Kenya: Women on the Frontlines of Prosopis Management for Sustainable Living

 “Climate change is mostly affecting women – CARE is a good organisation; it gave us good training and built us this hay store. It trained us how to grind the remains of maize stalk to make livestock feeds and how to produce charcoal.” 

Sharifa Abdi in her home. CARE/Alex Kamweru

Sharifa Abdi is a mother and housewife. She lives in Mandera, one of the driest, harshest regions in Kenya. Every day, she is forced to live with the devastating impact of climate change: “It’s taking place in that we are experiencing heavy winds of late, and later the sun will turn hot and then there will be no rain for two seasons. Once you experience an extreme hot season for long, it will likely be followed by rains.” 

Sharifa and her community in Mandera are also affected by the constant threat of economic instability and the impacts of deforestation, leading to a chronic lack of natural resources, widespread poverty, and extreme violence. This area is amongst the most economically stagnant and insecure in the region.   

She says: “When the impact of climate change occurs like drought, it normally affects mothers in the first place. Also affected negatively by climate change are vulnerable people like old people. Those who look for their livelihood are also affected. The drought normally has a severe negative impact.” 

Added to this hostile climate, along the Daua River, a lush green shrub – one of the most aggressive invasive plant species, Prosopis Juliflora (referred to as Mathenge) thrives in the dry and hot region needing little water. It invades the landscape causing a devastating effect. Instead of grasses and shrubs growing, the Prosopis tree is overtaking, and the animals will not feed on it. “The thorns affect cattle and donkeys by pricking their hooves, making their movement hard. When the green pods are eaten raw, it can cause the animals to die. It has also taken over farming lands,” says, Mohamed Sheikh Hosman from the local community.  

How a Group in Mandera is protecting the environment by using an invasive plant species (management by utilisation) 

Sharifa Abdi grinding the dried Prosopis and grass to make livestock feed. CARE/Alex Kamweru.

Sharifa is one of the women benefiting from the CARE Kenya project, Cash For Work - Prosopis Group, which supports communities through cash for work – in this case, the clearance of the invasive Prosopis trees.  She says the tree was causing widespread destruction by taking over the grazing land and depriving livestock of food. “It has caused loss of livestock by drought which in turn affects people, especially children, in terms of nutrition since they don’t feed well. Pregnant mothers and the old are also affected due to poor nutrition since there is nothing to eat at such a time.” 

 

  

What’s being done to resolve this problem:  

In 2018, the Building Opportunities for Resilience in the Horn of Africa (BORESHA) programme, a consortium with CARE International in Kenya, World Vision, and the Danish Refugee Council, initiated a project that aimed to manage the Prosopis shrub: “From the Prosopis shrub, we would collect the pods then dry and grind the pods together with grass on the livestock grinder and then proceed to make livestock feed. We have noticed that the cattle do fatten when they consume the crushed pods,” Mohammed says. 

Abdullah Hussein, a member of the Neboi Prosopis Charcoal-making group, says the shrub can also be used as an energy source: “We make charcoal out of it. The charcoal is then ground into a powder and mixed with water. The final mix is then passed through a charcoal briquette machine. The briquette is then dried and used in cooking. The briquettes burn slower and with less smoke and unlike normal charcoal, they cook many meals. This is a labour-saving device which means children can now focus more on their studies rather than collecting firewood.” 

Thanks to this knowledge, negative perceptions of the Prosopis shrub have changed. “The Prosopis pods have high protein and mineral content that is good for the livestock. The charcoal briquettes have higher cooking efficiency than normal charcoal. We promote the use of the Prosopis shrub to make the briquettes as it will spare the indigenous trees from extinction and at the same time it leads to the management of the spread of the Prosopis shrub,” says Abdi Hussein, CARE International in Kenya BORESHA Program Coordinator. 

Now, Sharifa makes livestock feed from Prosopis pods and maize stalks. “CARE has taught us a lot - CARE taught us how to make charcoal from the Prosopis plant. We learned how to mix Prosopis pod with grass to produce nutritive livestock feeds using machines that CARE bought for us. Using the machine also managed to produce charcoal briquette. We could feed our livestock that drought is killing.” 

Sharifa Abdi cooking a meal with the charcoal briquettes produced from
Prosopis trees. CARE/Alex Kamweru

She also talks about how CARE’s training has been passed on to her family and wider community: 

“My children are now trained. I have brought them charcoal briquettes made from Prosopis trees that are very good for cooking and I have also talked about the knowledge of how to produce charcoal briquette from Prosopis trees. I have also told them of the disadvantages of cutting trees. I have also taught my children the importance of planting trees. I have passed the little knowledge I got from CARE to my neighbours.” 

Additional background info:  

CARE and partners implemented a cross-border project in Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia – Building Opportunities for Resilience in the Horn of Africa (BORESHA), which ended in March 2023. The project was funded by the EU. Interventions included the construction of water points and providing WASH facilities and cash-for-work to rehabilitate degraded rangelands.