Frankincense and Myrrh have new economic resonances for women in Kenyas Arid North – Global Affairs
Nairobi, June 16 (IPS) – Dressed in traditional regal attire and necklaces featuring richly colored beads that form gorgeous patterns around the neck, an army of women from the pastoral Rendile community reside in Nairobi, June 16 (IPS) the center of Marsabit, a county in the arid north of Kenya, is on duty.
Side by side, they are moving towards economic freedom armed with related tools up the hill to exploit gum and gum resin from acacia.
“We face countless challenges. First, we have to get water before harvesting the gum from the acacia tree. We then sort and dry them before bringing them to the market to sell. From selling chewing gum and gum resin, I can meet my family’s needs. Caroline Sepina, a 47-year-old mother of six, says, when she carefully sorts the gum, which retails for $5 (Ksh 550) per kilogram.
Gums and resins are hard plant secretions obtained from Acacia, Boswellia and Commiphora species in arid regions of Africa.
In the drylands of Kenya, human existence is constantly challenged with minimal options for alternative livelihoods.
There are no men in the many attas in Ndikir, a village located in the sub-county of Marsabit. Because of the drought, the men had to move to the nearby Samburu district, looking for pasture and water for their livestock.
Here, women are left behind, but unlike before, when they would be unemployed, they now have alternative livelihoods that supplement their livestock.
According to Leuwan Kokton, assistant chief of the Ndikir subdivision, men often migrate with their livestock to the nearby Samburu district to avoid severe drought, leaving a few livestock left for childcare and sometimes is medicine.
“Through this economic venture, I don’t have to sell sheep from my flock to serve my family’s needs. All I need to do is just walk to the nearby trees and harvest non-wood products, then sell them at the market. This helps me conserve my sheep and goats,” Joseph Longelesh, a resident of Ndikir village told IPS in an interview.
Gums and rubber resins of commercial importance are collected from forests in Kenya including arabic, myrrh, hagar and frankincense. Kenya has gum and plastic resources with commercial output limited to the arid regions of the country. Gum arabic comes from Acacia senegal or Glue Loyaltywhile commercial rubber resins are myrh from Commiphoramyrrha, Hagar from Commiphora holtziana and Frankincense from Boswellia gonea S.
Traditionally, the resin of Myrrh Hagar is suitable for the treatment of inflammation, arthritis, obesity, microbial infections, wounds, pain, fractures, tumors, gastrointestinal diseases, snake bites and scorpion stings.
Tommaso Menini, CEO of African agency for arid resources (AGAR), told IPS that gum and turpentine are directly related to preserving the environment. The idea is to make pastoral communities see an alternative source of livelihood other than livestock.
“Hagar is currently a product sought after by mainly the Chinese as it is heavily used in their traditional medicine. Having almost 1.4 billion Chinese population means demand will be high,” Menini told IPS.
“Over the years, we have seen an increasing presence of Chinese buyers based in Kenya. In the past, we had agents that would send some containers to China, but since they are setting up in Kenya they are now pushing the price up because there is more demand.”
For Janet Ahatho, Assistant Director of Natural Resources at Marsabit Quận County, these non-wood products already exist. However, local people are still not exposed to its economic potential and how to exploit them for profit.
“As the county government, we have mapped the areas and worked with the locals. The people who collect the produce and sell them are the breeders themselves. They have attached that kind of importance to these trees, thus helping to preserve the environment,” said Ahatho.
In Marsabit County, these non-wood products are commonly found in Laisamis, Moyale and North Horr counties.
“The destruction of the environment is reduced because we have environmental stewardship committees in each county, and they are the ones that attract collectors and sellers of the product. They are trained to educate the community on why the conservation of tree species is important,” said Ahatho.
In 2005, Resource Mapping Center for Regional DevelopmentThrough the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) technical cooperation program, a resource assessment and mapping of gum and plastics were carried out in Kenya.
For Ilkul Salgi, World Vision Organization Integrated management of natural resources for arid and semi-arid lands Field officers (IMARA), local people living in arid counties, including Marsabit, often face drought, conflict, and ways to conserve the environment amid the climate crisis.
Engineer Chidume Okoro, president of the Natural Rubber and Plastics Network in Africa (NGARA), says production is far from sustainable, especially agarwood, with frequent sparks damaging or dying trees. .
According to Chidume, mass production of gum and turpentine for commercial purposes should be done with caution, by training local people on how to be sustainable while saving the acacia tree.
“With the heavy focus on exporting raw materials and poor resource management, the export market is being overexploited. There are gender inequalities and imbalances of power, Okoro told IPS, and in some cases have resulted in unequal access and control over benefits from these natural resources.
Since discovering non-wood products, Sepina says her children always have well-balanced meals and she can pay for her children’s school fees.
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