- 2 days ago
STRAIGHT TALK EP 1-CS ENVIRONMENT DR D BARASA ON MAZINGIRA DAY CELEBRATION
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Welcome to Straight Talk. My name is Yvonne Chege, I'm your host. Today, and this episode,
00:12we are so happy to be joined by Madam and Dr. Deborah Barraza, who's the Cabinet Secretary
00:19for Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry in Kenya. Thank you so much for joining us.
00:25And thank you for having me. Today, specifically, we're talking about the upcoming Mazingera Day
00:31celebrations. And there's a public holiday coming up on the 10th of October. Kindly tell us,
00:39what does Mazingera Day mean to you? Yes. So, first of all, we need to know that
00:47our national prosperity is rooted on how we care for our environment,
00:53ourselves, or the people in the environment, as well as of our future. We have this young
01:01generation that is coming up. And it's good, again, that we nurture the culture of caring
01:08for the environment, so they live in a clean, healthy, and safe environment. And so, when
01:15we received the letter from public service, that the theme of October 10th will be Mazingera
01:21Day that is a citizen-centric, tree-growing, and environmental stewardship theme, then we thought
01:29what would be the best way to have an impactful Mazingera Day. And so, we looked at our vision,
01:38which is really restoration and renewal. But yet again, nurturing the children to be able to care
01:47for their environments well. And then we talked about ecosystem restoration, looking at the nutritional
01:55component of the environment, how one can benefit from that, looking at food security, looking at
02:02intergenerational engagement towards ensuring the success of Mazingera Day. And so, we thought
02:11that for a citizen-centric approach, we can focus on primary schools. Equally, my background in health,
02:19I'm well aware of children suffering from malnutrition, the issues of food insecurity. And yet again, this
02:25is aligned to the bottom-up economic transformation agenda. And so, we thought that if we incorporate the
02:33issue of addressing food insecurity, that is ensuring that we are planting fruit trees in schools, then we
02:41are also supporting the children. Because I believe that no child should sleep hungry. And the only way we can
02:49contribute to this in our country is ensuring that we are having fruit trees in the schools. That way, a child
02:57can pluck, you know, can pluck, you know, a fruit and eat when they are, and it will bring accessibility to some
03:03kind of food to them. Okay. So, is that in line then with the theme that you have, to Rudy Primo, to donate fruit trees?
03:13Absolutely, it is in line with that. So, we are telling Kenyans to contribute, to donate. Okay, they can
03:23contribute in the form of money. Fruit trees range from 100 to 150 Kenya shillings. And then they can
03:30donate the seedlings. Or they can go to their schools, their primary schools, to plant the fruit trees.
03:40So, that's in line with what you're saying. Stewardship being a part of what Mazingera Day is.
03:45Absolutely. Absolutely. And you know, from an early stage, what is happening is that we are teaching
03:51children matters of stewardship. We're also teaching them leadership from an early age to care for the
03:59fruit trees and to care for their environment. And it's not only about planting fruit trees,
04:06but also cleaning up the environment. Why specifically fruit trees, if I may ask?
04:11Fruit trees, we thought of that because we wanted this year not only to address the ecosystem restoration,
04:23the carbon sequestration among others, but also accessibility of fruits to children,
04:30which again will incorporate the nutritional component and the children will be healthy.
04:35It's a very ambitious theme. How do the ministry's actions align with that?
04:44The ministry's action. So, we have our mandate. The president's directive is that we plant 15 billion
04:53trees by 2032. And 30% of these are fruit trees. So, that is why we focused on fruit trees at this time.
05:02And maybe I can say again, it's again about my personal experience,
05:06going to countries where you have a lot of fruits, fruit trees, and children can access fruits.
05:12Some can be able to sell, etc. So, that brings a lot of life to the ambition of tree planting.
05:21Okay. Yes.
05:22Alongside tree planting, there is this theme ongoing within current conversation of waste management
05:33being part of how we promote sustainable development across counties. What is your ministry doing along those lines?
05:44Okay. So, first of all, for Mazingirade, we have the cleanup campaign, right. But in terms of the ministry,
05:51we already have strategies, we have policies, we have the regulatory frameworks, yeah. When it comes to waste management,
06:00we have the Sustainable Waste Management Act, we have again the Extended Producer Responsibility Act,
06:08which I'm really passionate about, or regulation, because we are holding to task the waste producers.
06:16They need to be responsible, they need to be accountable for the waste that they produce. So, we are talking about manufacturers.
06:24When you go to a river and you find a bottle of soda, you know, floating away, or you find pieces of papers within the river,
06:33we are saying that the owner of that bottle of soda, whoever manufactured, must look into its life cycle until the end of its life.
06:42That is ensure that it does not remain in the environment, polluting the environment, because we know these also cause safety hazards.
06:54These ones cause infections, diarrheal diseases, among others, when they remain in the environment,
06:59and then they cause degradation, among others. And so, we are encouraging the waste producers
07:07that they should be responsible for the waste that they produce. Now, this is through a certain
07:12contribution that they will make. And this contribution will support us, first of all, in ensuring that
07:18we are looking at the waste pickers and the community. It will capacitate them so that they have decent jobs.
07:25Again, we have the cooperatives which will come through that. Again, we can, we will have even,
07:31you know, tuk-tuks or cars that will transport the waste to the site. We have now the material recovery
07:37facilities. Organic waste is 60 to 70 percent. Again, through degradation, it can be turned into fertilizer
07:44and then utilized again, as well as the non-biodegradable, that is the plastics, which again can be recycled
07:52and utilized again. So, we want to encourage that when it comes to waste management.
07:58That's very ambitious. It is.
08:00It's very ambitious. You require a lot of county government cooperation.
08:05Absolutely. Yes.
08:06And, you know, waste management indeed is a devolved function. And so, we are working closely with the
08:13county governments. We have a well-coordinated team from national down to county level and supporting them.
08:22As you look at NEMA, it's about law enforcement and ensuring compliance so that we are not having
08:28pollution within our communities or within our environment. And so, NEMA is looking into that.
08:37But again, tasking the counties, supporting them in developing standard operating procedures,
08:43developing guidelines, and also supporting them in implementing the material recovery facilities,
08:50setting up cooperatives for these waste pickers, among other things, and connecting them with partners
08:58who will support. So, we have a pilot, which we believe will be our best practice in Kajiado. And now,
09:06we are scaling up, supporting various counties to come up with material recovery facilities,
09:11and looking at the whole loop to ensure that waste is being recycled and it's not
09:17causing pollution to our environment.
09:19That then contributes to the climate change debate as well because I know there's many stories we see
09:29nowadays where we see the effects of climate change upon very vulnerable communities within Kenya.
09:35that these policies will help towards protecting these communities?
09:41Absolutely. And when you look at what we are doing in climate change, again, strategies. We have
09:48the national determined contribution. We are actually one of the top 10 countries who was able to submit
09:54our NDC on time, and we have developed the action plans following that. We have our systems in place. We have
10:01our directorate here, and we have the climate change units at ministerial level, at county level,
10:08and we also have our system on implementation and ensuring that people are adhering to the
10:15regulations that have been set in Kenya. But in community settings, what we really need to talk
10:21about is FLOKA, the financially-led climate change action program. And so, we have been able to
10:29mobilize resources to support counties in matters of climate change, so it looks into adaptation as well
10:36as resilience. So, we have had that. We've had tremendous stories, and some of them will also be
10:42showcased in Mazingira Day. We are engaging with the Ministry of Treasury to have even a day dedicated
10:48to show best practices when it comes to climate change. And for FLOKA, it's all about the community
10:54implementation at a community level with 30 percent of the funds being, you know, ring-fenced for the youth
11:03and with the women to support in climate change matters. How is the Ministry engaging the youth,
11:09like you say, the youth, the women, and the community at large in participating in Mazingira Day
11:17and the issues you're trying to highlight? Yes. So, we are working together with the youth,
11:24the women, and the various community-based organizations. We are getting the seedlings
11:31from them as well, and again supporting them when it comes to waste management. You know,
11:38the waste pickers ensuring that we have that in line, recycling of waste. We are engaging them in that.
11:45So, we have a lot of community-based organizations, and we are encouraging them to come together,
11:51to also register, to go at county level, and see how we can work towards that. Again,
11:56we have the Climate Works. We have green jobs that the president has initiated over 100,000
12:03people being employed through the Climate Works initiative. So, a lot is being done in the climate
12:11space to ensure that the youth and the women are not left behind. Okay. Yes.
12:16Just to influence public behavior, I guess, right? Yes. Trying to educate us
12:23as to how to take care of our environment. Yes. That's really the objective of Mazingira Day. Absolutely.
12:30It is the objective. We are saying we need pragmatic leadership. We want the community to own the
12:36process. We want them to be informed. When it comes to waste segregation, when it comes to issues of
12:43tree planting, we want the children to nurture, to care for the trees until they are big and see the
12:51fruits of it. All right. So, by the time maybe a child leaves school, they are able to see what
12:56can happen and they are able to become good leaders by ensuring that the environments are clean and
13:02healthy and seeing the fruits that come out of it. A call to inspire, I guess. Absolutely. Yes. So,
13:10tell us as we start to wind up, what would you tell Kenyans as we look forward to Mazingira Day? I know
13:18many people are looking forward to just a public holiday, staying in bed, but how would you tell
13:24them to view this upcoming holiday? Yes. For us, Mazingira Day is really for us to own the process,
13:33for us to care for our environment, to care for our people and again care for our future. And this is
13:41through restoring our ecosystem and ensuring our environment is clean, healthy and safe. So, it's a
13:48rally call to all Kenyans to contribute what you can. A fruit tree would cost around 100 to 150 Kenyan
13:57shillings. You can donate fruit seedlings and again go to your primary school and plant the
14:05seedlings, the fruit seedlings so that we can have fruits that are accessible because no child should
14:12sleep hungry. But even as you are in the schools, let us ensure that we are cleaning our environment.
14:18Let us teach the children to nurture that behavioral practice as they grow up to become responsible cities.
14:25Okay. The ministry is working tirelessly to ensure that there are fruit trees. But even you as an
14:33individual, try and see how you can donate, how you can contribute. Because every fruit tree that you
14:40plant, you are feeding a child. Yeah. Last question. I'm sorry. The Nairobi, Nairobi River Regeneration Project,
14:52I think would come in line with what we're talking about now, improving our environment in general. Can you
15:00give us a brief update of what's going on? Absolutely. This is indeed a phenomenal project
15:07that has been taken by His Excellency, the President of Kenya, William Samoyeruto. And what we are doing,
15:14we've done quite a lot because you notice that the urban rivers have a lot of waste and they are causing a lot of
15:22infections. They are causing, you know, challenges within the community, pollution among others. And so
15:29this project is a fixed approach and we are seeing quite a tremendous improvement when it comes to ensuring
15:37that the rivers are clean and I believe we'll have clips on that. And also the waste, you know, at times we could have
15:45even human waste, you know, the sewer system pouring into the river. But taking that initiative to ensure the
15:54waters are clean. And as I told you from my background, multiple cholera outbreaks because of contaminated rivers. It is critical that
16:03that that is addressed and we are happy that we are in that phase where we are improving the environment
16:09and the Nairobi river. And again, scaling it up. We hope that even other urban rivers, we hope that the dams
16:16like the Nairobi dam will come up and we are engaging partners and seeing how we can get resources to scale
16:24this up and support in terms of waste management for urban rivers. Yeah. Thank you so much.
16:30Dr. Deborah Barasa, I really appreciate your time and thank you for watching Straight Talk.
16:39Thank you, Yvonne.
Recommended
5:55
3:45
15:58
43:18
1:09:28
38:15
1:14:25
1:00:04
1:00
0:57
42:06
37:17
37:52
43:12
39:46
41:46
40:41
37:33
47:01
31:37
Be the first to comment