Farmers in Kiambu county have welcomed the introduction of shamba system in public forests.
They say the move will boost food production in the country.
However, they say there is need to safeguard the trees planted in the forests from destruction.
Kenya Youth Civic Education Network national chairman Macharia Wainaina lauded Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for proposing the return of the shamba system, which was scrapped years ago.
He spoke during a press briefing in Limuru town on Monday.
Wainaina said people had not been enlightened much about the impact of cultivating in the forests without planting trees.
"There are so many issues we were not aware about. As of now, a lot of people are enlightened, including the government and environmentalists. No one will cut trees and fail to plant," he said.
Wainaina who is also a farmer said since there was Plantation Establishment Livelihood Systems, the project which replaced it, should be embraced and expanded.
According to the Kenya Forest Service, members of the community living near the forests are given a quarter acre under the Pelis project, where they cultivate food crops but have to plant trees and take of them.
A Pelis beneficiary John Mwathi said they leave those plots after the trees grow up to eight feet, KFS then relocates them.
"We have seen trees growing in Lari subcounty forests where we are given plots. We grow all types of food crops except maize, which grows taller than the tree seedling," he said.
However, Mwathi urged the KFS, environmentalists and organisations dealing with global warming to advise the government so that all the gains made in public forests do not go to waste.
"This issue is very delicate and needs to be handled with care," he said.
However, Wainaina says the government must ensure as many people as possible have been allocated pieces of land in the forest.
He said a lot of people between the ages of 25 and 40 depend on casual jobs, live in cheap rental houses and do not have land to grow their own food crops.
"If managed well, the shamba system can address hunger issues in the country," Wainaina said.
The chairman said the government needs to map out forests with river sources since it is aware of the impact of those forests to the people.
"Forests with water sources of big rivers can be handled differently. However, those without need to be planted and they cannot be planted without cultivation," he said.
Wainaina further said apart from indigenous trees, different types of trees need to be planted such as fruit trees.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
