14 May 2012

UNDP / KENYA FOOD SECURITY

UNDP Administrator Helen Clark visited Maasai farm communities in Kenya ahead of the launch of the African Human Development Report that deals with food security in Africa. On a visit to Amboseli in southern part of the country, Clark finds that Maasai women farmers are changing lives by embracing new ways of farming. UNDP

Posted at: May 14, 2012 1:53 pm

Duration: 02:39

Available in: SD, HD

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STORY: UNDP / KENYA FOOD SECURITY
TRT: 2.39
SOURCE: UNDP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / MAASAI SPEECH / NATS

DATELINE: 12, 13 MAY 2012 AMBOSELI, KENYA / RECENT

SHOTLIST:

RECENT - 16 APRIL 2012, AMBOSELI, KENYA

1. Wide shot, women working at farm leased by local women's group
2. Various shots, local farmer Motialo Kiserian weeding the field

12 MAY 2012, AMBOSELI, KENYA

3. Various shots, UNDP Administrator, Helen Clark touring the farm leased by the local women's group 
4. Close up, banana plant
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator: 
"I think across Africa a big answer to fighting hunger and food shortages is empowering women farmers. And this cooperative of women working with a local non-governmental organisation has found a way to move forward. So this story needs to be told many times to inspire other communities to think that it is possible to be able to have a livelihood as things around you are changing, as the climate is changing, and things can't be done the way they used to be."
5. Med shot, local farmer Motialo Kiserian briefing Clark during a meeting with the women farmers 
6. Med shot, circle of people listening
7. Close up, Clark looking ahead
8. Med shot, woman with child
9. Wide shot, children in the distance watching curiously 
10. SOUNDBITE (Maasai) Motialo Kiserian, local farmer:
"We would like to farm more arable land and do this on a bigger scale, and we want to learn better agricultural practices, so that we can become a society that can sustain itself."

16 APRIL 2012, AMBOSELI, KENYA

11. Tilt up, from cyclist on farm-track to glaciers on peak of Mount Kilimanjaro

12 MAY 2012, AMBOSELI, KENYA

12. Close up, water in natural spring fed by melt-water from kilimanjaro
13. Wide shot, Helen Clark touring the site of the spring

13 MAY 2012, AMBOSELI, KENYA

14. Wide shot, tour vehicles at the national park 
15. Med shot, elephant
16. Med shot, Helen Clark in jeep looking through binoculars

16 APRIL 2012, AMBOSELI, KENYA

17. Various shots, elephants

12 MAY 2012, AMBOSELI, KENYA 
18. Med shot, Helen Clark at the Satao Elerai luxury camp in the Elerai Conservancy, a wildlife corridor set aside for conservation and tourism by the local community
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonah Marapash, Secretary, Elerai Conservation: 
"People get employment, they get fuel to run this generator whereby people will get water, in addition to that we are getting a lot of revenue, whereby we facilitate bursaries, we facilitate even emergencies whereby if someone want medical, and other related assistance whereby required by the community."
20.Med shot, Helen Clark looking ahead
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): 
"We're in an area with incredible conservation values, but it's also an area where people have lived for millennia. So the trick is to find a way that the people can live, that human development can go ahead, while the nature is also protected. And I think that this village is very committed to finding that way."
22. Various shots, villagers in the Elerai Conservancy dancing 
23. Wide shot, women laughing and clapping during the meeting with the UNDP delegation

STORYLINE:

The people of Namelok in Kenya's Amboseli region have had to learn to adapt to change.

They are ethnic Maasai and traditionally keep livestock, but successive droughts have decimated many of their animals, so they broke with tradition and now cultivate tomatoes, maize and beans.

To hear their story in person, United Nations Development Programmer (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark visited the area ahead of the launch of the Africa Human Development Report on 15 May.

"I think across Africa a big answer to fighting hunger and food shortages is empowering women farmers," Helen Clark said after meeting the women.

"This cooperative of women working with a local non-governmental organisation has found a way to move forward, so this story needs to be told many times to inspire other communities to think that it is possible to be able to have a livelihood as things around you are changing, as the climate is changing, and things can't be done the way they used to be.", Clark said.

Forty-three-year-old Motialo Kiserian earned living trading goats at the local market after her husband left her with four children to feed.

But the income is unreliable and realistically she can only earn around (USD) $50 a month.

Now, she and the other members of her women's group have leased two acres of land with the help of a small local charity, and they've already had one successful harvest, which earned them around (USD) $500 – given to the women in the group who needed the money most.

"We would like to farm more arable land and do this on a bigger scale," says Motialo, "and we want to learn better agricultural practices, so that we can become a society that can sustain itself."

The women's farm lies at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro and the natural springs that water it are fed by the mountain's glaciers.

That water doesn't just support the region's farmers but also a biodiverse ecosystem including the elephants that attract visitors from all over the world to the nearby Amboseli Park.

Tourism is a major earner of foreign exchange for Kenya and the community has recognised that conservation can also bring economic benefits.

The Satao Elerai Conservacy is a 65,000 acre wildlife corridor that has been set aside by the community to protect the environment, and provide an income from tourism.

A luxury camp built in the Conservancy pays dividends to the Maasai landowners, and the money has sunk a much-needed borehole and is building a school. That's not all, explains Elerai Conservation Secretary Jonah Marapash, who comes from a village near the camp.

"People get employment," says Marapash, "they get fuel to run this generator whereby people will get water, in addition to that we are getting a lot of revenue, whereby we facilitate bursaries, we facilitate even emergencies if someone want medical, and other related assistance required by the community."
 
"We're in an area with incredible conservation values," Helen Clark noted while she was visiting the Conservancy, "but it's also an area where people have lived for millennia. So the trick is to find a way that the people can live, that human development can go ahead, while the nature is also protected. And I think that this village is very committed to finding that way," she said.

The ultimate aim is for communities like this one to be able to capitalise on their resources better, so that in times of drought they have other sources of income and don't have sell their land and livelihood, and so that they can be successful farmers, whatever the weather.