PS Mueke urges Kenyans to embrace tree planting to avert drought crisis » Capital News
NAIROBI, Kenya May 10-Principal Secretary State Department of Livestock Jonathan Mueke has implored Kenyans to embrace tree planting initiatives as a means to avert drought crisis and mitigate effects of climate change.
In observing today’s National Tree Planting Day which was in remembrance of Kenyans we lost in the recent floods; Ps Mueke stated that today’s activity aligns with the State Department’s “Towards Ending Drought Emergencies” (TWENDE) Project.
The project aims to end drought emergencies through activities such as planting trees to mitigate the effects of drought.
“Planting trees in this area will help attract rain in this area. We urge you to plant trees and in my ministry we have TWENDE project which aims at dealing with drought, which focuses on restoration of forest,” he said.
The Principal Secretary State Department of Livestock joined Makueni County Government and wananchi at Makongo Forest in Makueni County planting over 10,000 trees.
Mueke acknowledged that the frequency and intensity of drought is increasing as a result of climate change.
He reiterated their commitment for joint action to strengthen adaptation and build the country’s resilience to the impact of climate change.
“We need to focus on restoration of our rangelands and water towers and we will be working with different county government including Makueni county,to enhance this,”PS Mueke stated.
The project titled ‘TWENDE’ – Towards Ending Drought Emergencies, is an ecosystem-based adaptation project to be implemented in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid rangelands.
The project launched on 10th February 2021 is funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and implementing partners.
The TWENDE project is aimed towards helping 620,000 people in 11 counties of Garissa, Tana River, Isiolo, Marsabit, Samburu, Kajiado, Kitui, Makueni, Tharaka-Nithi, Meru and Taita Taveta and would aim to restore over 500,000 hectares of degraded rangelands.
Kenya loses 2.0–2.4% of its gross domestic product annually due to effects of climate change, such as drought and floods, according to a 2018 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics study.
The study also showed droughts cost Kenya 8% of GDP every five years.
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