Community members, stakeholders and Kenyans at large have been asked to take good care of environment due to climate change that is affecting the whole world.
The technical field officer from Bumula Sub County Mr. Godfrey Wafula said planting trees is geared to improving the environment by working with the community and that the current climate change needs everyone on board to conserve the environment.
This year, the rains delayed and this has been attributed to scarcity of trees since most farmers cut down trees and never plant more and it has contributed a lot to climate change.
To change the narrative, farmers have been encouraged to make sure that they plant more trees and those with a small piece of land to plant crops that are friendly that trees that will help conserve the environment and make sure that there’s enough rain in future to support agriculture.
He emphasized that need for everyone to be on board and said as a musician he is ready to come up with music that will highlight climate change and how to curb it as a way of sensitization.
He added that with poor climate and less rain and consequently coming late may lead to food shortage and eventually famine.
Many rivers have also dried up as there isn’t enough water and farmers who depend on irrigation for food production have been adversely affected and equally livestock keeping has become a problem.
His sentiments were echoed by Mrs.Sophy Kibuywa who is the Director of Dicese Organization a non-governmental organization that works with the community in terms of agriculture and especially conservation of environment to deal with climate change that has affected agriculture and if not taken with serious concern could lead to low productivity.
She insisted that lack of proper sensitization and government regulations on tree cutting and replanting has been the main cause of climate change and appealed to the society to take issues to do with climate change with seriousness that it deserves by making sure that everyone and every homestead has trees and planting of indigenous trees should be encouraged as some are not only for the support of climate change but also help as medicinal.
On his part, Mr. William Anunda who is a trainer and facilitator from Migori County who works with training for transformation, a non- governmental organization, who trained more than 15 leaders of Dicese organization said it’s important that the community is engaged in terms of projects so that they own them and by doing so conservation of the environment can be well achieved.
During the training she urged those who went through the training to make sure that they work well with the community, sensitizing them properly and explaining to them the importance of environmental conservation, adding that many trees that have been planted in schools and public places using tax payers money have bore no fruits as they were not community – engagement projects and nobody could take care of them.
Noel Nyamwati who got the basic skills on environment conservation said she was ready to work with the community and make sure that the environment is conserved then and for future generations.