THE SAIWA SWAMP NATIONAL PARK

 THE SAIWA SWAMP NATIONAL PARK KITALE.

Saiwa Swamp is Kenya’s smallest national park. It basically protects a swamp fed by the Saiwa River, which provides shelter for a viable population of the rare sitatunga antelope. There are several observation towers overlooking the swamp, and with some patience, sightings are almost guaranteed. The park is only accessible on foot.

The star attraction of the park is the semi-aquatic sitatunga antelope. Other herbivores are bohor reedbuck, defassa waterbuck, and bushbuck. Several primate species can be spotted in the canopy. The black-and-white colobus and blue monkeys are common along the trail, and vervet monkeys can often be found near the entrance. You might come across the very rare de Brazza's monkey along the swamp’s edge.

Most of the park is taken up by the reed-choked Saiwa Swamp fed by the river with the same name. Around the swamp are several walking trails passing through riverine forest and savanna woodland dotted with acacia trees.

As Saiwa Swamp is situated near the equator, there’s little variation in month-to-month temperature. The main influences on the weather are the area’s distinctive seasons. The Dry season (December to March) has lots of sunshine-filled days, though precipitation is still a possibility on most days. The Wet season (April to November) sees a lot of rain falling, often for days at a time.

You can visit Saiwa Swamp at any time of year, but you’ll probably appreciate the environment more in the Dry season (December to March). This is also when migratory birds are passing through, and when offspring of the local sitatunga antelope appear. The area is best avoided from April to August, when the rain is consistently heavy.

MAIZE PRODUCTION IN TRANS NZOIA EXPECTED TO DROP THIS YEAR

 Maize production in Trans Nzoia to drop by 1.2 million bags.

Trans-Nzoia County's maize production is expected to drop by 1.2 million bags this season due to Fall Army worm invasion and poor rain patterns that has majorly affected Kwanza ,Endebess and Cherangani constituencies.

The county produces about 5 million bags annually from over 100,000 hectares of land normally put under maize production.

With an interview with the County Agriculture Chief Officer Mrs. Mary Nzomo in Kwanza kapomboi ward she  disclosed that  50 per cent of land translating to 53,500 hectares in the County have not been planted due to lack of rains.

She said that 20 per cent of land which had been planted last February had a failed germination leaving several farmers to count losses.

Tran-Nzoia County, a major maize producer contributes about 40 per cent to the country's 41 million bags annual requirement.

Mrs. Nzomo said many farmers in the county were unable to plant due to lack of rains while handful of those who engaged in dry planting were forced to replant after failed germination.

She said yields for this season will reduce following the invasion by the pest and poor rains which had delayed planting.

"We expect to harvest 3.8 million bags from the annual yields of 5 million bags. The production has been affected by the invasion of the pest and delayed planting due to poor rain pattern," said Mrs. Nzomo.

Both the County and National Government have stepped up efforts to fight the pest which has left several farmers counting losses.

John Nato  .....TBG MEDIA.

THE IMPACTS OF THE RUSSIAN UKRAINE WAR TO THE KENYAN ECONOMY

With the ravages of the Coronavirus barely behind us, the world is now faced with a great crisis that seems to dwarf all others since the second world war – the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

It is a dispute that none of the countries in the world cannot afford to turn a blind eye to nor stand at a distance and just watch as the war ensues. As a global village as we so often pride ourselves on today, a war occurring more than 3000 miles far away in Europe would still have its effects touch lives in villages and towns here at home. As such, Kenya needs to not only add its diplomatic voice over this reckless and precarious move Moscow has taken, but also brace for tough times ahead economically.

The two nations in conflict – Russia and Ukraine – bear significant contributions in the world economy that is already affected by the war. They both carry a huge percentage of wheat production in the world, with Russia contributing 10% while Ukraine is 4%. Kenya finds itself in this geopolitical conundrum that adversely affects the global agricultural market since we import a great deal of wheat from the two countries.

The latest available numbers indicate that the wheat importation stood at Ksh.11 billion and Ksh.5 billion from Russia and Ukraine respectively in 2019. The conflict directly puts a strain in this supply chain rendering the price of wheat take an upward trend. Considering how vital bread is in Kenyan households, we cannot start to imagine how that pressure could go in affecting the pocket of the ordinary Kenyan, against the backdrop of other anticipated economic shocks yet to be felt from the war.

As a matter of fact, wheat remains the third most consumed food commodity in Kenya. The anticipated price hike will only add to the misery of the locals after we experienced price increase of 800g loaf of bread by Ksh. 30 in the last five months and Ksh. 40 price increase for a 2Kg packet of wheat flour in the past half year.  

Being an election year in Kenya, we are already prone to face strain as many funds from public coffers somehow find their way for usage on the campaign trail. It leaves little funds flowing into local citizens’ pockets for expenditure, much less to pump into savings and investments. Already, we saw a decline of the stock market at the NSE last Thursday as investors lost near Ksh.100 billion in a day from price dives drawn from the invasion. This kind of decline will, as anticipated, keep off foreign investors who account for 58% of trading at the bourse and lead many investors to safe assets such as bonds. 

As such, Kenyans will do well to brace for tougher economic times ahead. Investing in capital-intensive projects now may be precarious without a critical understanding of the impact the war abroad has here at home. A humanitarian crisis looms the more from the war, adding to the misery the world already faces today on the same front. Prudent spending and seeking alternative income streams would save many from fall into an imminent bottomless pit of misery should the Russia-Ukraine crisis persists on the long haul.

FOOD INSECURITY

 FOOD INSECURITY

Food insecurity has been defined as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active and healthy life. In other words, there are millions of people all over the world who suffer from a shortage of food and cannot tell if they will be able to feed themselves the next day or at the end of the day. According to a report by FAO in 2018 October, 5.5 million people face food insecurity and part of it is due to the conflict, land grabing, climatic change , food wastages and biomedical chemicals.

Hunger and food insecurity are closely related, and it is possible to say that when one is food insecure, they will be hungry. Hunger will lead to poverty and diseases, although not all people living below the poverty line experience food insecurity because those living above the poverty line could also experience food insecurity.

Food insecurity is a dangerous concept as it does not exist in isolation. Low-income families could be affected by multiple overlapping issues such as social isolation, acute and chronic health problems, the lack of affordable housing, low wages, and high medical costs, among others .