Forest Conservation and Culture
The Buda and the Gongoni Forest are an existing reality.
They survived the mining phase and in fact must survive the post mining phase.
These are protected forests. They host and support rich biodiversity and should remain protected under any post mining land use plan.
The BTL Post Mining Land use plan has proposed a corridor to allow animals to move between the two forests.
This is a reasonable proposal that should be adopted. This conservation effort must be used to earn carbon credits, by working with companies in the global north.
Proceeds from the carbon credits must be re-invested for the benefit of the community and for continuing the conservation efforts.
The area around the Mining site and the two forests is an agricultural zone. There have been complaints of human-wildlife conflicts. The forests must be fenced to prevent human wildlife conflict.
There are approximately 560 plant species and approximately 132 species of mammals recorded or likely to occur in the general Kwale Mining Operations area, mostly smaller mammals.
The EIA report of 2021 identified the following no go critical areas (i) Forest and Spring (on the fringes) ; Daniel Mbata Forest (within); Frog Swamp (on the fringes); Frog Swamp at Mvuleni (on the fringes); Kaya Kitsakabungo (on the fringes); Kaya Mwandimu (within); and Mwaweche Spring (on the fringes). To their credit, BTL also established a botanical garden, with many species collected from all over Kenya including endangered species.
We must rethink our attitude towards conservation and link the communities to investors to create a product that ties conservation to ecotourism leveraging the biodiversity and natural beauty of the location including the dam and a possible artificial lake.
Kwale lacks a park like Uhuru Park and with clever landscaping and planning, we can achieve both conservation, tourism and leisure objectives, including a Haller Park Style nature trail.
To deliver this, the County must work with the forest department, tourism stakeholders, the host community and development partners, leveraging climate funds to create a green area emerging from 12 years of mining.
Only this way can we protect and conserve the environment but also generate income and stimulate the economy of the Mining area.
On the issue of Soil, Water Conservation and Sanitation Boga said that historically, Kwale County has experienced an average increase in temperatures and a decrease in precipitation over the years.
However, there have been interfaces between years of extensive droughts and intense precipitation leading to floods.
These climate extremes pose risks, especially during intense rainfall that may lead to floods and the associated increase in topsoil erosion, potential mine pit wall collapse, inhibition of movement, surface water quality degradation and challenges to the management of loose soil and new vegetation during mine rehabilitation.
The Mkurumudzi River is an important source of water for key ecosystem services including maintaining aquatic life, recharge of shallow wells and aquifers, and a habitat for a variety of vegetation species.
The river is also a source of water for residents both for drinking and other household and agricultural activities. Several small streams arising from seepage and spring flows occur within the North Dune resource area and are an important source of drinking water to residents of the villages within the region.
BTL reports on groundwater modelling shows that water levels in the shallow aquifer close by the commercial production well fields after two successive dry periods led to dry shallow wells and shallow boreholes.
However, they concluded that these effects were localized and rarely extended far enough to adversely affect community water supply shallow wells.
Independent audits should verify this. Nevertheless, Post Mining Land Use Planning must make sure that the hydrogeological cycle (water cycle) around the mining site and neighboring community is not impacted and that more water harvesting, and storage is constructed from the mining sites to store more water.
Water will be a critical resource that will be necessary for supporting post mining land uses given the frequent droughts and declining rainfall.
The Kwale Water and Sewerage Company should mobilize resources to take charge and professionally manage this resource in consultation with stakeholders.
On the issue of Agribusiness Development, he said that a review of the typical farmstead or household in the Project area documented in EIA Report of 2021 shows that households are largely composed of single nuclear families, with an average household size of 8.3 persons for the surveyed households.
The Kwale County population is young with 45% of all people in 2019 being aged 15 years and below, and 3.5% of the total population being above the age of 64 years. The Project area is dominated by crop farmland (85% of all claimed land).
Local livelihoods are largely annual crop farming, tree farming, and livestock rearing and small-scale businesses and trading. Farming is near universally important for all surveyed households. Informal crop farming is the primary economic activity and is undertaken by 22% of the total population, with a near even split between males and females.
In thinking about agribusiness development, the post mining land use planning must take into consideration these realities and choose value chains that are suited to the agroecology of the area, that will spur agro processing and leverage farming activities in the area but also in Kwale County At Large.
This is therefore a great opportunity to think about value chains that are integrated, climate smart and that will pull from the large part of the county.
The value chains selected must have a competitive advantage and must create opportunities for youth and women. The following value chains are competitive in Kwale:
Cashew nuts: Leveraging world bank funding under the NAVCDP, working with a value chain facilitator and leveraging the presence of KALRO in Matuga, the BTL land offers a great opportunity to revive the cashew nut value chain.
This will require the involvement of anchor companies to process and offtake cashew for export.
Cashew nut is a climate smart high value crop with great demand in India, USA and Europe. It is labor intensive and will create jobs for youth and women in the area. Projections are that Kwale could easily produce 150,000 MT of cashew nuts annually (now barely producing 1000 MT).
To succeed it must involve the Cooperative PAVI. Kinondo Coconut Development Cooperative, an anchor private sector firm, a value chain facilitator to work with the cooperatives to link with cashew farmers across Kwale with BTL Cashew plantation, nursery and factory playing a catalytic role.
Youth should be involved in multiplication of seedlings, on farm and off-farm jobs. Cooperatives can also earn money by selling carbon credits in the carbon market.
Communities beyond the mining areas should be mobilized into cooperatives targeting this value chain. The cashew plantation will help in stabilizing the soils in the mining area.
Cotton: Intercropping Cashew nuts with cotton, leveraging the ginnery in Kinondo which was put up for PAVI by the Ministry of Cooperatives is another viable idea.
Kwale is one of the counties where Cotton does well and where planting of Bt-Cotton is established. PAVI has been working with farmers across Kwale to push Bt-cotton farming but more effort should go into this.
Other Cooperatives can be supported to emerge. With proper support and with the investments already made in the Ginnery, this is a low hanging fruit which should recruit farmers inside and outside the mining area to grow cotton for the ginnery that is already established at PAVI. This will build good synergy with the cashew investment
Sesame (Sim Sim), Green Grams and Black Mung beans: Historically, in the 1980s cashew nuts were always intercropped with sesame, cotton and green grams. What is being proposed is nothing new to the community.
General Mwathethe, Said Chitembwe, Hamadi Boga, Matano Ndaro and many other professionals went to school because all these crops were booming and bursaries were not even in the minds of parents. People had their dignity. These crops have a huge market in India and globally but also here locally. As part of World Bank funding under the NARIGP project Pavi was supposed to receive a 90-million-shilling green gram processing plant, but that did not materialize because there were no volumes.
Production was stuck at 20,000 MT while the processor which was being targeted had a capacity for 90000 MT daily. The offtaker and processor for cashew nuts for export to India could be the same offtaker for these other value chains targeting the same market.
Coconuts: There is a coconut company at Mvindeni (Kentaste) which is exporting coconut products to the USA) and a big demand for coconut from neighboring Tanzania, yet supply of coconut is low and declining. The BTL land offers an opportunity for revival and reawakening of the coconut sector introducing new varieties with high productivity and linking farmers to markets and agro processing and value facilities.
These proposals are doable, if designed and implemented professionally through cooperatives, not individuals.
There is a growing demand for food globally. To succeed, KALRO Matuga will have to be upgraded to be able to support investments in these crops. Tanzania has good cashew agronomists and improved cashew germ plasm (90 kg per tree as opposed to ours at 2kg per tree) we can tap into, and working closely with KALRO to transfer germplasm and good agronomic practices.
The County Government should provide a conducive environment supporting investors and farmers in resolving critical binding constraints that will be identified along the way and steer clear of politicizing projects.
On Educational Institutions, he said that the built area of the Mines should be handed over to the Taita University to serve as a college to train Mining Professionals from certificate level all the way to postgraduate.
These professionals will be needed to serve mining companies across the globe where there is a shortage of mining professionals. The workshops and processing plants already in place should not be allowed to go to waste/rust or be vandalized. A Fund should be set aside and invested to support the running of the campus. Because Morocco, Australia and Canada have great Mining schools and operations, the Government should deliberately seek long-term support from Morocco, the Australian Government and BTL to set up and grow this school.
Maintaining the facility will not be a walk in the park. The school can be used to train mining professionals from across Africa and can be lobbied to be part of the Pan African University System which is supported by the African Union.
As exploration picks up in the north coast and also the future plans for the Mrima hill unfold, this school will be vital for future investors in the mining sector.
Agriculture and Environmental Conservation School
Besides training in Mining, the college should also offer practical agriculture and environmental conservation courses focusing on coastal agriculture and ecosystems to grow youth into agribusinesses.
This can still be part of the Taita Taveta or Pwani Universities.
Coding and IT School
Besides Mining, Kenya can reach out to Morocco to link to the University of Mohamed the 6th Polytechnic (UM6P) to be part of the coding academy, which focuses on training students to code preparing them for the AI world of the future.
In the school the only qualification required is to be between 18 and 35 years. This kind of investment requires unconventional thinking where leaders have their eyes focused on the future and creating competitive societies.
Special focus should be given to local students including a special fund to support their training at the school. There should also be deliberate efforts to link to universities globally to attract students from across Kenya and international students and researchers.
Being in Diani a few kilometers from the best beach destination and within reach of conservation areas, this combination would attract many learners and teachers.
The UM6P in Morocco was an abandoned Mining site (https://www.um6p.ma/index.php/en/ecole-1337). Because of the vision of the people of Morocco and their leadership, it has become one of the most prestigious Universities in Africa, funded mainly by the fertilizer company OCP. It is a gem teaming with students from the whole of Africa.
Here is an excerpt from their website describing their coding school, which I had a chance to visit recently:
“The coding school 1337 offers the first computer training program in Morocco, entirely free, open 24/7 and accessible to all without any prerequisite of diploma or computer knowledge. It’s a complete immersion in a world where the future is already present, where computer science and lines of code are more than a vague and boring concept.
The pedagogy of Treize, Trente-Sept is based on peer-learning. A participative approach that allows students to unleash their creativity through project-based learning. To train the future coders of tomorrow, we had to rethink learning, to make computer science fun, exciting and the opposite of the restrictive vision that the general public may have”.
This can be the future of Maumba, Mwaweche, Magaoni and neighboring villages. Partnership can be sought from 1337, UM6P and companies like google, Microsoft, Facebook, OCP etc. To get there we must be imaginative and bold.
Alongside this center is proposed a business incubation hub to nurture budding entrepreneurs, agribusinesses and SMEs into viable investor ready enterprises, targeting mostly youth companies. Training and incubation for businesses from Kwale youth should be free. A partnership with the private sector is the key to success.
Industrial Park and Export Processing Zone
Kwale County lacks an industrial area of its own. Due to poor planning no industries have emerged. With the opening of the Dongo Kundu, it is possible to manufacture anywhere in Kwale and still easily access the port and the Moi International Airport for export.
I am proposing that part of the Land in the agribusiness area is set aside for a Green Industrial Park/Export Processing Zone. This can focus on the textile industry leveraging the possibility to export to the US under the AGOA protocol.
This will create thousands of jobs for youth. The African Development Bank should be invited to support a feasibility study to develop a bankable project of the proposed Industrial Park. AfDB supported Ethiopia to set up its SPEZ. The energy and water available should be use to support the setting up of such a park. The PAVI ginnery in Kinondo could feed into a textile mill that would then serve the garment industry. The industrial park should be private sector led and government enabled. In keeping with the general theme of sustainability, the industrial park MUST embrace environmental sustainability with net zero carbon production.
Base Titanium Talent Academy
Kwale is a county that is teeming with talents in soccer (male and female), swimming/water sports as well as creative arts (drama, comedy, videography, a budding entertainment culture with youth shooting cinema). The proposal is therefore to set up the Base Titanium Kwale County Talent Academy to grow natural talents in Kwale and support the emergence of a creative industry. Working with talent scouts, there is the possibility to grow youth into sports and creative careers more intentionally in a structured system.
Stakeholders should explore means to build a World Class Stadium and theatre and International Conference Centre to attract international performances, conferences and sporting events. There is currently no reasonable sporting facility, theatre or conference facility in Kwale or even in the coastal region. The good thing is that most of such facilities can be built under PPP or BoT arrangements. This will also be an investment in our GenZ.
Institutional Framework
This will not happen without a strong Governance and Institutional framework. For sustainability of the PMLU investments, it is important to also establish a Community Trust Fund to support public facing investment ideas. With proper design and planning, the fund could tap into the green climate fund and other climate funding instruments. The funds will be used to run the University, Technology Centre, Talent school and the Business Incubation Centre, and conservation areas. A proportion of proceeds from the Industrial Park, the cashew nut project/ other agribusinesses, the forest conservation areas and any other investments will go into the Community Trust Fund. The fund should be managed by a board made of competent people representing communities and key stakeholders. The proper management of the post mining land use plan requires the involvement of all stakeholders and competent authorities. I propose the setting up of a Project Management Committee or a Trust which should be charged with ensuring transparent and accountable delivery and management of the project on behalf of the people of Kwale.
Let the County of Kwale dream big beyond its current capabilities and imagine a future that will carry its largely GenZ and GenX population along. Let them be bold and should not feel shy to leverage their Land/Urban planners (Muhammad Swazuri, Salim Jabu, Dr Issa Chipera, Prof. Gideon Hanjari), Surveyor (Kombo Mwero), Environmental Planners (Prof. Saeed Mwaguni, Ted Majaliwa, Bakari Mangale), Sociologists/Historians/Conflict experts (Prof. Halimu Shauri, Prof. Mwakimako), Agriculturalists (Daniel Kitivo (crops), Dr Francis Muthoka (livestock), Dr Juma Magogo and Environmentalists/ Development experts (Dr Mwanasiti Bendera, Dr Mohammed Pakia) and Health experts like (Dr Chakaya Muhwa, Dr Jackson Chakaya). Invite institutions like KALRO, Pwani University, TUM and Taita Taveta University. Mix with some of the GenZ/GenX specialists and let them contribute to developing a serious post mining land use project that will inject sustainability, economic vitality and create businesses and employment opportunities for Kwale to replace the vacuum that will be created by Kwale. It is possible to imagine a New Green Zone that combines conservation, agribusiness, tourism, culture and industry co-existing in harmony and carrying all Kwale people along. If we choose to work and think as we have done, poverty will be the gift that we hand to our future generations.
