The Kitui government has put in place concrete plans to cushion residents who eked out a living from the banned charcoal trade, Tourism executive Koki Musau has said.
“Governor Charity Ngilu is fully aware of the adverse impact of the charcoal burning and trade ban. She is mobilising resources to ensure that the poor who earned a living from charcoal have alternative sources of income,” he said.
Musau spoke on Thursday at the Endau trading centre, Kitui East constituency, where he represented Ngilu during International Women’s Day celebrations. He was with area MP Nimrod Mbai and Woman Representative Irene Kasalu.
Ngilu banned charcoal burning and sand harvesting in January to protect the county from environment degradation. The ban has been met with resistance by charcoal traders from outside the county.
Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu has sued Ngilu and has asked the court to make her rescind the ban. The Council of Governors, however, has backed Ngilu, and agreed to stop destruction of forests.
Musau said the county government will fund women through organised groups to start income-generating initiatives that are not harmful to the environment.
“The county government will provide tanks to women for water storage to carry out small-scale irrigation along rivers. They will earn money by selling the vegetables they grow,” he said.
Ngilu’s administration also plans to empower youths. “The youth will be trained in leather work and brick making, among other skills. The county government has already ordered the necessary equipment to be used by the youth,” Musau said.
Only local materials will be used in the construction of county funded projects. “Since we have [this] policy ... the locals will earn income by supplying the same,” Musau said.
The county will, during the current rain season, provide thousands of tree seedlings to residents in a bid to regenerate forests destroyed through charcoal burning.
Kasalu said she will use the women’s empowerment fund to give those affected by the charcoal burning ban alternative livelihood. “I will buy goats and chickens for the women which they will take care of and later sell as a source of alternative income,” she said.