Kenya is one of the beautiful countries in Africa that has had a recurring issue of drought due to harsh climatic conditions. As much as climate change has contributed to hunger and food insecurity, there are other systemic issues that exacerbate food shortages in the country. The government has chosen to avoid addressing those issues, and instead focus on ‘fighting climate change’ in a move that has caused the loss of human and animal lives while destroying livelihoods. The government, media and international organizations receiving aid from Western donors, have chosen to weaponize climate change, food insecurity and hunger at the expense of poor marginalized communities in Kenya. The corruption and greed by Kenyan authorities and politicians has seen the implementation of projects and policies that are killing humans and cattle, displacing pastoralists, all in the name of ‘conservation’ efforts and combating climate change.
Wildlife Conservancies
The pastoral communities in Kenya co-existed with wildlife for decades without any major issues. Problems would arise occasionally during the drought seasons, when wildlife would wander into settlement areas and attack livestock then some herders would retaliate. However, it was known that the ‘lion loved and feared the Maasai community’. It is almost unheard of that a herder was killed or attacked by a lion while taking their animals to and from pasture fields. The Wildlife Act of 2013 enabled an increase in wildlife conservation efforts after reports of declining wildlife. This saw the emergence of several wildlife conservancies in Kenya, currently covering 15 million hectares that hold at least 65% of Kenya’s wildlife that is outside national parks and game reserves. Conservancies claim to protect endangered animals while enabling communities to earn and benefit from their tourism efforts. This could not be further from the truth.
Conservancies help lure tourists to come support them in their efforts to protect wildlife and bring in tourism revenues that would help in their ‘conservation’ efforts. They promote this ecotourism as a beautiful way of protecting the animals while improving the standards of living of the local communities and the country’s economy. Conservancies were to involve the local communities as part of their conservation efforts, but we learned that they only include the residents when it makes the conservancy ‘look good’.
Private conservancies emerged that are owned by private individuals, corporate owners, non-profit wildlife organizations and commercial entities to ‘help’ in wildlife conservation and management. Most of these are owned and run by foreigners who employ a few local residents. They have taken up vast amounts of lands and fenced them up such that herders and local communities no longer have access to grazing land for their cattle, pushing them out of their ancestral lands.
Poaching and Trophy hunting
Conservancies were to help stop the killing of animals through wildlife poaching. Who were the poachers? Government officials. Yes. Systemic poaching in Kenya has been an inside job by the same officials entrusted to ‘protect’ these animals from poachers. Local pastoralists are never involved in international trade operations of killing elephants and smuggling the stolen ivory tusks to the global market. For instance in 2021, The U.S Attorney’s office Southern District of New York, extradited a prominent Kenyan national on charges of conspiracy to traffic in rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory worth at least $7million. This large-scale trafficking involved illegal poaching of more than 35 rhinoceros and more than 100 elephants.
So how great are these conservation efforts? Police officers in Kenya have also been arrested for allegedly trying to sell elephant tusks. Kenyan government trucks and range rovers have been cited with cargo that included wildlife parts for sale. In 2016, Kenya’s former president Uhuru Kenyatta set ablaze 105 tons of elephant ivory and 1.35 tons of rhino horns. This huge ivory stockpile meant that at least 8000 elephants and 450 rhinos had been illegally poached. We found that this large cache of ivory was meticulously stolen by government officials and park rangers.
Conservancies have been criticized for their promotion of trophy hunting as a ‘conservation’ tool. International tourists fly in for recreational hunting of wildlife for pride, prestige and ‘trophies’. Local communities have been vocal against this practice of commodifying wildlife.
Weaponizing drought
In December 2022, Kenyan authorities claimed that over 200 elephants, 400 zebras and 500 wildebeests among other animals had succumbed to drought. Poor conservation practices by some of these conservancies have blocked off animal migratory grazing routes that were used by both wildlife and pastoralists. Conservancies have failed to address the plight of humans and animals. In 2007, reports indicated that ‘climate change was still devastating wildlife’ in East Africa. 15 years later, some media outlets blatantly mischaracterize climate change as the main cause of the worsening human-wildlife conflict.
On March 12, 2023, Kenya’s government ordered residents to vacate their homes immediately, within 24 hours. They did not provide a sheltering place for the residents that they displaced without any prior warning. The government demanded that these communities evacuate in order to curb ‘banditry’ attacks. Our investigation reveals that the government is trying to forcefully acquire the land and water rights from the marginalized residents that live near the conservancies, trying to expand their tree-planting initiative intended to generate income from the world’s carbon market. As we were researching on this subject, we learned that pastoralists and residents do not have access to grazing land or water that they once freely had their livestock roam and graze on. Large organizations such as the Northern Rangelands Trust that hosts 43 conservancies had encroached and blocked off the designated movement areas for pastoralists and their livestock.
Fighting climate change
The Northern Rangelands Trust conservancy boasts of embarking on the world’s first ‘large-scale grasslands soil carbon project’, for soil carbon sequestration. This project anticipates the removal of 50 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years. They claim to have generated income approximately USD$14.6 million to date, from the sale of the sequestered carbon through the global markets, and funds are channeled back to the communities and local conservancies. Subsequently, Kenya’s President Ruto had launched soil testing efforts to help find ‘alternatives’ that would help address the food insecurity crisis. Our investigation found that the displacement of these local communities is part of the government’s effort to enable the expansion of these income generating projects.
So if these conservancies are able to generate high revenues, why are the animals dying from starvation and drought? Why are the local marginalized communities still lacking food and water? Why are they still living below the poverty line? One plausible explanation from our findings, is that this weaponization of drought and food insecurity, is intended to get the residents so desperate, such that they are willing to give up their land to the government for some little cash. The government has been receiving food aid donations from around the world, yet the hunger crisis remains dire. Misappropriation, embezzlement and theft of funds and donated aid by government officials is worsening the hunger crisis in Kenya. Notably, the Kenyan State House has been lavishly spending at least USD$40,000 a day on tea and ‘hospitality’. This huge amount would greatly help in alleviating the hunger crisis in Kenya. Additionally, the Kenyan government ‘mysteriously found’ 300,000 acres of land to easily give to Eni Spa the Italian energy company for the production of biofuels. Paradoxically, the same government expropriated land from peasants that had previously received settlement parcels of land near a failed irrigation scheme.
Shooting and Killing Cows.
Five years ago, police officers in Kenya shot dead 500 cows in Laikipia near a conservancy where the cows had gone to drink water. The herders needed ‘permission’ from conservancy ranch owners to have their cattle graze in that area. It is ironic when livestock are killed for grazing in a ‘conservancy’ meant to ‘protect’ animals. This sparked skirmishes as herders reacted to the loss of their livelihoods and wealth at the brutal hands of police officers. In February 2023, a similar incident occurred where 119 cows were shot dead by police in a different county. These provocations increase tensions and once the herders are stripped of their wealth, they may result to cattle rustling. Politicians and senior government officials have been known to arm these herders and provide them with guns to attack neighboring communities to steal cattle, and cause chaos for political and economic gain. These kind of banditry attacks are politically motivated and are causing a lot of bloodshed in the communities.
Recommendation
We are recommending an independent auditing, monitoring and evaluation of the practices of these conservancies and government agencies. Local communities have clearly stated that they would love these conservancies abolished. The best move would be to have the conservancies owned and led by community groups and not foreign entities pursuing economic interests. It would be very hard or impossible for Africans to own conservancy ranches in Western countries and have them displace local residents or dictate the bylaws and policies that the local communities have to live by. We ask the tourists, donors and strategic partners of these conservancies to stop being complicit in the inhumane practices by these organizations in their efforts to ‘fight climate change’.
Pingback: Awarding environmental grifters (Ms. Wathuti and Maathai) for allowing exploitation in Kenya. -