Kenya needs to mitigate against the causes of desertification

AllAfrica. com via the Star (Kenya): There are plans to expand land under rice irrigation in Kirinyaga County as consumption of the product continues to rise in Kenya with the current consumption rate at 300,000 tonnes annually.

Njenga Mwaura, National Irrigation Board in Mwea said the area earns Sh 3 billion per year from rice production, and small-scale farmers who largely depend on the crop stand to benefit. " There are plans to expand 800 acres of land in Kiangungu and Kiamanyeki areas and 25 hectares in Mutithi area," said Mwaura.

...National Environment Management Authority (Nema) director general, prof Geoffrey Wahungu said climate variability and extremes are a major threat to sustainable development of the county, with rising temperatures contributing to increase of malaria, erratic rainfall resulting to drying up of some rivers and also flooding especially on the lower parts of Mwea.

Wahungu added that the major contributors to the degradation of the environment in the county are deforestation, poor solid waste disposal, cultivation along river banks by the community, and pollution from industries and farmers....

Tracks in the Chalbi Desert in northern Kenya, shot by Filiberto Strazzari, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr,  under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license