Offered Papers Theme C: Delivering the Benefits from Grassland
Description
The Prosopis tree was introduced to the arid and semi-arid lands of eastern Africa in the 1970s, through governmental forest development agencies to curb environmental degradation and provide fodder for small stock. A number of other benefits were also then attributed to the tree. However, the Prosopis tree has turned out to be a cause of serious concerns, as it has invaded, dominated and almost totally removed all grass and short vegetation species from pasturelands. In Baringo District of Kenya, Prosopis has been the worst enemy of the local IlChamus agro-pastoralists (Lenachuru, 2003), who have now raised much concern over the species, calling for its complete eradication, and threatening to sue the government for damages caused by the tree. This paper examines the case against Prosopis species, based on the agro-pastoralists' perspectives, and the numerous benefits of the tree that the agro-pastoralists apparently unaware of, or simply refuse to attach value to.
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Agro-Pastoralists Concerns Over the Prosopis Tree: The Case of the Ilchamus of Baringo District, Kenya
The Prosopis tree was introduced to the arid and semi-arid lands of eastern Africa in the 1970s, through governmental forest development agencies to curb environmental degradation and provide fodder for small stock. A number of other benefits were also then attributed to the tree. However, the Prosopis tree has turned out to be a cause of serious concerns, as it has invaded, dominated and almost totally removed all grass and short vegetation species from pasturelands. In Baringo District of Kenya, Prosopis has been the worst enemy of the local IlChamus agro-pastoralists (Lenachuru, 2003), who have now raised much concern over the species, calling for its complete eradication, and threatening to sue the government for damages caused by the tree. This paper examines the case against Prosopis species, based on the agro-pastoralists' perspectives, and the numerous benefits of the tree that the agro-pastoralists apparently unaware of, or simply refuse to attach value to.
