Water stations, making charcoal, land management, and more

Abdullah Hussain is a member of a group that uses Prosopis to make charcoal and explains how the plant becomes fuel.

“We chop down the Prosopis shrub and then make charcoal out of it,” she says. “The charcoal is then ground into a powder and mixed with water. The final mix is then passed through a charcoal briquette machine. The briquette is then dried and used in cooking. The briquettes burn slow with less smoke, and, unlike normal charcoal, they cook many meals.”

Abdullah prefers using the briquettes because her grandchildren can focus on their studies instead of collecting firewood. Community members are also passing their knowledge to neighbors in the region.

“The Prosopis pods have high protein and mineral content that is good for the livestock,” says Salim Abdi, Kenya BORESHA Program Coordinator for CARE International. “The charcoal briquettes have higher cooking efficiency than normal charcoal. We promote the use of the Prosopis shrub to make the briquette as it will spare the indigenous trees from extinction and help manage the shrub’s spread.”

The next step is to commercialize the production of both animal feed and briquettes so group members can start earning additional income.

Combating overgrazing through better land management

Another common issue in the Mandera Triangle is the overgrazing of pastureland, a common and unfortunate pitfall due to arid conditions, frequent droughts, and scarce vegetation. Allowing animals to graze on every available green patch during the rainy season means it is scarce – and animals starve – during the dry season.

In response, BORESHA instituted a program of rangeland management, to preserve sections of pasture and allow them to regenerate so they are kept in reserve. CARE, its partners, and local government officials trained community members from 21 villages on pastoral best practices. Topics included building fences, clearing weeds, and rejuvenating unproductive land by planting grass and trees.

The project also went a step further. “After the training, 100 people were hired to work on building the enclosures,” says Aden Ibrahim, chair of the Natural Resource Management group in Eymole, a sub-county on the Kenya/Ethiopia border. “After 30 days, we received Kes. 21,500 ($192.57) and this improved our living standards. My cattle have benefitted from having these enclosures.”

Beyond rangeland management, the community also received training on beekeeping and harvesting and has established several beehives that have been colonized by multiple swarms.

Clean water powered by the sun

On sunny days, temperatures in the Mandera Triangle regularly hit 95F, and sometimes go even higher, while frequent droughts have made water more difficult to find. A survey from February 2021 found that only 49.3% of households reported accessing water from safe, improved, or semi-improved water points.

“To fetch rainwater we had to cut across the Mathenge shrub which surrounded it,” says Fatuma Abdi, a 52-year-old mother of six in Ashabito. “This was dangerous because wild animals like snakes hid in there and would attack us.”

Worse, during times of drought, local rainwater ponds dry up, forcing people to either travel long distances or pay exorbitant prices to vendors with tanks.

Health is also an issue. “Since our animals could only drink water from the same place we fetch, we would end up getting sick from the contaminated water,” Fatuma adds. “Malaria was quite prevalent, as well as water-borne diseases like typhoid and diarrhea which affected our children.”

In response, CARE and its partners have constructed 11 water access points in the Mandera triangle, with underground tanks and solar-powered pumps. In neighboring Somalia, four additional water points were repaired and equipped with pumps. In total, these water access points directly serve more than 125,614 people across the three countries.

“By taking advantage of the always available, clean, renewable energy from the sun, the pump draws water from the borehole to the tap, ensuring clean water supply throughout the year to the community,” says Salim Abdullahi, a coordinator for CARE International. “At the same time, water access points for people [and] animals were constructed in separate places to ensure that there is no contamination.”

“Since the clean water access point is closer and consistent, we now have more time to do more for our personal development,” says Fatuma, who now sells produce from the farm she was able to start thanks to the new water source. “We can now engage in farming alongside cattle rearing.”

Battling COVID-19 through information and hygiene

When COVID-19 emerged in Kenya, in March 2020, many people moved to rural areas like Mandera and inadvertently spread the virus to places where healthcare services are sparse. Government officials responded with travel restrictions and lockdowns.

The lockdowns and subsequent school closures affected the economy as well as the social fabric. “Since the children were at home, many of them turned to vices to pass time,” says Khaltuma Abdirahman, headteacher at Mandera Township Primary School. “Some turned to drugs and engaged in illegal activities. Some girls were married off and others got pregnant.”

At the start of the COVID outbreak, BORESHA had contingency funds available, and put those to use in a public information campaign. They purchased airtime on a DAWA FM, a local radio station, and, together with the health department of the Mandera County Government, shared basic, yet vital, information about the virus and how to prevent its spread.

“Since our transmission radius covers 140 square kilometers and we are close to the border, we can disseminate information not only in Mandera [Kenya] but also Somalia and Ethiopia,” says Haqil Suleiman, station manager. “This ensured that the prevention messages reached communities on the border who regularly cross over. The conversations and interactions between the community and County Health workers via our station were so engaging that many times they would go beyond time.”

Phased in-person school sessions resumed in late 2020 as case numbers dropped, but with strict adherence to prevention guidelines. In response, CARE and its partners set up school handwashing stations and distributed handwashing kits, which reduced the spread of other diseases – not just COVID. Beyond the schools, the program also distributed hygiene kits to internally displaced people.