge into park streams and water sources • Human-wildlife conflict through poaching and grazing of cattle inside the park • Plastic litter and solid waste scattered in the park The Nairobi National Park is struggling for survival as wildlife is suffering through this assault on its habitat. We simply cannot sit back and watch. The park is crying out for help.

The solution The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) have embarked on an ambitious project, dubbed Nairobi GreenLine, to create a forest

wall to protect the Nairobi National Park.

This is a public-private partnership (PPP) that invites corporate organisations, industries, public sector organisations, conservationists, development organisations, individual Kenyans of goodwill, Nairobi residents, friends of the Nairobi National Park, and the general public to join this worthy cause that aims to create a 30km-long, 50m-wide wall of trees between the park and our growing metropolis.

The organising committee is composed of representatives of KAM (Anoop Shah, Chairman of Kensta Group, Damaris Kimilu and Fred Kariuki), KWS (Michael Wanjau, Warden of the Park), Will Knocker (Silole Ventures), Shilpa Haria (Bloom Consultancy), Kenya Forest Service (Charity Muthoni, Head of Nairobi Conservancy), Jan Vandenabeele (Executive Director Better Globe Forestry Ltd), Andrew White (Creative Director of ScanAd) and Hezekiah Macharia (Twiga Industries Ltd).

To ensure the survival and the growth of these trees – which can die if not protected against browsing by animals - an electric fence will be constructed inside the park, creating a long and narrow strip of about 150ha along the park’s boundary with the industrial area.

In the next three years, a forest of 250,000 indigenous trees of selected species will be planted between Athi River’s Cheetah

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Gate and the Carnivore.Nairobi Greenline is a collective corporate social responsibility (CSR) by Kenyan industries through KAM which is celebrating its 50th anniversary since last year. Another 850,000 trees will be planted in other locations beyond this period, including in areas adjacent to the park, to better protect its boundaries.

A mini-launch to kick-start the initiative will be held on February 12, while the real launch is scheduled for April. On that day a human chain will be formed all along the park boundary, with 25,000 people dressed in GreenLine T-shirts, all arm-linked from the Carnivore down to Athi River (Cheetah Gate).

The following tree species, all native to the park, have been identified for the Nairobi GreenLine Forest, namely: • Acacia xanthophloea • Acacia kirkii • Acacia hockii • Acacia polyacantha • Balanites aegyptiaca • Carissa edulis • Croton megalocarpus • Warbugia ugandansis The Nairobi GreenLine is intended to shield the park from land grabbers and polluters and if any dare cross it, they will have to deal with the full force of a new law regulated by the Kenya Wildlife Service. In addition, this strip of land will provide superb recreational opportunities, complementary to what is already on offer (the Nairobi Safari Walk, the Orphanage and of course the park itself ). As it is protected area within electrical fences, it will be safe for walking, family outings, cycling, running, perhaps even a Nairobi National Park Marathon.

How to help / participate Corporate organisations can participate by taking up any of the available sponsorships.

Partners can provide money, goods or services.

A zebra at the park’s boundary. Surely, there must be quieter places to graze.

Bank of Kenya, Queensway Branch.

Who should participate Literally all Kenyans should stand up and be counted. Major groups taking part in this major event include:• Corporate organisations • Industries • Public sector organisations • Conservationists • Business and professional associations • Non-governmental organisations • Community based organisations • Schools, colleges and universities • Clubs • Individuals The Nairobi National Park we want Nature is endowed with a healing process.

Picture yourself, family and friends taking a nature walk, jogging, cycling or picnicking in a recreational area inside the Park, a long strip fully protected along the park’s boundary with industrial area – a relaxing and revitalising time indeed! You can achieve

Sponsorship

Amount (Ksh)

Seedlings

Area (m2)

Area (acres)

Bronze

125,000

625

5,625

1.40

Silver

250,000

1,250

11,250

2.80

Gold

500,000

2,500

22,500

5.60

Platinum

1,000,000

5,000

45,000

11.25

Individual

200

1

9

Another way of donating is buying T-shirts for company employees to take past in the human chain as the company plants its share of trees. Branded GreenLine T-shirts will be selling at Ksh 1,000 a piece and all proceeds will support the project activities.

Each T-shirt purchased will come with one seedling and cover its maintenance to maturity.

To purchase seedlings or T-shirts, raise cheques to the project bank account: KAMGreenLine, A/C No is 094-1104193 at Barclays

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this as we work together to make this dream Nairobi National Park a reality – a place to have a memorable experience as you smell a tree bark, listen to the birds sing, look under the rocks, walk on crinkly and soft leaves, climb a tree – find your place in the universe.

It is therapeutic!

Initiative cost To realise our goal, we need to raise Ksh 35 million to cover the cost of producing the seedlings, soil preparation, fencing, sinking boreholes, planting and caring for the

seedlings (weeding, watering, fertilising), and fence maintenance.

Signed up partners Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) Green Belt Movement Kensta Limited Better Globe Forestry Ltd Scan Group Nation Media Group Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Ministry of Tourism Ministry of Forestry United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) International Centre for Agro-Forestry (ICRAF) International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Kenya Forestry Service (KFS) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) The time to act is now!

Stand up and be counted as we take action to improve the co-existence of humans and wildlife, and save our national heritage for our children and children’s children. Join us to protect the Nairobi National Park – our heritage – for posterity.

For more information on how you can support the Nairobi GreenLine, logon-on to www.greenline.co.ke

VISION To protect the Nairobi National Park from the intrusion of human activity, transforming it into a peaceful wildlife haven within the setting of a growing modern metropolis.

MISSION To create a 30 km-long, 50 metre-wide greenline of 150,000 trees between the Nairobi National Park and our growing city.

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View of macadamia tree, with leaves, fruits and flowers (Western Kenya, June 2006).

Which way for macadamia nuts?

John Waithaka sheds some light on the potential and future of this food tree

By Jan Vandenabeele acadamia trees are today a well-established part of many smallholdings in the highlands of Central Kenya. Some of these trees, originally from Australia, were introduced during the colonial times.

Two species are of interest: Macadamia integrifolia and M. tetraphylla, of the family Proteaceae. M. integrifolia is more tropical, growing naturally in the coastal forests of Queensland Australia, producing a smoothshelled nut, and M. tetraphylla is more subtropical, growing in northern New South Wales, producing rough-shelled nuts. Natural hybridisation occurs in their areas of overlap.

The species have been successfully introduced into Hawaii, California, South Africa, Kenya, Guatemala and other countries with a suitable climate. They thrive in areas suitable for avocado and coffee production.

The species are sensitive to frost, but high summer temperatures are favourable for growth and fruiting.

The first breeding of macadamia took place in Hawaii, from where improved cultivars were imported into Kenya in the mid 1960s. They were tested, and adapted cultivars were multiplied and distributed to farmers in the coffee-growing zone.

M

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John Waithaka, who graduated from Makerere University in 1961, was then working at the East African Agricultural and Forestry Research Organisation (EAAFRO), the precursor to the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), as director of horticulture.

Mr Waithaka had solid experience in horticulture, including post-graduate training in California in 1964-66. Among other projects, he established the Macadamia Research Station in Thika in 1978, through an agreement between the Kenyan and the Japanese governments.

The implementing body was JICA, the Japanese overseas aid organisation, in a deal negotiated by Mr Waithaka. He had experience in such projects, as he had previously been instrumental in establishing the pineapple plantations of Delmonte, on a former sisal estate near Thika.

By the beginning of the 1970s, a growing supply of macadamia nuts became available, but a proper processing market was not yet in place. Mr Waithaka contacted Japanese investors, and one of them was interested, resulting in the setting up of Kenya Nut Company in Thika in 1975. The company built a modern processing plant, established its own macadamia plantations, starting

with about 400ha, and made a nursery for propagation of adapted cultivars (by grafting), to supply out-growers. Today, the company is fully owned by Kenyans.

Kenya Nut takes care of about 95 per cent of the total macadamia business in Kenya. It has a processing capacity of 10,000 tonnes of in-shell nuts per year, relying on some 1,200 out-growers producing macadamia on almost 800ha. The outgrowers supply about 20 per cent of Kenya Nut Company’s raw material.

Production of nuts is influenced by the weather, and the prolonged drought of 2009 had a pronounced negative impact on output. Total production in 2009 was 5,000 tonnes of shelled nuts for export (converted to in-shell) and 7,000 tonnes for in-shell exports, down from the previous year’s figures. (Shelled nuts are about 18-20 per cent of the weight of the in-shell nut, after complete sorting and rejection of substandard material and at a moisture content of 12 per cent.)

In good years, Kenya normally occupies a respectable fourth position among macadamia-exporting countries, behind Australia, South Africa and Guatemala. Most of Kenya’s produce goes to Japan (70 per cent), to Germany and to the USA.

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suitable agro-forestry alternative, but not as a major cash crop.

A serious handicap is the waiting period of at least 5 years before commercial production starts.

However, even smallholders with only one hectare of land can plant 10-20 trees in whatever configuration is suitable for their farm (around the compound, in a hedge row, scattered around, etc). Macadamia can provide good firewood and building material, and – like all trees - acts as a carbon sink.

John Waithaka, who worked his whole life in horticultural research, and who was instrumental in the development of the macadamia industry, among others.

What is in for an out-grower?

Kenya Nut runs an extension service for its out-growers, giving professional advice as well as credit in the form of fertilisers and pesticides. The number of macadamia trees per ha varies, but the ideal spacing should be between 8x9m to 9x10m (respectively 139111 trees/ha). Improved cultivars, as bred by KARI’s Thika research station, start producing by year 4-5, reach their peak production by year 15; levelling off by year 25-30 and then start to decline and by year 40 are no longer productive Yield however, depends a lot on maintenance - weeding, pruning, fertilising and pest management. As such, theoretically, a tree in its peak period can produce up to 80kg of in-shell nuts per year. However, average yield on-farm hovers around 25-28kg/tree/year. Not all these nuts are accepted, as a rigorous quality control has to be applied of the in-shell nuts at the farm gate. Ripe nuts that fall to the ground have to be collected immediately to prevent rotting or being attacked by insects.

Nuts should be picked when they are fully mature. If they are picked early, as often happens, the flavour and taste of the roasted nuts is compromised.

Prices vary between Ksh 25-30/kg of inshell nuts. Hence one mature macadamia tree makes about 25 x 25 = 625Ksh to 28 x 30 = 840Ksh/year (this can however increase through good husbandry to a maximum of Ksh 2400/year).

Is it good business for smallholders? That depends to a great degree on the possible alternatives (maize, coffee, tea, cattle…), and the right answer is probably that macadamia is good as a diversification strategy and a

The market

A well-kept nursery of macadamia seedlings, all grafted with proper cultivars for improved yield. KARI has a breeding plan for macadamia that regularly allows the introduction of new cultivars into commercial growing.

Processing companies that can add value to the nuts face problems of their own. First, brokers buy from growers at slightly higher prices, applying less severe quality control, as they do not process anyway and will try to sell whatever quality of nuts they have. The brokers sell to a variety of buyers, including entrepreneurs who, after the liberalisation of policies in 2002, created micro-factories where they use crude methods of cracking and processing, without much regard to quality. In addition, before the government ban on export of in-shell nuts in 2009, the brokers also sold to exporters of in-shell nuts.

Internationally, competition in the nut market is fierce, with new plantations being established in Australia and other countries, translating into higher production. Hawaii however is getting less important, as part of its plantations are being converted into land for real estate development – like what is happening with coffee plantations around Thika.

The global market for this luxury nut is now around 100,000 tonnes per year of in-shell nuts (equivalent to roughly 18,000 tonnes of shelled nuts). To put this figure into context, one has to bear in mind that macadamia is a “minor” nut in the edible nut market, where peanuts, at 32.4 million tonnes, take the lion’s share (88 per cent) and cashew, at 70,000 tonnes, about 2 per cent.

One way to crack the market is to exploit the resource fully. In the case of Kenya Nut Company, nuts are being roasted, salted or not salted, honey coated and even processed into chocolate bars. Another possibility is the production of “mixed nuts”, sachets containing a mixture of macadamia, cashew and peanuts. Kenya Nut has 18 different grades, going from whole nuts to broken bits and pieces and powder, the latter categories sold to the confectionary industry for use in baking biscuits and cakes.

The nuts can even be pressed to produce macadamia oil, claimed to be superior to olive oil…

The shells can also be used as an energy source for roasting coffee, for making charcoal or as mulch. Kenya Nut has pondered on all these strategies, and most of them feature in the company’s business plans. Close to 95 per cent of the company’s production is exported to countries like Germany and Japan, as the domestic market is still in its infancy. Local and international airlines and the US Navy provide other markets for Kenya Nut. Such customers demand high quality products and even visit the plant to inspect its operations. According to Mr Waithaka, Kenya Nut Co is not able to meet the demand for its products.

The future

The June 2009 Kenya government ban on the export of non-processed nuts was meant to stimulate the creation and growth of a local processing industry. However, the effect has been a depression of the price for growers of nuts, mostly macadamia and cashew, as part of their market has collapsed and the hoped-for industries are not yet established, though building of cottage factories has started. Reportedly, however, traders continue to buy in-shell nuts, leaving processors to question the effectiveness of the ban.

In the long term, this measure ought to be beneficial to the industry.

KARI has a range of highly productive macadamia cultivars available, adapted to different ecological zones, from the lower coffee zone up to the lower tea zone, and can give professional advice on growing the trees. The parastatal has also published a production handbook for macadamia. This should be good news for farmers who want to get into serious production of macadamia nuts.

The writer is the Executive Director, Better Globe Forestry Ltd

John Waithaka (tel 0713-189419) is retired now and acts as a private consultant.

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Top and Left: Joseph Nzau in his mango orchard in Kibwezi.

Above: Joseph Nzau with the reason behind his hard work: his children

Gathering the fruit

Kibwezi farmer points the way to successful mango growing

G

By Jan Vandenabeele

ood areas for growing mangoes in Kenya are the coastal strip, parts of Maragua, Murangâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;a, Thika, lower Embu and Meru, while Ukambani is also known for its mango orchards. Mango trees need a warm climate, a dry spell during flowering, and sufficient rains for maturing the fruits.

A mature mango tree needs at least 60-70 litres of water per day during that period, for

24

MITIIIII.indd 24

abundant bearing of fruits. To grow mangoes successfully along Athi River, in Kibwezi, as Joseph Nzau is doing, requires special knowledge of irrigation as well as the other needs of mango trees.

Mr Nzau however did not have this knowledge when he was retrenched after working some 10 years for the Ministry of Wildlife. True, he had gone to school and had a Form 4 certificate, but apart from that, clearly he had a lot to learn. He used his

retrenchment bonus wisely, investing in the purchase of a 30-acre farm along the river.

That was in 1994, and he started planting some mango trees.

By 1998, Mr Nzau had about a 100 seedlings, which he watered by furrow irrigation, the traditional way. That year, he came into contact with Agroforestry Research for Integrated Development in the Semi-Arid areas in Kenya (ARIDSAK) a KenyaBelgium funded programme, executed

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through the Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI). It proved a fruitful encounter, providing good training in mango growing.

In 2001, another Kenya-Belgium programme â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Integrated Natural Resources Management in Ukambani (INRMU) working through the Forest Department, brought Mr Nzau into contact with adapted techniques for water storage and drip irrigation, and more training on growing of vegetables.

Mr Nzau went his own way, picking up what was most useful for his fruit growing business and continued developing his farm.

By 2009, he had 22 acres under mangoes, translating into 2,000 mango trees of which roughly 1,200 are in production.

Mr Nzauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s trick is to produce mangoes out of season. Each mango area in Kenya

has its own harvesting period, the exception being the coast where you can have two harvests per year. The normal harvesting period for Ukambani, including the Kibwezi area, is December-January. That is also when plenty of mangoes become available from lower Embu and Meru, which then depresses market prices.

It is however possible to stress mangoes in such a way that they yield from September to November, when the Kenyan market has no mangoes. This is also a good period for export to the Gulf countries, exploited by quite a number of Kenyan fruit exporting companies. A popular mango variety for export is Apple, of excellent taste and quality.

Truly, Kenya has developed a vibrant class

of entrepreneurs, supported by an equally vibrant class of agricultural and horticultural producers, the whole underpinned by a network of services, logistics and infrastructure.

In short, Mr Nzau and more farmers like him have tapped into a lucrative market, allowing them not exactly a comfortable but surely a rewarding life, where they can put away some savings. But this does not come automatically.

Some facts are as follows. Mr Nzauâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s biggest cost is diesel, for powering his water pump. Electricity has not yet arrived at his doorstep. He waters his mango trees twice per month, according to the calendar below.

Each tree is surrounded by a basin (see photo on page 39) where the water is piped in and then gradually sinks in, at a rate of approximately 2,000-4,500 litres, depending on the size of the basin (and the tree). This translates into 67-150 litres per day, or a monthly diesel consumption of 240 litres.

Running and maintenance of a diesel pump can present challenges. Mr Nzau is now on his third pump, expecting it to last four years. He bought an inexpensive Chinese brand at Ksh 100,000 in 2006. His piping system consists of standard PVC pipes - 6m long and with a diameter of 63mm - constantly being moved from one tree to another. This needs a work force of six people who also perform other tasks like spraying, applying fertiliser and other duties of caring for horticultural crops. In addition, Mr Nzau hires casuals if required, particularly for weeding.

The heart of the farm: the diesel pump used for irrigation of the mango orchard.

Month

Activity

Remarks

November

Finish harvesting and sales. Start pruning, application of fertiliser/ manure

Peak of short rains

December

Pruning and application of fertiliser/manure

Still some rains

January

Monitoring stress levels in the trees. By mid-month, start irrigation, up to April

Avoid stress, to avoid flowering and stimulate shooting

February

Irrigation

Avoid stress, to avoid flowering and stimulate shooting

March

Irrigation

Avoid stress, to avoid flowering and stimulate shooting

April

Preparing for fruiting, stop irrigation, start weeding

Peak of long rains (not much, and the less the better)

May

No irrigation, flowering starts by middle of the month

Need to stress

June

More flowers, not uniform. When three-quarters of a tree has flowers, start irrigation, applying fertiliser and treatment with pesticides. If only half of the tree has flowers, wait with watering or it will start growing shoots

Need to stress

July

More trees get flowers, irrigation, applying fertiliser and pesticides

Avoid stress

August

Whole plantation in flower, more irrigation and pesticides

Avoid stress

September

Start of mango production and sales, continue irrigation and pesticides

Avoid stress

October

Continuation of sales, irrigation and pesticides

Avoid stress

Calendar for mango production in ASAL of SE Kenya

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Exporters of mangoes send their lorries into orchards in the country side for collection of fruits, with immediate packing into cartons after a preliminary selection. A second selection will take place in their packing house after which the mangoes are dispatched overseas.

Stressing the mango trees The key to stressing the mango trees is water management, an art Mr Nzau had to find out for himself, though other mango farmers in the wider neighbourhood apply the same technique. You have to get them flowering, and flowers grow only at the end of fresh, new shoots. Hence you stimulate the formation of shoots immediately after harvesting, providing all conditions the tree needs to do so (abundant water and nutrients â&#x20AC;&#x201C;NPK/manure).

Once the shoots develop, they have to be stressed to push the formation of flower buds; that means they should receive no water at all.

However, when flowers appear, you need to monitoring the trees carefully to ensure at least three-quarters of the tree is covered by flowers then start watering and fertilising again to avoid abortion (of both flowers and fruits). It is an art because each tree reacts in a different way, even with the general pattern being the same.

Powdery mildew, fruit fly and the mealy bug are some of the common pests and diseases that afflict mango trees in the

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Kibwezi area. All require adequate treatment with pesticides; otherwise the yield will fall dramatically. The other chemicals needed are fertilisers, applied as NPK 17:17:17 (for shoot growth) and CAN. Sometimes one needs foliar fertiliser (for fruit formation and maturing).

All these products became significantly more expensive during the past year. Small wonder that Mr Nzau mentions as his biggest problem the rising prices of inputs.

He puts his annual farming costs at Ksh 300,000.

Mr Nzau mostly markets his mangoes through export companies, although he sells some in the local market. Mango farmers have to find their way through the maze of people offering services for export, as few are genuine exporters and many are brokers trying to make money on the back of the producers. Prices vary according to the month, with individual mangoes selling for Ksh 30 per piece in late August, to Ksh 5-10 towards December when more produce gets on to the market. Here you can see; no stressing, no money.

As always, size and quality make all the

All these products became significantly more expensive during the past year. Small wonder that Mr Nzau mentions as his biggest problem the rising prices of inputs.

He puts his annual farming costs at Ksh 300,000. difference. Buyers will only offer fair prices if they see big quantities of good mangoes that justify sending in their lorries. Otherwise, they will impose their prices and terms, not exactly to the benefit of the farmer. Mr Nzau has been observing their practices over the years and gives as his last advice - more coordination between the producers, to stand stronger in face of the buyers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I would not mind trying my luck in the exporting business myself, provided I have enough to sell,â&#x20AC;? he says.

The writer is the Executive Director, Better Globe Forestry Ltd

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Case study of fruit growing in Makueni,

M

a typical ASAL district

akueni farmers discovered the benefits of fruit tree growing a long time ago, and they have gone massively into cultivating citrus fruits and mangoes. And of course, they grow pawpaw, avocado, passion fruit and even other, little known species in smaller quantities. Driving along the Machakos-Wote road, one surveys many orchards of citrus trees, all little plots on smallholder properties.

However, citrus trees are vulnerable. They have a superficial root system and need watering on a continuous basis, firstly for survival and growth, and then for producing a good harvest of juicy fruits. During the drought of late 2009, the trees were hit hard. Weak, stressed trees are easy targets for pests and diseases, like the citrus woolly aphid, while a virus, the greening disease, also attacked a large number of seedlings.

Nothing can be done about viruses once a tree is infected. It has to be cut and burned to avoid infecting the rest of the orchard.

In addition, the fruit quality in Makueni is not always up to standard, producing small fruits that are not juicy or tasty enough and with too many seeds. Now farmers are strongly advised to plant citrus only when water for irrigation is available, using good cultivars like Washington Navel, Pixie, Minneola and tangerines. Then their fruits can compete on equal terms with imports - mostly South African - of oranges, lemons and limes in Nairobi supermarkets, green groceries and roadside kiosks and fetch a better price.

Mango trees Mango trees are more drought-resistant than citrus, have big potential but come with their own problems.

Apart from growing problems (see article on successful mango farmer), there are marketing problems. The mango season comes from December towards March, and the harvest can truly saturate the market, driving prices very low. It is not possible to store the mangoes for an extended period. They have to be consumed or processed, or go to waste.

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Admittedly, farmers have switched from planting non-improved, traditional mango trees, that yield little and fibrous fruit, towards new cultivars like Tommy Atkin, Keit etc, which have a better market value. One answer is processing. What can be done? Pulping of mangoes for making fruit juice is one answer, and simple machinery for this does exist. Alternatively, one can simply cut the fruit into slices and sun-dry it, or make jams, jellies and pickles or even wine.

Whatever the case, strict standards of hygiene have to be observed, while pasteurisation in Makueniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hot climate is obligatory for the juice or the concentrate.

It becomes more complicated, it is easier said than done, it is new and it will require more organisation and investment, but that is the way of the future - small or medium size rural industries that transform the produce and add value.

Other ways of the future will be diversification towards other drought-resistant fruit species like grapes, guava, jackfruit, breadfruit, custard apple and pomegranate, with attractive cultivars. Yellow passion fruit is also an option, well adapted to a hot climate, and with good market potential.

Orchard management is still an issue. One has to consider orchard design (spacing!), fertilising, pruning, weeding, irrigation, fencing (goats!), phytosanitary protection and storage and handling of produce.

The Kenyan Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) with its Katumani station and various substations (Kiboko, Kambi ya Mawe and Masongaleni), is active in fruit growing research, and is available for advice. They have some small nurseries at Katumani and Kiboko where farmers can buy seedlings of improved fruit cultivars.

In addition, the Kenya Forest Research Institute (KEFRI) Kibwezi substation has a nursery that sells fruit tree seedlings, including indigenous ones like marula and others.

Surely, the demand for fruit tree seedlings is very high.

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A new approach to tree-growing in Uganda Sheila Mishambi has taken to commercial forestry with a passion

By Zainabu Kakungulu o serious plantation forestry has been undertaken in Uganda in the last 30 years. This, coupled with the increasing demand for timber and other wood products, means the country faces a looming scarcity. Currently, the country has less than 500 hectares of mature timber plantations, while the predicted internal demand by 2030 is about 70,000 hectares.

Apart from internally in Uganda, there is also a market for timber and timber products in neighbouring countries like Rwanda, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This means there is an assured market for the timber.

Against this background, politician and former member of Parliament in the East African Community, Sheila Mishambi, has taken to tree-growing, a project started by her late husband, Col Jack Mishambi. ”My late husband … interested me into the business. Unfortunately, he never lived to realise his dream so I am naturally obliged to keep his dream alive, but more so, I know the value of tree planting,” Mrs Mishambi told

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Miti. She sees tree-growing as the best social security fund one can have.

So, in 2004, Mrs Mishambi planted Pinus caribaea on 200 hectares of her land. For the first two years, planting and maintenance costs were roughly Ush 1.5 million (approximately Ksh 54,000) per hectare. But after two years, costs go down significantly since weeding reduces. The main maintenance concern at this point is protecting the plantation from fires.

Other challenges are associated with availability of quality seed and seedlings.

“With modern plantation forestry, for you to expect a good yield, you must use improved seed,” says Mrs Mishambi. She says there is no locally available improved seed so the tree-growers have to import seed, which of course raises the cost of seed.

Then there the problem of technical knowhow. Forestry is a relatively new business in Uganda, so growers have made some costly mistakes like picking the wrong species for a particular site, weeding techniques, pruning, thinning, and other technical issues. However, this has changed since 2004 with the entry of the European

A field meeting of SPGS growers. Uganda offers a big market for pine logs, and private growers have stepped in to ensure future supplies.

Union-funded Sawlog Production Grant Scheme (SPGS) into Uganda. The project has provided technical assistance and a bit of financial support to private commercial tree growers in Uganda.

SPGS runs practical field training courses for managers and supervisors of tree plantations. The scheme also provides technical well-illustrated manuals to enable field staff to execute their tasks professionally.

For investors, SPGS has organised field trips to countries like South Africa where farmers are exposed to modern plantation forestry.

In financial terms, SPGS refunds about Ush 600,000 (approximately Ksh 21,000) per hectare planted with trees - approximately half the cost of plantation establishment.

“This is a very big incentive to the growers,” says Mrs Mishambi.

Mrs Mishambi, a professional teacher and journalist, was the 1st runner-up in the 2008 SPGS awards in the Best Small/Medium Scale Growers category, and was also voted the best ambassador for tree-growers.

Mrs Mishambi works the land manually.

The number of workers she engages varies with the season but on average, she hires

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<< Sheila Mishambi (stick in hand), accompanied by SPGS’s Paul Jacovelli (brown hat), consultants and an employee.

Sheila Mishambi (in glasses) talking to consultants, her employees and SPGS staff, in the midst of her plantation.

50 workers. This presents another challenge.

Many Ugandans have taken to tree-growing, leading to an increase in the demand for labour, and this in turn making labour expensive. Supervision of the workers is also a challenge for the businesswoman as she is not based at the plantation.

To get around these challenges, Mrs Mishambi has employed a full-time manager to run the plantation. And to attract and retain workers she says she tries “to make the working conditions for the workers attractive by offering decent wages.”

Mrs Mishambi is the secretary of the Uganda Timber Growers Association (UTGA).

The body is basically a “one loud voice” for tree-growers in Uganda – providing a forum

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for tackling the problems that tree-growers face. Some of these are availability of quality seed and the cost of inputs like herbicides.

Mrs Mishambi explains that if each grower chose to tackle the problems facing the industry individually, some issues may never be resolved. At the same time, this would be very expensive for individual farmers. “So as growers we thought it wise to handle these challenges collectively as one, through an association,” she says. For instance, the association buys the seed in bulk, making it possible for individual farmers to access seed at a fair price.

UTGA is represented on the Presidential Investors Round Table, under the Forestry Technical Working Group, a forum

that was initiated by President Yoweri Museveni mid 2007 to identify the obstacles facing the forestry sub-sector and make recommendations to improve the investment climate. “As an investor, I believe various issues facing growers can be addressed through such a forum,” says Mrs Mishambi.

Mrs Mishambi sees a need for a modern approach to plantation forestry. “Modern plantation forestry is a costly business …

In the old days, one would just put some trees in a bush, wait for 20 years and come back to harvest,” she says. This is no longer the case as there are costs associated with land preparation, weeding and general maintenance of a plantation.

As a gender activist working with the Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET), what does Mrs Mishambi think of women’s response to investment in the forestry business? “I actually haven’t seen many women directly involved in the tree business.

This is mainly attributed to the fact that in most Africa cultural settings, women do not own land. So, most women lack the land to plant trees,” she says. “Women are mainly employed in nurseries and in plantations to do the planting and weeding. However, we need them too to get directly involved in tree planting.”

She feels that such issues of gender inequality need to be addressed.

What is her final message to readers? “We have to think beyond ourselves, think and invest for future generations. Some people think 15-20 years is too long a period for one to invest their monies. I assure them this is such a short period … Now is the time to do it.”

Another important issue that people should not ignore is the current climate change crisis. “We are all aware of the role trees play in reducing the impact of climate change. So the more trees we plant, the better for us all.”

The writer is a Senior Plantation Officer with Sawlog Production Grant Scheme.

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The open-air showroom along Nairobi’s Ngong Road, close to Dagoretti Corner.

Small beginnings

Although operating in the jua kali sector, Dagoretti Corner furniture maker nurses big ambitions

By Wanjiru Ciira t 32, Morris Mawira Mbombua is already contributing to the development of the furniture-making industry. Based at the now famed open-air furniture-making cluster at Dagoretti Corner, along Ngong Road, in Nairobi, Mr Mbombua employs six people at his timberyard and eight in furniture making.

Llumber Works Ltd, the company of which Mr Mbombua is a partner, has operated at the Dagoretti yard for four years now. However, Mr Mbombua has been in the timber business since 1998.

At the time, the former primary school teacher used to procure timber from farms in his native Meru area to sell in Nairobi. These were big indigenous trees like meru oak (Vitex keniensis), reaching diameters of 50cm. The trees would be split with chainsaws to be sold.

These trees were remnants of the Mt Kenya forest, which had been settled by farmers; and were not a result of tree planting.

That is the tragedy of the slow growing indigenous timber species in Kenya; the giant cedars (Juniperus procera), meru oaks, camphor (Ocotea usambarensis), Elgon teaks (Olea capensis) and podos (Podocarpus latifolius, P.

A

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A lumberyard and workshop along Ngong Road. Despite its chaotic nature and poor equipment, it makes money.

falcatus) have all but gone now, and replanting has not taken place.

On doing that business for seven years, Mr Mbombua realised that the supply of timber in Meru was drying up. “The business was dying, and I had to look for an alternative,” he says.

And that’s when he came together with business partners Hellen Kinoti and Peter Munene to form Llumber Works Ltd.

The company put up the first timber yard at Dagoretti Corner in 2005. This was a good business move at the time because they would supply the other furniture makers in the area.

Today, however, Llumber Works is not the only timber yard at Dagoretti Corner, but the company is still doing good business.

Llumber Works planes, splits and cuts wood into different shapes for its clients.

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The company mostly deals with hardwoods mahogany and mvuli (mostly from the DR Congo); and softwoods cypress and pine.

The last two come mainly from Tanzania and Malawi. The company also deals in camphor, cedar, Elgon teak, podo and mukui (Newtonia buchananii), if they can get it. As a sign of the times however, a very recent shipment of eucalypt logs has arrived in the timber yard, lying in the middle of Congolese hardwoods (see box). Indeed, on condition of proper kilning and drying, eucalypt produces beautiful timber that can be used for flooring, window frames, doors, furniture, etc. If not properly kilned and dried, most of the eucalypt will split and crack and be wasted as fuelwood. Properly kilned and dried wood is however hard to find in the whole of Kenya, for whatever kind of timber.

After assessing the needs of the market, Llumber Works decided to start making furniture, in addition to supplying the timber needs of the other furniture makers in Dagoretti Corner. Therefore, Mr Mbobua has a splitting and planing machine in his yard, and a crosscut saw (to which he would like to add the equipment for making T&G).

Today, the company makes beds, dining sets, umbrellas, camping chairs, etc, for all categories of Kenyan society, from individuals to organisations, even small and medium-size hotels. Mr Mbombua is especially happy when he receives orders from tourist hotels. “They order anything between 20 to 30 units of the same item … that’s good business for us,” he says. At such times, the company hires casual labour. These are usually good artisans, having studied at Don Bosco, or wazee who graduated in the 1980s from polytechnics.

Demand for furniture is high, with growing sales to the Kenyan middle class, the category of people buying and renting apartments in Nairobi. Mr Mbobua’s business has a monthly turn-over of about 5,000 board feet for timber sales, and consumes another 1,500 board feet of timber for furniture manufacture (respectively 11.8 and 3.5m3). That places the workshop in the “small” category, compared to

the “big boys” of the timber industry.

All together, the whole cluster of almost 100 furniture businesses spread over about a kilometre along Ngong Road employs more than 600 people on a permanent basis.

Being located in a cluster with other furniture makers has advantages, according to Mr Mbobua. “We are stronger for being together,” he says. For one, they do not have to go far to look for skilled labour – it’s all in the vicinity. Again, being located next to the furniture makers means Llumber Works becomes the supplier of first choice for wood. In addition, new ideas spread quickly, like mixing iron with wood in attractive designs. The newest catalogues of big Western companies, like IKEA, are eagerly looked for, to see which designs could fit Kenyan tastes. The local fundis do not have problems making such designs on site.

However, there are also some setbacks. For example, since furniture is displayed in the open, the furniture makers copy designs in such a way that it becomes difficult to develop a unique look or signature. Mr Mbobua takes it all in his stride, explaining that they try to get an edge over the competition through better quality finishing. Being on the road reserve also invites frequent harassment from the Nairobi City Council. Indeed, Mr Mbobua does not see any assistance from the government to stimulate businesses like his, despite the jobs they create.

Mr Mbobua hopes to secure a bank loan, on condition of a satisfactory site inspection by bank officials and a positive assessment of the business’ bank account. However, bank interest rates are high and many small businesses just depend on savings and operating from order to order.

However, there is a measure of suspicion.

With awareness of the effect that depletion of forests has on the environment and climate change, there are those who frown on any cutting down of trees. Yet the furniture, building and related industries need wood to operate. Where do the players in the industry get their timber?

Mr Mbombua says the 1999 partial ban on logging imposed by the Kenya government has affected the furniture business adversely, creating a black market for timber products. He would like to see the ban lifted but harvesting of forests controlled. The current situation is unsatisfactory, as illegal loggers still cut trees indiscriminately without any regard to the effects of their actions. “The ban might have been useful at the beginning, but should now be lifted,” he says.

Mr Mbobua is aware that small beginnings can lead to the realisation of big dreams. He has a vision of opening a big timber yard in Nairobi’s Industrial Area. We can only say to him, “Everything is possible.”

The writter is the Managing Editor, Miti magazine

Is Kenya’s timber industry fuelling the destruction of the Congo rainforest?

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enyan sources estimate that 80 per cent of the timber used in Nairobi these days originates from the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo).

This is more precisely mahogany and mvule from the Ituri forest in the Eastern DRC, a rainforest area close to the boundary with Uganda. It is a unique place (63,000km2), home to the rare Okapi antelope, a relative of the giraffe, and rich in minerals like coltan and gold, which explains why it stays continuously in turmoil.

Local militias, proxies for Ugandan and Rwandese interests, and the Congolese army itself, make it a hell for the local residents, and a good place to do illegal businesses like mining and logging.

Botanically, the name mahogany refers to some five different species: Khaya anthotheca, Entandrophragma angolensis, E. candollei, E. cilindricum and E. utile. Mvule is

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Milicia excelsa. Mahogany and mvule make up 90 per cent of the timber exported out of the DRC. In Nairobi, the timber arrives in lorries hauling 40ft containers, closed to suspicious eyes. Sometimes a lorry loaded with logs is spotted. The lorry drivers are Congolese or Ugandan.

One such container can contain 30,000 board feet (about 70.79 m3) of wet wood, and the drivers confirm that two trees can fill it. Mahogany trees are known to grow 30m high and to have a stem diameter of 1.8m, so theoretically the timber of two trees can fill up a 40ft container.

The timber sells at Ksh 100/board foot, meaning the total value of one load can be Ksh 3 million, and the price of one tree is a staggering Ksh 1.5 million. This is good money, considering that the exporters only pay for transport, felling and sawing of the tree with cheap labour, and bribes at

international border points and along the road. The loggers do not pay for the trees that may have taken up to 100 years to mature.

By comparison, the cost of cypress is Ksh 55-60/board foot and pine Ksh 40/board foot.

About 20-30 lorries of DRC timber arrive each week in Nairobi, some of them continuing to Mombasa. So on average, one might say that at least 250 trees are felled per month for the Kenyan market.

This seems not too bad, but might be just the tip of the iceberg, as more trees might go to other destinations like Uganda and Tanzania.

The lorries drive back to the Congo loaded with Kenyan manufactured goods.

It is interesting to note that periods of intensive strife and unrest in the eastern DRC coincide with higher timber exports.

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Western Kenya offers excellent climatic conditions for profitable tree growing, such as these pines (Pinus oocarpa) that are 44 years old

Out-grower associations should have regular meetings between members to decide on proper strategies for marketing to get the most out of their resource. They also need to exchange any technical information that promises better management of their woodlots.

Tree out-grower schemes are the way forward

Partnerships between tree growers and major wood using industries guarantee markets for farm tree products PART I

By Joshua K. Cheboiwo1 and David Langat2 he forestry sector in Kenya is undergoing tremendous transformation occasioned by the shortage of wood and the rising demand for wood in the construction and other sectors. Forest cover in Kenya, estimated at 2.5 per cent of the total landmass, is relatively small compared to international levels. This scenario is made worse by the rapid degradation of public forests through human activities and inadequate capacity of the Kenya Forest Service (KFS) to establish and maintain forests.

The plantation forestry sector that was started in earnest in the 1930s and expanded rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s, with the support of the World Bank, to supply the

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expanded wood-based industries, has been dwindling with less replanting and survival of planted seedlings. According to the Kenya Forestry Master Plan (KFMP, 1994) trees on farms and settlements are increasingly gaining importance as a complement to production from public forests. Thus, farms and private estates have become alternative sources of wood materials for rural and urban consumers in Kenya.

The proposed Forest Policy 2007 outlines activities to be undertaken by the government in collaboration with various stakeholders in promoting the development of farm forestry. Recent studies have shown that farmers are responding positively to these changes and many are taking trees as an important land use activity and as an alternative investment venture in their agricultural landscape. The policy

envisages liberalising the forestry sector and encouraging the setting up of producer associations and private companies to engage in commercial tree growing. It advocates for the formation of partnerships between tree growers and major wood using industries as one of the ways of guaranteeing markets for tree products from farms.

A number of large-scale enterprises in western Kenya that are dependent on tree products have the potential to form partnerships with tree growers for mutual benefit. These enterprises include Pan African Paper Mills (PPM), Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), Kenya Power and Lighting (KPLC), Homalime Ltd and many small firewood consuming food and textile processing industries.

The large round wood consumers in

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western Kenya have recently initiated a number of partnerships with tree growers in the region. This article aims at documenting existing partnerships and their experiences – the opportunities and constraints they currently face. The article is split into three.

Part I, in this issue of Miti, will introduce the concept and look at the principles that govern it. Part II, to be carried in Miti Issue 6, will give some examples while the last part, in Miti Issue 7, will deal with more examples and the lessons learnt. The experiences and learnt lessons will come in handy in the future promotion of tree out-grower schemes in the country and the region. The study was a collaborative work between KEFRI and Trees on Farm Network (TOFNET) formerly hosted by ICRAF. Partnerships in smallholder tree growing ventures In theory, the concept of strategic business partnerships is geared to benefit both the wood-based industry and smallholder treegrowers. According to several studies, various models of partnerships between private tree-growers and the wood industry are being undertaken in different countries. The different approaches depend on the nature of the symbiotic relationship between the partners being considered and the sectoral policy and legislative regimes in place.

A number of smallholder tree out-grower schemes are relevant to Kenya. For simplicity, they can be classified into the following categories: • Contract farming: In this partnership, growers are largely contracted for production and the company guarantees the purchase of the mature crop at an agreed price. South Africa provides three examples – the South African Wattle Growers Association that contracts 600 farmers to supply bark, and Mondi and Sappi that contract over 12,000 out-growers for pulpwood material. In India, the West India Match Company and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development initiated a joint out-growers scheme where farmers were offered loans, seedlings, technical support and a guaranteed market. Similar schemes have been undertaken in Indonesia, Philippines and Australia.

• Technical and financial agreements: This is a partnership where farmers enter into elaborate technical and financial support agreements that may involve provision of high quality seedlings, payment of establishment and maintenance costs, upfront payments and assurance for purchase of the final crop. The agreements may involve one or combinations of the above.

The support costs are recovered after the sale of the crop. Examples are found in India, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

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• Subsidy programmes: These are partnerships where a company or government agency is largely responsible for all production management operations and the landowners are paid market prices for their final wood crop minus the production costs. This is common in some European Union (EU) countries where several smallholder woodlot owners are amalgamated into one production unit supervised by a public forestry agency.

• Land lease agreements: This is an arrangement where landowners are paid for the use of their land and have little involvement in its management, but may be entitled to some proportion of the final profits. This is common in the USA and some EU countries.

Advantages of out-grower schemes Some of the advantages of the out-grower schemes to the partners are: • The farmers are assured of markets • Prices are agreed in advance • The firms can access the materials at competitive costs • Firms access land cheaply in case of leases • Firms diversify the supply of raw materials • Firms get greater acceptance within the communities where they operate because of perceived social responsibility (social branding opportunities).

Investment partnerships Buyers of forest products and the industry, separately or in partnerships, can help finance local tree enterprises to improve operations through investment partnerships.

In most cases, the companies can bring investment resources, management expertise and market linkages to smallholder farmers and at the same time guarantee market access and remunerative prices.

For the partnership to benefit both the farmer and the industrial wood consumer, each needs to trust the other’s legitimate aims and the price negotiation process should be fair to both parties. The partners should allow for experimentation and treat deals as a learning process. They need to have a long-term commitment to the partnership. The method of sharing the risks should be spelt out clearly at the initiation of the contract.

Sound business principles should be applied to the partnership and it should not be exploitative or a mere public relations exercise for either party. The partnership should contribute to the development of each party.

To put both producers and industries on an equal footing in negotiations and drawing of partnership protocols, some fundamental

capacity building must be undertaken. This may include: • Training of producers on the technical side of the business of tree growing and management; • Equipping producers with negotiation and bargaining skills – that is, improving on their social capital; • Networking of the producers; • Encouraging voluntary associations with developed sets of rules and regulations to avoid the state bureaucracy that in most cases is an impediment to business growth; • Defining the role and responsibilities of associations. These could provide market information, legal advice, financial analysis, linkages to lobby groups and political supporters and mobilisation of financial resources through organising credit and assistance in forest planning.

Critical elements of successful partnership associations Some critical elements are necessary for the formation of viable and successful partnerships in the forestry sector. These are: • A strong policy and legislative framework governing partnerships • Development and sustenance of a shared vision • Locating and partnering of people with the shared vision • Development of a monitoring system to respond to dynamics of the markets and social environment.

Financing Options for Partnerships The following are some potential sources for financing partnerships within East African countries: • Self-financing, through savings or mobilising members’ own resources.

• Bank credits: Producers may obtain long-term loans from commercial banks and other financial and microfinance institutions.

• Joint ventures with consumers of forest products.

• Development trust funds for forestry development.

• International funding facilities like Carbon Credit, Green Environment, World Bank, IFAD, ADB and others.

Part II of this article, to be carried in the next issue of Miti, will highlight some of the existing partnerships in Kenya, their experiences and some relevant lessons to farm forestry development in the region.

1 Principal Research Officer, Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Londiani 2 Senior Research Officer, Kenya Forestry Research Institute, Londiani

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Erik Nissen-Petersen against a background of photos of a successful project.

A common sight in ASAL (Eastern Province) - women drawing water from a sandy riverbed. The water is dirty, but this is the people’s only source of the commodity.

There is water in drylands

Yes, and it’s all going to waste. We just need to know where to look and how to harvest it

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rid and semi arid lands (ASAL) have the potential to become quite productive and support a relatively dense population, occupying, as they do, large areas and having soils of good quality and texture - if only they had sufficient water.

However, the surprising news is - the water is there. It is permanently contained in the beds of numerous sand rivers; it falls out of the sky during the rainy season, runs over rocky surfaces and compacted soil, and disappears before it can be used. The way it is, water is often more of a threat than a positive force, for instance, when a heavy downpour destroys roads and erodes fertile farmlands.

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The key question then is: how do we harness this force, and harvest and store water so that it can be used all year in a productive way? Do we have the required technical expertise? Where is it? Is it expensive?

The answer is yes, all this technical knowledge is readily available in Kenya, and it is relatively cheap. Further (embarrassing) questions such as why this knowledge is not applied more frequently to improve people’s lives in these areas are more difficult to answer. We will hence not make this futile attempt and instead concentrate on the various technical answers that can do the job. We shall do this through an interview with a remarkable man, Erik Nissen-Petersen,

who has worked in East African dry lands for over 35 years. Erik is of Danish origin but has been very well integrated into Kenyan society through his marriage to Margaret Wanza Munyao.

Erik did not seem to be predestined to become an expert in infrastructure to contain and store water in East African ASAL. Trained as a structural engineer, he joined the Danish Navy as a shipbuilder technician for four years after which he worked in real estate and construction in Denmark for 15 years. His interest in Africa arose during a holiday in drought-hit Gambia in 1973.

When the Danish official aid organisation, DANIDA, placed an advertisement for a job in Kenya, Erik applied and came to work in

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a livestock project in Kamba and Masai lands. He had to build cattle dips, and quickly realised that one dip needed 14,300 litres of water to fill, and an additional 2 litres per cow dipped. And since there were thousands of cows, there was not enough water for the activity during the dry season. It would only work during the rainy season. This was counterproductive, because once you start dipping cattle, you have to continue as they lose their natural immunity to tickborne diseases. Erik started a campaign to convince DANIDA to execute a water project.

With his wife, he acquired a farm in the Kibwezi area, and started building water infrastructure there, in what he called “The green valley project” in 1976. He built two earth dams, five sand dams and 18 handdug wells. Erik continued until 1980 when he convinced DANIDA to fund the “Mutomo Soil

Soil type

Silt

Fine sand

Medium sand

Coarse sand

Size (mm)

<0.5

0.5-1

1-1.5

1.5-5

Saturation (%)

38

40

41

45

Extraction (%)

5

19

25

35

Saturation with water and extraction possibilities per soil type

and Water Conservation Project”. Mutomo then used to be part of Kitui district. This project ran from 1982 until 1990.

After this, Erik founded a private company, ASAL Consultants Ltd, for which he acts as consultant and Managing Director.

The company invested a lot in capacity building, and Erik wrote about 30 books on water capturing and storage through low-cost and labour-intensive community projects (see below for a selection).

Welcome to the world of water harvesting from rock catchments, roof

Construction of a shallow well. All is done manually; a tough job especially when the workers hit a stony soil layer. Depth can be up to 15m or more, as groundwater recedes to deeper layers during drought.

Construction of an earth dam to store run-off from rocks. Note the water intake at the deepest point.

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catchments, and road catchments; and to the construction of earth dams, sand dams, subsurface dams, weirs, hand-dug wells (with or without hydro-dynamic well heads), all kind of water tanks (ferro-cement, bricks, blocks, rubble stones) and jars.

Some of these terms, like roof catchment, are familiar enough. This is clearly a roof fitted with gutters so water can be harvested and piped into a storage device. A road catchment is probably a bit more mysterious, but as is obvious to anybody moving along a road in heavy rain, a lot of water collects on road surfaces, whether the surfaces are asphalt or earth. If road construction engineers do not plan for adequate disposal of this water through drains, culverts, etc, it will destroy their road. This water can be collected in ponds and dams for use in agriculture or horticulture.

But what is the difference between a sand dam and an earth dam? And how can a subsurface dam store water if it is under a surface? Shouldn’t it be above the surface?

Sand dams originate from India where they have been built and used for centuries.

A Kitui District Agricultural Officer (DAO), a certain Eng. Classen, constructed the first known sand dams in Kenya in 1956 as part of the African Land Development board (ALDEV) programme. Interestingly, Eng. Classen was also involved in the construction of some still functioning and vital rock catchments in Ngomeni (Mwingi), Mutomo (Kitui) and some 25 other places in Ukambani.

The principle behind the construction of sand dams is the water-holding capacity of sand, in this case river sand. Sand consists of small, roughly round particles that only touch at certain points, leaving open many tiny spaces. These spaces are normally filled with a mixture of air and water. The bigger the particles, the more spaces between them.

The table below shows the relation between the size and the volume of water that can be stored. For example, at saturation point, silt is able to hold 38per cent of its volume as water, but only 5 per cent can be extracted.

On the contrary, coarse sand will store only a bit more water at saturation point (45 per cent of its volume), but much more can be extracted (35 per cent). This extraction is by gravity, a simple flow of water between the particles.

This is extremely interesting. By digging a shallow well inside a sand river, or constructing it on the riverbank, clean water can be obtained from sand accumulated behind a natural obstacle (e.g. a rock) or an artificial wall, up to a maximum of 35

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A shallow well constructed beside a seasonal river. The well is over 3m wide, allowing quick infiltration of water stored in the sand under the surface of the river.

per cent of the volume of the sand. This artificial wall can be a sand dam (made from reinforced rubble stone masonry or concrete) or a subsurface dam, which is hidden below the surface of the streambed.

German engineers built the first known subsurface dams during the construction of the then Tanganyika railway system in 1905, around Dodoma (Tanzania). Their purpose was to provide water for the engines of the steam locomotives. Many more subsurface dams have since been built in East Africa.

They can be built from soil, reinforced rubble stone masonry or concrete. As they are built below the streambed, they are not vulnerable to destruction by flash floods. The water yielded by the dams is protected from evaporation, being 50-60cm underneath the

surface, clean, as it is filtered through the sand and not contaminated by livestock.

University curriculum and websites Erik, now 76, has taken several initiatives to ensure that the wealth of experience and technical details of all these operations is available to a wider public. Apart from writing books, he is making educational movies, which can be viewed on www. thewaterchannel.org and an inter-active website on water for a Farmers Information Platform www.infonet-biovision.org. Erik has been pushing to include this engineering knowledge in a university curriculum, without success so far. He has trained thousands of people, some of whom have ended up as private consultants. Many more have moved on to work in NGOs, while a few have been

integrated into the public sector.

Through numerous small projects and some large-scale ones, supplying drinking water to tens of thousands of people all over Africa, Erik has proved that water is available for people and irrigation in ASAL, year-round. The greatest obstacle he sees in the provision of water seems to be technical.

Some structures built over the years had shortcomings that eventually destroyed them. These shortcomings include deficient design criteria, bad location and poor maintenance. He thinks that privatisation could be part of the solution, and believes that communities can be empowered to care for themselves.

Erik Nissen-Petersen has written the following books:

• Water from roads. A handbook for

technicians and farmers on harvesting rainwater from roads, 2006. Erik NissenPetersen.

• Water from dry riverbeds. How dry and sandy riverbeds can be turned into water sources by hand-dug wells, subsurface dams, weirs and sand dams, 2006. Erik Nissen-Petersen.

• Water from roofs, 2007. A handbook for technicians and builders on survey, design, construction and maintenance of roof catchments. Erik Nissen-

Petersen.

• Water from small dams, 2006. A

handbook for technicians, farmers and others on site investigations, designs, cost estimates, construction and maintenance of small earth dams. Erik Nissen-Petersen.

• Water from rock outcrops, 2006. A handbook for engineers and technicians on site investigations, designs, construction and maintenance of rock catchment tanks and dams. Erik NissenPetersen.

• Water supply by rural builders, 2007. Erik Nissen-Petersen.

• Water surveys and designs, 2006.

Explains survey techniques and gives standard designs with average costs on water supply structures. Erik NissenPetersen and Catherine W. Wanjihia.

• Water for rural communities, 2006. How Kenyan rural communities can create their own water supplies with assistance from the Water Services Trust Fund. Erik Nissen-Petersen, Birgit Madsen and Munguti Katui-Katua.

These handbooks (all written for the Danish International Development Assistance - DANIDA), are available, free of charge from the office of ASAL Consultants Ltd (PO Box 739-00606, Nairobi, tel 0733-619066 and 0722-599165) as long as stocks last or can be downloaded free from www.waterforaridland.com.

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Wheat fields in Narok, after harvesting. Local growers rely on rain for their wheat crops. Soils in Narok are clayish so have a high capacity of water retention. Even so, the occasional dry year wreaks havoc on the crop as complementary irrigation is not practised (the sprinklers would be heavy investment).

Figure 1: Graphic expression of water presence in the soil

Water in the right doses Effective irrigation is a delicate balance between soil conditions, the needs of the crop and availability of water

By Herman Verlodt he following article gives a theoretical insight into how soils hold water, and how this influences irrigation activities. It explains how much water is really available for plant growth, and how much can be given in one irrigation dose and why.

T

1. Introduction In semi arid regions, rainfall is often insufficient for basic food crops and yields are variable from season to season depending on the total rainfall and its distribution. Trees are vulnerable to the same conditions but to a lesser extent, thanks to a more extended and deeper rooting system.

Insufficiency of water is linked to the following aspects: Total rainfall during the growing season The relationship between crop need and total rainfall gives an idea about the insufficiency.

Frequency and distribution of the rainfall during the crop season This gives an idea of homogeneity and

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regularity of rainfall and eventual excesses or shortfalls during some periods of the growing season.

Intensity (or quantity) of rainfall This has to be linked to the absorption capacity of the soil in the zone exploited by the roots of the crop.

Rainfall higher than the absorption capacity of the soil is not available for the crop, but can be remobilised by pumping out of shallow wells.

Trees, including fruit trees, are more adapted to semi-arid regions, but one needs several years to obtain income from them. Farmers invest more in crops that give quick results, assuring them of their daily needs.

Quantity of runoff This water is also directly unavailable for the crop, but can be available if a catchment is organised and the water stored.

Maize and cereals need about 600mm of rainfall for correct growing and yielding of 50 qx/ ha1. With rainfalls of about 75-80 per cent of the total need, the crop still gives relatively good yields.

At about 350mm of rainfall, yield drops to around 50-60 per cent of the potential, and for rainfall lower than 200mm, yields tend to be nil.

1 Qx = quintal. One quintal = 100kg

A simple rain gauge, to be checked after each rain, gives excellent information on precipitation

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In areas where rainfall is insufficient, farmers have to cultivate more surface than they would need to in areas where rainfall is sufficient. Complementary irrigation is a tool to provide to the crop the necessary complementary water at strategic moments in order to maximise yields. This can be achieved through monitoring of natural rainfall and remobilisation of runoff water or excess infiltration water.

2. Need for irrigation The need for irrigation depends on the relation between rainfall (r) and evapotranspiration (ET), which is the combination of water loss from the soil by evaporation and from the crop by transpiration.

If the ratio r/ET on the base of a growing season of the crop reaches more than 80 per cent, no irrigation is needed. If it is lower than 50 per cent, irrigation is needed and should only be interrupted in periods of high rainfall.

Figure 2: Values of maximum irrigation dose (in mm/cm) in function of soil texture

Table 1: Estimation of the different parameters for calculation of the RAW in function of the soil texture

Soil type

% Clay

% loam

% sand

He in%

da

b

Pure sand SS S Sl Ls LL Sa Sal LSa L AS LAS La As Als Al A AA

0 3 8 6 5 4 17 16 15 14 27 25 24 38 36 54 50 70

0 12 12 34 59 84 12 32 52 76 12 41 67 11 35 58 26 15

100 85 80 60 36 12 71 52 33 10 61 34 9 51 29 8 24 15

5 8 12 14 15 21 16 17 19 23 23 24 25 27 28 32 35 45

1.7 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.3 2.0

0.8 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.55 0.45 0.5 0.5 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.45 0.4 0.33

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c

0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.6 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.6 0.66 0.66 0.6 0.66 0.66 0.6 0.5 0.5

b*c

0.53 0.47 0.4 0.4 0.37 0.27 0.33 0.33 0.3 0.27 0.3 0.3 0.27 0.3 0.3 0.27 0.2 0.17

When the r/ET ratio is between 50 and 80 per cent, complementary irrigation can be applied, resulting in good crop yields and sufficient income for farmers from smaller land areas, thus freeing some land for tree planting.

Complementary irrigation depends on the relationship between rainfall and evapotranspiration and requires monitoring of both. Simple monitoring can be done in the field using a simple rainfall meter and a Piche evaporimeter. The first one gives the rainfall in mm while the second one allows for the reading of the evaporation through the continuous feeding of water to a round piece of blotting paper. Monitoring on a regular basis (at each rainfall for the rainfall meter and at least once a week for the evaporimeter) is required. A continuous balance between the two makes it easy to decide when irrigation is needed.

One has to take into account that the soil does not take in all the rain and that runoff depends on the soil type, the slope of the land and the type of vegetation. Runoff percentage can be estimated using the parameter presented in a former article (see Miti issue 3). It usually falls between 10 and 70 per cent depending on the slope and the type of vegetation (pasture and woodland are less sensitive to runoff than areas planted with crops). The rainfall minus the runoff is thus available for infiltration, but not all the infiltrating water is available for the crop.

Simple water recuperation basins can be used to recuperate runoff water for complementary irrigation. The dimension of the basin depends on the soil and the normal expected runoff. If water is reused for complementary irrigation, the depth of such a basin need not be more than 2m, because evaporation will not be excessive.

During heavy rainfall, water infiltration can go beyond the rooting zone of a crop, which means it is not directly useful for the crop but elevates the underground water table. This water can be harvested using a shallow well.

The available water (AW) in a soil is the water that can be used by a crop, and it is about 50 per cent of the total soil humidity.

If the quantity of water infiltrating the soil is higher than the AW, one should take into account only the AW in the balance.

The relation between AW (mm) and useful rainfall will determine the percentage of the useful rainwater available for the crop.

KEY With b: proportion of available water in the equivalent humidity c: proportion of readily available water in available water He: equivalent humidity in percentage of the soil weight da: apparent density h: height in dm

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A simple irrigation system for fruit trees - creating basins the size of the canopy around the stem. The basin can be split into two. Water has to be piped into the basin. Advantage: simple and cost-effective where abundant and inexpensive water is available. Inconvenience: usually consumption of too much water, with an important part leached into the subsoil.

Where irrigation is needed, the dose and frequency have to be determined. Too much water is wasteful, while too little during the growing season causes plants to wilt. The irrigation dose has to take in account the water retention capacity of the soil and the type of soil.

Irrigation can be expressed in mm, which corresponds to 1 litre/m². An irrigation of 10mm corresponds to 10 litres/m². A plot of 1000 m² thus receives 10,000 litres of irrigation water.

3. Determination of the available water in the soil (AW and RAW) The irrigation dose can be calculated based on the readily available water (RAW) in the soil and this is expressed in mm. The readily available water is normally 30-50 per cent of the available water for plant growth in the soil, while the available water, which is normally determined in a laboratory, reaches around 45-55 per cent of the equivalent humidity, which is the humidity that can be retained by the soil (see fig 1).

The relation between RAW (mm) and average ET (mm/day) will determine the interval between two consecutive irrigations in a dry period. The irrigation dose will be equal to the RAW, increased by 10-20 per cent for drainage.

If the data (He, da, b, c) used for the calculations are based on laboratory analysis of the soil, the calculations of the maximum dose of irrigation will reflect the reality. If the soil texture is known (percentage of clay and percentage of loam), a theoretical approach is possible by use of Table 1. This table allows selecting the case closest to the soil texture.

The different factors He, b, c, b*c and da can be deducted from this table.

If the thickness of the soil layer (normally the zone exploited by the roots of the crop) is known, one will be able to calculate the RAW in the soil. These calculations, using the estimated average values for each type of soil, gives good estimations of the RAW and

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Low-pressure drip irrigation of fruit trees: two perforated polyethylene pipes run alongside the trees and provide water on a permanent basis. Advantage: less use of water and labour, and possibility of adding fertiliser and pesticides into the water. Inconvenience: a higher investment and more precise working required (dose and frequency of irrigation depends on the season).

the deviations with the reality are around 10 per cent.

A soil with 10 per cent clay, 30 per cent loam and 60 per cent sand can be classified as Sl (sandy loam), while a soil with 45 per cent clay, 30 per cent loam and 25 per cent sand is to be classified as A (a clay soil). A soil containing 20 per cent clay, 30 per cent loam and 50 per cent sand is to be classified as Sal. Examples: • For pure dune sand and for a soil layer of 50 cm or 5 dm: RAW = 5*0.53*1.7*5 = 22.4 mm and AW = 5*0.8*1.7*5= 34 mm • For heavy clay soil (AA) and for a soil layer of 50 cm: RAW = 45*0.17*2.0*5 = 61.2 mm and AW = 45*0.33*2.0*5 = 115.5 mm • For a silty, clay, sand soil (Sal) and for a layer of 50 cm: RAW = 17*0.33*1.6*5 = 44.8 mm and AW = 17*0.5*1.6*5 = 68 mm 4. Determination of the irrigation dose based on the soil type The maximum irrigation dose depends on the structural stability of the soil, which is a function of the percentage of clay (0-2µ2) and loam (2-50 µ). A simple approach of the maximum irrigation dose for different soil types (in function of their texture) is shown in Figure 2. This figure allows determination of the maximum irrigation dose expressed as mm irrigation water per cm of soil layer exploited by the roots of the crop.

Depending on the soil type and its stability, the maximum irrigation dose varies between 0.45 and 1.3 mm per cm of thickness of the exploited soil layer.

Example: For a maize crop with a root system up to 50 cm; • growing in a very coarse sandy soil with a maximum irrigation dose of 0.45 mm/

cm, the maximum irrigation dose will be: 0.45*50 = 22.50 mm or litres/m²; • growing in a fine textured soil with a maximum irrigation dose of 0.9 mm/ cm, the maximum irrigation dose will be: 0.9*50 = 45 mm or litres/m²; growing in an average textured soil with a maximum irrigation dose of 1.3 mm/cm, the maximum irrigation dose will be: 1.3*50 = 65 mm or litres/m².

These data are more or less similar to the calculated RAW above. Hence, for maize the maximum irrigation dose is situated between 23mm and 65mm.

For fruit and other trees, the depth of soil exploitation is different. For instance, orange trees cultivated under irrigation exploit about 1.5-2m so that it is possible to calculate the water quantity that can be stored in the volume of soil occupied by the roots of the tree. For this, it is necessary to know the useful surface of soil for the tree.

For a tree occupying a soil surface of 8m² on a depth of 1.5m with a maximum irrigation dose of 0.9 mm/cm, the maximum irrigation volume is 150*0.9 mm/m² or 135 mm/m² or 135 litres for one m². For 8m², the maximum irrigation volume is thus 1,080 litres.

Maximum irrigation doses are based on water retention by the soil and at this dose, there are no water losses at the soil level.

One should apply an overdose of 15-20 per cent, to avoid salinity increase in the soil.

In cases where less water is available, one should use one leaching irrigation per crop (near the end of the crop period).

The usual irrigation dose is thus 1.2*maximum irrigation dose, so that for a maize crop in the above examples the usual irrigation dose should be respectively 27 mm, 54 mm and 78 mm.

The writer is a former professor of the University of Tunis (Tunisia) and a researcher specialising in horticulture and irrigation techniques

2 One µ (pronounce: mu) is one thousandth of a mm.

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A SOLID HEDGE

What the experts say about investing in trees Compiled by Rino Solberg

Financial Times

“ Last year the Harvard Endowment Fund invested $500m in forestry in New Zealand. “ Money does not grow on trees. Unless, that is, you are in the timber business… ”

WhatInvestment Magazine

“In 2007 forestry investments outperformed equities, gilts and commercial property.”

“Forestry is a compelling investment sector for many different groups of investors, from those looking simply for profits or a hedge against equity investments to those looking for an environmentally sound home for their money.”

Investment U

“ Managed timber has beaten the stock market, with less risk, over the long run. ” “ From 1973-2002, managed timber returned roughly 15% annually as an investment, while stocks returned about 11%. ” “Trees don’t know about the war in Iraq, or the bear market in the Nasdaq. While stocks couldn’t keep up with inflation in the 1970s, timber investments never had a losing year!

“Trees just keep growing year after year.

So investing in timber is an excellent way to balance your portfolio as its value rises even when stocks are falling. ” “The price of timber has consistently beaten inflation. Think of your timber investment as a good inflation hedge the numbers show that to be true. ”

Jeremy Grantham US Fund Manager who predicted market collapse in 2006 “Timber is the best long-term investment there is, it is the only low-risk, high-return asset there is.”

“Timber has risen steadily in price for 200 years and has returned an average of 6.5% a year for the last century.”

“Timber has been the only asset class in existence that has risen in three out of the four market collapses of the 20th century.” “ Over the last century, timber prices have risen at 3.3% above the rate of inflation.

Add 5% a year in income, and you’ve got a timber investment asset that has returned double digits, competing with stocks over the long run. ”

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 1. It’s time to draw the line The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) - supported by many other concerned partners - will launch the Nairobi Greenline project.

This is a unique initiative to plant a 30km-long, 50m-wide barrier of 250,000 indigenous trees along Nairobi National Park’s boundary with the Industrial Area.

The green line will protect the park from land grabbing, pollution, human/ wildlife conflict and more. The groundbreaking ceremony will be held on: Date: February 12, 2010 Place: Nairobi National Park East Gate, behind Libra House, off Mombasa Rd Time: 13:00 - 18.00 hrs

2. ESEA annual conference The Ecological Society for Eastern Africa (ESEA) will hold its annual scientific conference at the Kenyatta University Conference Centre – (KUCC) Nairobi, Kenya, on May 19 and 20, 2010.

The theme of the conference will be: Climate Change and Natural Resource Use in Eastern Africa: Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation Sub-themes: a) Impacts · Impacts of climate change on natural ecosystems · Impacts of climate change on human health and environmental systems b) Adaptation - Climate change adaptation programs: best practices in Eastern Africa c) Mitigation - Climate change mitigation policies and practices d) Communication - Effective communication of climate change information to the public. e) Student competition will have a broad theme selected from any of the above.

The conference is open to all professionals who are involved with science and practice of ecology within the eastern African region. Students are particularly encouraged to use this forum to share their work with other scientists in the region.

Deadlines: Receipt of abstracts at the ESEA Secretariat: March 15, 2010 Receipt of full papers after communication from the secretariat: April 3, 2010 Kindly address any inquiry on the conference to conference@ecsea.org For registration or more information, please contact: The Project Officer Ecological Society for Eastern Africa c/o National Museums of Kenya P .O. Box 40658 - 00100 -GPO Nairobi, Kenya Telephone: +254 - 20 – 250 4665 Cell phone: +254 721 617 127 E-mail: caroline@ecsea.org or info@ecsea.org

MoneyWeek “ Timber makes sense from a tax perspective ”

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