- Permaculture demonstration site in Kajiado, Kenya
The site is about 20 acres, located in Oltepesi, off Magadi Road across the Museum of Natural History, 9 km on dirt road.
PROFILE OF SITE:
CLIMATE AND TOPOGRAPHY
- Semi arid with mean annual rainfall ranging from 600 to 800 mm.
- Two rainy seasons from October to December and from March to May.
- Savanna grassland, dominated by acacias, shrub and other indigenous plants and trees.
COMMUNITY
- Pastoralist community
- A school and church within reach of site.
- Homesteads spread out over large areas.
- Dams used widely for water security.
CHALLENGES
- Cutting down of trees for fuel-wood and charcoal is causing rapid deforestation.
- Drought prone
- Pastoralists unable to find sufficient water in between rains.
- Food security for people and animals
CONCLUSION
- Perfect site for eco system rehabilitation, conservation and demonstration.
- Ideal site for demonstrating and training in sustainable lifestyles for pastoralists who are now experiencing population pressure, environmental degradation, water and food insecurity among other challenges.
- Good training site for students and practitioners of sustainable living techniques
Oltepesi in Kajiado County is a dryland area that is home to a large pastoralist community. The area, like many others around Kenya and Africa, is experiencing dramatic problems with drought, food security, deforestation and degraded land.
There have been various, isolated initiatives such as dams etc to help the community in dealing with long drought seasons but so far, there has not been a holistic initiative that deals with the underpinning issues of environmental degradation and how to tie in food security and improved livelihoods with better stewardship of natural resources and sustainable land use. The emphasis of this project is empowering the local community with knowledge and skill sets to use their own resources to create self sustaining habitats.
This project seeks to engage the community in techniques of establishing food and water security, improved livelihoods and a better quality of life while protecting and in fact improving or rehabilitating the eco system for future generations.
This project focuses on holistic approaches that can be implemented at grass roots level and spread throughout the community. The initiatives supported by this project stress that wealth and abundance are the result of a healthy eco-system and that knowledge on how to create health and wealth through collaboration with nature is the key to sustainable development.
The overall purpose of this project is:
- to create a demonstration site that reverses the damaging effects of climate change and deforestation in the pastoralist drylands of Kenya
- to generate income through agribusiness, eco-tourism and educational tourism
- to train the community members and other vulnerable communities around Kenya in methods of improving livelihood through sustainable land use and low cost, natural and environmentally friendly technologies
The site developed in Oltepesi, Kajiado is to be used as a resource, training, learning and demonstration center for the members of the surrounding pastoralist community and also as a demonstration of a profitable green business model.
We aim to address issues of climate change by:
·
· using forestry for food security
· extensive water harvesting through forestation, contoured trenches, ground cover and other natural methods
· reduction of forestation through technologies like fuel efficient stoves and biogas
· focusing on tree products and related (beekeeping) to secure livelihoods for pastoralists while encouraging tree planting and forest protection.
OBJECTIVES:
· To rehabilitate eco system through extensive foresting and water harvesting
· To demonstrate and train environmentally friendly methods of : establishing food and water security, good quality, low cost passive energy housing, renewable energy and effective waste management and recycling
· To demonstrate and teach natural building methods
· To train the community in widespread use of low cost and clean energy technologies to reduce deforestation practices- such as fuel efficient clay stoves, rocket stoves, biogas, biofuels etc.
· To establish extensive food forests and organic farms
· To be a learning, demonstration and resource center
· To become completely self sustaining within 5 years