The Kenya Forest Research Institute will soon release a natural pest to attack the damn Mathenge weed, botanically known as Prosopis Juliflora.
The livelihood threatening Mathenge tree in Baringo County be bloated out of the face of Marigat and its environs, bringing to an end the suffering of the people.
“Plans to introduce the pest from South Africa are already at an advanced stage though the effects of Covid-19 is slowing down the process,” Simon Choge, the principal research scientist at Kefri centre in Baringo said.
According to Mr. Choge (pictured above), the pest will specifically attack the Mathenge seed and slow down the tree reproduction rate.
The scientist revealed that the pest has undergone extensive trials at Muguga Research Centre.
The pest was placed under quarantine and the result is very impressive.
The pest has been established to be very efficient in attacking only the Mathenge seed and not any other seed of the acacia family.
It will take about ten years for the human eye to see the results of the work done by the pest in silently reducing the Mathenge tree population.
He said charcoal production will also be encouraged and strictly regulated to combat the negative effect of the Prosopis Juliflora.
In the year 2007, plans by Kefri to introduce the pest met stiff opposition from the affected communities within Baringo.
Farmers feared that the pest would harm crops in the farms. However, the rate at which the invasive weed is spreading has caused an outcry not only in other affected counties such Turkana and Tana River, but also in Baringo where charcoal burning has not helped in stopping the spread of the Mathenge tree whose negative effects came to the lime light during the 1997 Elnino rains.
Apart from the pest, Choge also revealed that there are plans to import a chemical after Cabinet’s approval, to help ’kill’ the Mathenge trees and especially the stump which regenerates immediately after being cut down by the charcoal producers.
Extensive public participation will be done before the pest and chemical use is launched in the quest to reclaim all the lands colonized by Mathenge.
Grazing lands and livelihoods have been affected by the tree which was formerly introduced to help curb sheet erosion.
Other stakeholders such as NEMA will be involved in ensuring a proper and well-coordinated execution of the campaign to contain the ‘evil weed’.
