Kakamega Environmental Education Programme Summary and Conclusions
KEEP is a Community Based Organisation (CBO) run by volunteers and supported by interested individuals. The Anthropology Research team spoke to KEEP volunteers, Kakamega primate researchers, Community Health Volunteers, Isecheno Primary School staff and pupils, and people living in the villages in Matsu, Luvambo and Virhembe. Answers differed according to people’s level of income (and associated education).
We were greatly assisted by the following:
Leonard Muhanga, Field Project Officer Kakamega Forest/ Nature Kenya
Ernest Shikanga, Primate Research Assistant
Prof Marina Cords, Primate Researcher from Columbia University
Gabriel Musundi, Eustace Lukati, Fredrick Shishanya and Mugaisi Ligare, of the Community Health Volunteers
An increase in population over several decades had been one of the main threats to the forest. The North of Kakamega Forest is managed by Kenya Wildlife Service, who have more resources to train and equip their guards, compared to the larger southern section, which was under the Forestry Department. Recently there has been a change in the way forests are managed nationally with the Forest Department changing into a Forestry Service, whose remit has widened into working with the community. Hopefully this change in emphasis will have a positive effect.
Trees were cut down during the installation of power lines and water pipes, and the forester can sell this wood to public. It is also currently legal for people to remove trees that have fallen down, even though this removes carbon from the forest, that would otherwise be naturally recycled. Unfortunately the latter system is open to abuse, as some individuals cut down a tree, and come back at a later point in time to collect it, disguising the cut to look like natural breaks. Theoretically someone can be fined 50,000 KSh for illegally collecting firewood and charcoal, but it is rare that anyone is caught and charged. This is probably due to there being so few forest guards, but someone did also raise the question whether some might also be corrupt. There are only 12 forest guards and about 1/3rd of these are liable to be on leave or off sick. They are ill equipped with no gum boots. On the other hand there have been a few successes, with members of the community and KEEP reporting offenders to the authorities.
In the long run, if funds and research expertise allow, a survey could be conducted to establish exact boundaries of the forest, to stop gradual encroachment, especially on the sides not bordered by tea plantations. Dr Mark Lung of the Western State University of Colorado is about to start a carbon offset programme, so this should encourage the community to get involved in planting trees and protecting them. Endangered tree species include Prunus Africana whose bark is used to treat postrate cancer, and there is on-going research as to whether this just controls or instead cures cancer.
Kakamega Forest is unusual in Kenya in attempting to regrow indigenous trees, and this is no easy task as they are slow growing. While planting indigenous trees maybe a good idea in theory, rats and cats often eat seedlings. Cows are also allowed to graze by the seedlings, which does not help its success. More care is needed to ensure indigenous seedlings survive past the first few months. However there is also a strong case to be made for planting non native fast growing trees instead, which the surrounding communities could then use for firewood and timber needs. There is a need to plant more trees not just at KEEP, but generally in the community, at school and at home.
Poverty alleviation and alternative sources of income generation are required to persuade people to stop charcoal burning and gathering firewood for free from the forest. There needs to be more cottage industries to cater for their needs. French beans and passion fruit used to planted for export to foreign countries and flowers were planted to supply local hotels. Such planting should be revived and there is also a market for mushrooms.
There is a nearby community based medicinal plant enterprise called Muliru Farmers Conservation Group. Local people in the scheme are encouraged to grow Ocimum Klimandischaricum, which produces Naturab ointment, which is very similar to Vicks ointment, and is used to treat chest congestion. The crop can be harvested 3 times a year and farmers are paid 15 KSh per Kg. Although people often still cut firewood for themselves, they are less likely to sell it onto third parties to produce charcoal, and instead use the money earnt to buy food and other goods. More people should be encouraged to grow Ocimum, or similar schemes be set up for other medicinal plants.
One of KEEP’s main missions is to educate people about forest ecosystem and involve the community. Education includes secondary school classes visiting KEEP, KEEP representatives visiting local primary schools, and a club held on Saturdays which is open to all children, but mainly frequented by primary school aged children.
Secondary schools in the district visit KEEP during the week, generally making no more than one visit a year. 67 Biology and Geography students aged between 16 to 18 from Shiveye Secondary School, nearly 20 Km away, had a tour of the forest during our visit. Only 2 of the 25 children I had spoke to had seen a Black and White Colobus before.
We visited the nearby Isechno Primary School which has about 400 pupils, aged from around 7 to 16, though there are a few older pupils who started their education late. We were told KEEP used to regularly visit the school during games times in 2004 and 2005, but that contact had decreased to about once a month lately. In primary school, social studies is taught which covers geography, history and civics and they learn to conserve forest and wildlife. They are taught that monkeys are part of life, but I was told they don’t usually spend much time watching monkeys, whilst collecting firewood, as they are just a normal part of life.
Children of primary school ages are invited to regularly attend a Saturday school where they learn about animals of Kakamega, conservation, energy saving devices, income generation, health and hygiene. As well as being formally talk, they sometimes watch a video and/or have a walk in the forest. Speaking to some pupils from Isecheno Primary School, who voluntary attended Saturday school, we found they did so partly because they want to learn. However another reason mentioned by a pupil was a snack was provided. He also said sometimes he didn’t attend as he was too tired. Others do not attend as it is judged too far away. They have other things to do, such as working at home, for instance for their Grandparents if they are orphans. When it originally started Saturday school regularly had 150 children attend, but numbers have dropped substantially. This may be partly due to rearrangement of school timetable and Saturday school now clashes with some activities in upper primary, so needs to be moved to the afternoon.
Children knew about conserving the forest from various sources including Saturday school, visits of KEEP and Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) to school, geography lessons and the Environment Conservation Day. One said the drama and the video they were shown were both very entertaining and good ways to communicate about conservation. They knew they should conserve the forest, not cut down trees and plant more trees. They knew trees bring rain. A Saturday school pupil mentioned that trees cure diseases and that cutting down trees would mean there was nowhere for the monkeys to live. However they still went to the forest to collect firewood, presumably through economic necessity.
The Community Health Initiative is an entry point into the community, which both treats and prevents diseases through health and hygiene education, but also talks about environmental conservation. Visits are made to schools and village homes, thereby involving people and developing working relationships. There is a cross over of KEEP and Community Health Volunteers (CHVs). Around 5 or 6 of the 30 CHVs also belong to KEEP. CHVs have been going about a year and visited 6 schools so far, including Isecheno, Iloro, Muleche, Madala, Shabwali and Solio Primary Schools. Their work includes jigger eradication, HIV/AIDS, malaria, orphan support and paralegal issues. Jiggers come from fleas eggs and burrow into the body through feet and hands. Once children have been identified through schools, CHVs visit their homes. Lotion has to be applied twice a week for 2 months by CHVs, the area around the house kept clean, and cow dung smeared on the floor of the house, which acts as an antiseptic. The government advises on the type of drugs needed, but their work is mainly funded by donations received from Rondo Retreat Hotel, international volunteers and tourists, with CHV making up the balance, but more money is required for treatment, education and prevention.
The Isechno Primary School children we spoke to knew about CHV work, and knew the importance of keeping their houses clean and washing. The pupils asked for more working pit latrines to be created at the school for their use. They thought that mosquitoes and tsetse flies came out of the forest. The school wanted to start a tree nursery both to grow medicinal plants, to treat stomach ache and other ailments, but also to grow fast growing trees like Eucalyptus to aid construction of school buildings.
As well as health and conservation outreach, CHVs and KEEP members are also involved in encouraging the installation of Jiko energy saving stoves. Jiko stoves vary in size, fuel and building material. Fuel includes firewood, charcoal, sawdust and brickets. KEEP informed me there had originally been a programme to install some free of charge. Now the cheapest ones are nearly 250 KSh to install and a further 250 KSh to purchase. The question is why has the uptake not been more. The Jiko stoves appear to be fuel efficient, but it is often hard to change habits and some may just like using traditional methods.
Saturday school children knew that energy saving stoves used less firewood, but viewed it as too expensive. Likewise the school did not have stoves for cooking and children had to bring firewood from home. The majority of the pupils went home to eat at lunchtime, with the exception of the oldest pupils. The 19 pupils in Class 8, 13 teachers plus the orphans club ate at the school. Energy saving stoves were viewed as too expensive to purchase and/ or install. If a Jiko stove were to be presented to the school free of charge, then hopefully the pupils and teachers might learn by example.
Joseph Inziani, the Deputy Principal of Ischeno Primary School, had interesting views on why energy saving stoves weren’t widespread. He said they were time consuming, as they take longer to cook. He estimated it took about 30 minutes as compared to 10 minutes on a 3 stone fire to make tea. (A primate researcher who had a small stove, also said Jikos took long time to heat up and weren’t as hot as a traditional fire.) A fireplace provides warmth both for food and people, compared to a Jiko. An open fire also fulfils the function of a traditional story telling site, so people are understandably reluctant to loose this.
On a visit to the village of Matsu, we spoke to man with 6 children both about energy saving stoves and jigger eradication. He had heard about Jiko stoves, and had even wanted to join KEEP, but said he couldn’t afford the 500 KSh joining fee. He perceived Jiko stoves as being too expensive to buy and install. (He said he thought small ones for 5 people were about 250 KSh, but he thought larger ones for about 15 people would cost around 2000 KSh.) Regardless of whether he had got the exact costs right, and whether the stoves would save him money in the long run, he perceived them as being too expensive. If he had money to spare he used it to buy food or paraffin for light. He had planted fast growing trees, including Cyprus and Eucalyptus, on his own plot to provide timber and firewood, rather than getting it from the forest. He knew about taking care of the forest and had seen monkeys on his visit to the forest. He confirmed the Community Health Volunteers spoke about the forest and trees bringing rain, and the importance about not killing monkeys and birds. It also thought the snake park being built at KEEP will employ some people.
We also visited Luvambo, a village not far from Virhembe Market, which had several stoves installed. Most of the people we spoke to were the relatives or neighbours of one of the CHVs, which makes it slightly harder to make generalisations. The families we visited in this village were wealthier than those we spoke to in Matsu, so thought the smaller stoves at least were affordable. The design used was made out of soil and water, and one for 3 pots cost around 500 KSh, plus about 200 KSh to install. A slightly bigger and more sturdy design made out of bricks, which would last longer, was estimated to cost about 2000 KSh. During the installation they were shown how to construct a Jiko and those with the ability could copy the design for themselves. One mason we spoke to wanted to construct a large energy saving stove measuring 4 foot by 3 foot, but the sand and other materials he would need to do this, costing approximately 5000 KSh, meant he could not afford to carry this out. Some people obtained their firewood from the trees they had planted, while others paid 100 KSh per month to legally collect trees that had fallen down in the forest. The people we spoke to in the village knew about KEEP and CHV work, which wasn’t surprising as one of the CHVs was a relative and/or neighbour, and some volunteered themselves on similar projects. They saw the connection between forest, health and community health volunteers. People who were members of KEEP, got small Jiko pots for free. People reported that less firewood was needed for cooking when a Jiko stove was compared to a 3 stone fire. However several people appeared to be using both a Jiko stove and a 3 ‘stone’ mud fire. While a small stove would apparently cater for a family of five, any workers or guests, would need additional pots to be boiled.
There about 70 villages in the district, with about 200 stoves made by KEEP and a further 80 stoves installed through CHVs. CHVs had only been installing stoves for a few months, so CHVs need to vastly expand their programme to visit many more villages and households, which will require more resources.
Another subject area we investigated was the role of ICT. In Kenya computers play their part and on the international stage especially, up to date websites about Kakamega and the work of Kakamega Environmental Education Programme (KEEP) are needed to encourage tourists to visit. Within Kenya however, there are significant questions over their sustainability in rural areas. KEEP’s computers were powered by a generator, but since this has gone wrong, there hasn’t been the money to take it to Nairobi and they appear apprehensive to let local mechanics try to mend it. KEEP has 4 desktops and 2 laptops, but in the wet season, limited solar power means only the laptops work and even these only last for about 1 hour. During the most sunny months of December, January and February, laptops have many hours worth of power, but the desktops still only work for a couple of hours. Long term electrical equipment often suffers from being in a moist climate.
Kakamega does not have internet access and staff have to travel to Kakamega, a round trip of nearly 40 Km via public transport, to log on once or twice a week. This leads to many lost bookings for the bandas. A cell phone modem would allow internet connection at KEEP’s offices, though the signal strength might vary near the forest. They cost around 10,000 KSh, so grant applications or fundraising might be needed. (Similarly the Community Health Volunteers, based near Virhembe Market have to travel to Kakamega to log on and print.)
The vast majority of people who live around Kakamega cannot afford television, with less than 10 % having TVs in Kakamega East. The nearest television station is in Kisumu and most are based in Nairobi, which is not conducive to covering local stories. Local schools do not have television, even if they had power, so any videos/DVDs made would either have to be shown at KEEP, or a recorder with its own power source transported to schools. (Isechno Primary School for example, wanted electricity as the power lines are nearby, but even if they were connected they would still need someone to donate a television, recorder and computers.) KEEP has a video recorder, which shows school groups and this could be used to show to more groups. By contacting wildlife film making companies, more conservation videos related to Kenyan wildlife could be obtained free of charge.
Radio could be used to reach general population through radio broadcasts and school children in particular through radio lessons. The Kenyan Institute of Education in Nairobi arranges different radio lessons, for classes 1 to 8. They are transmitted by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation and include lectures and dramas about conserving the environment. Also the Kenya Wildlife Service occasionally do 1 minute announcements re conserving a particular place.
While the majority of radio stations are in Nairobi, the University in Kakamega now have one. Mulembe FM, has its HQ in Nairobi, but transmits in the Luhya language and has reporters in Kakamega. One of the CHVs has given short written reports to reporters, for instance about the planting of trees, which are then phoned through to Nairobi and broadcast on the news, and this example could be followed by KEEP. Music, politics and news dominate the radio, so it might be helpful to think of a way to get conservation onto the airways within this framework. Alternatively radio phones could work well.
In the past there have been brief attempts to publise Kakamega. Kenya Wildlife Service rebranded Kakamega some while ago, and for a short while had adverts on the radio, TV and newspapers. Kenya Airways had an article on visiting Kakamega and the nearby Rondo Retreat hotel, which caters for both tourists and missionaries, also ran adverts. Such publicity needs to be sustained to make a long lasting impact on Kenyan and international tourism.
Rather than reinventing the wheel, existing methods of communication and meeting places are best used to spread a conservation message. Therefore drama, music and dance, chiefs barazas and parents evening should be utilised. (Posters are also a good way to get a message across.) One interesting comment we received was that some people were bored of meetings called by the Provisional Administration. In order to encourage large turnout at meetings, you need specific topics that will draw people in. Other suggestions were meetings with international volunteers speaking, or ones called by teachers inviting parents to the school, would ensure a higher turnout.
An agricultural open field day is held and such events should be encouraged to highlight the work of KEEP, energy saving stoves and the Community Health Volunteers. Events at KEEP such as tree planting and nature walks should happen more often for the local population to experience them. Extension services help spread knowledge of KEEP’s work and conservation by word of mouth. When big community outreach is taking place I was told that banners hung across the road, and brochures and fliers were available in English and Kiswahili, though I did not see evidence of this. The advertisement could be expanded to small community visits and literature made available in the local language Luhya.
An environmental conservation day/ Wild Environment Day has been held in recent years either at KEEP or a nearby school. It involves speeches from the Chief, and participation of foresters, polytechnics, KEEP, school teachers, pupils, parents and the wider community. Poems and songs were composed and other forms of entertainment such as traditional dance were involved.
When tourists groups come to Kakamega Forest they are offered the opportunity to hear a storyteller give a historical perspective on how people used to behave and participate in conserving the forest, which is a good way of engaging with visitors.
The youth members of KEEP have formed a drama group. They show the negative effect of destroying the forest, performing in various venues. Ernest Shikanga has written a play called ‘Mother Nature’, which the group have performed in schools to teach others to sustain the forest. The group consists of volunteers who have finished high school, but are spread out amongst the communities which border the forest. They perform in schools for free, but at other gatherings and when tourists come, a fee is charged cover travelling costs and food. Lack of funds means this group does not perform as often as they would like. More money is needed to expand their outreach programme.
KEEP was originally set up by the forest guard Wilberforce Okeka and it has achieved a lot since its early days. More communication, sustainable technology, resources and income generating schemes for the community, should help them achieve more in the long run.
