Sven Verwiel
I’ve grown up my whole life in Kenya but with a Dutch background. The Dutch, much like the Israelis, have a really strong agricultural background. However, I find that when you have lots of Dutch and Israeli people working here you need to remember the landscape is totally different.
You can’t compare Israel or Holland to Africa; Israel is a desert and Holland is a temperate climate. Both countries are incredible in the agriculture sector but I do find a lot of the knowledge isn’t relevant for this climate.
It was amazing opening our eyes in Brazil. So much of the Brazilian agro-scape is fitting to the African one. If you took the map of Brazil and laid it over East, Central and parts of Southern Africa you have very similar biomes.
It felt extremely comforting to see this. If the Brazilians can do it, surely we Africans can do it.
Seeking Solutions for Sustainable Charcoal Production in Kenya’s Mau Forest
In Kenya, charcoal provides energy to 82 percent of urban households. Although it is a vital source of income and energy for many families, unsustainable informal practices prevail in production, trade and consumption of this indispensable fuel.
The lack of official statistics means that little is known about the structure and impact of the supply chains in landscapes such as Mau, East Africa’s largest indigenous montane forest and the country’s main water catchment area. The area is critical for both water provision and biodiversity conservation.
“Many people assume there is no charcoal production in the Mau forest since large parts of it are government-owned, it is in a mountainous area and there are no registered producer associations, but that is not the case,” said Ivy Maledi Amugune, a researcher working with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).