Author: Coast Times Digital

The County Government of Lamu has committed to working with stakeholders to improve mangrove forest conservation and restoration as a natural climate solution.  In a consultative meeting held at the County Headquarters, Lamu Governor Issa Timamy emphasized fostering innovative partnerships that would lead to sustainable solutions towards protecting the degraded carbon-rich ecosystems. Timamy who doubles as the Council of Governors’ Blue Economy Committee Chair, further said mainstreaming the blue carbon conservation and associated habitats into coastal development programs, would greatly assist towards achieving climate benefits as well as improving livelihoods in the coastal counties. “Mangroves are powerful carbon sinks with…

BY FLORA AWINJA Thirty farmers groups in Lunga Lunga, Kwale County have been trained in modern farming through kitchen gardens. The kitchen gardens are practised on green sacks filled with soil where the farmers grow a variety of vegetables to improve their nutrition. The training comes as the world continues to grapple with climate change that has crippled rain-fed agriculture. The training is being implemented by the KidsCare organization in collaboration with departments of agriculture in both the county and national government. 565 farmers are targeted in the program that is meant to mitigate the effects of climate change and…

BY FLORA AWINJA A section of minority groups in Msambweni and Lungalunga Sub-Counties have opposed the results of the recent elections of the community development agreement committees (CDAC). They want the cabinet secretary for mining Salim Mvurya to halt the gazettement of the committees and the exercise repeated. One of the minority aspirants in the Msambweni CDAC, Peter Ndung’u, said the exercise was unfair as only one village out of a total of 15 voted in the exercise. He said residents of other villages were locked out of the venue where the election was taking place. “Only Mwambalazi village voted…

BY FLORA AWINJA Alloys Musyoka, a long-serving journalist, has won a coveted position at the Mrima Bwiti Settlement Scheme-Lungalunga sub- county’s Community Development Agreement Committee (CDAC). CDAC is a community committee that oversees development of a sub-county run by an allocation of one per cent of a mining company’s annual profit. Musyoka was elected to represent civil society organizations (CSOs). The election was held following the end of tenure and service life of the previous committee that came to a close on 28th February 2023. Musyoka who is a journalist working with K24 TV was among three contestants for the…

BY FLORA AWINJA Two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the tourism and hotel industry in Dini, Kwale County is recovering even with the global economic strains caused by the Ukraine-Russian war. Stakeholders in the sector haven’t given up saying that there’s been a slight improvement since the industry is picking up post covid and 2022 general elections Even as most Kenyans opted to have a low-key Easter celebration, hoteliers said they had good records of guests who booked at their facilities. Leopard Beach Resort General Manager Kioko Musyoki said that the bookings had risen compared to the previous year. Kioko,…

More than  400 school-going children from Pwani Vocational Secondary School for the deaf and Uyombo girls in Kilifi North constituency, Kilifi County have benefited from the Policyholders Compensation Fund relief food donation. The plan seeks to mitigate biting hunger due to the long drought spell that has affected most parts of Kilifi County. The children were among the over 200,000 residents of Kilifi County identified by the National government as most affected by drought hence in need of relief food. Speaking to a journalist at Pwani Secondary School for the deaf after donating the foodstuff, Policyholders Compensation Fund Managing Director …

About 3000 workers depending on Kwale international sugar company might lose their jobs if fire incidents continue to burn cane farms leaving the company with nothing to crush for sugar production in Kwale. The company has so far lost over 100 hectares of sugar cane farms to an inferno worth 200 million shillings in Msambweni. The recent fire burnt about 100 hectares of cane farms at Kinondo and Jego before the Kwale county government and Kiscol fire engines intervened. Kwale international sugar company General Manager Pamela Ogada says that the cane fire is badly affecting the company’s operations since they…

By Johnson Chengo The National government is planning to sink more boreholes and water pans in Ganze Sub-county, Kilifi County as one of the long-time measures put in place to address the acute scarcity of water. Water, Sanitation and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Alice Wahome said that the government plan is to ensure all citizens can access the commodity with ease to better their standard of living. The CS was addressing residents of Bamba Ward at Rima Ra Pera dispensary after commissioning the 42-kilometre water pipeline from Bamba to Dege-Shirango that cost Ksh. 1 million. “The National government through its various partners including the European…

By Alloys Musyoka A new generation barcode with two dimensional QR codes is about to hit the market promising to change lives in new ways as GS1 barcode turned 50 years old on 3 April 2023 since its introduction to the market. According to information sent to Coast Times the new codes can capture unprecedented amounts of trusted data for businesses, regulators, consumers, and patients alike, offering much more than just links to webpages. Also the codes can tell a product’s “story”, where it comes from, if it contains allergens, is organic, how it can be recycled-and what its environmental…

By Antony Zoka The directorate of veterinary services in Kilifi has launched a one-month livestock vaccination campaign targeting 300,000 cows in a move that is geared towards improving health and production in livestock. According to the county veterinary officer Dr Cornelius Malenga, their focus is to eliminate skin diseases and other communicable diseases among livestock. “Our target is to eliminate Lumpy Skin Diseases (LSD)  among cows and Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP) in goats. We have been doing this exercise over the past due to lack of adequate workforce we are yet to meet the target.” Noted Malenga. The officer uploaded…