Saccos, private sector players challenged to plant trees in Murang'a

Co-operatives and Micro and Small Enterprises Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui wants the leadership of Murang'a to form a committee that will coordinate tree planting efforts in the county.

Chelugui who has been placed in charge of tree planting activities in Murang'a, said the National government plans to plant 13 million trees in the county annually.

He however noted the objective can only be obtained if stakeholders work together and bring in players from all sectors.

He cited the many traders operating hotels and factories in the county that he said should be approached and implored upon to set aside parts of their properties for planting trees."

Murang'a county has many wealthy business people that can plant hundreds of trees. Just plant 100 trees and you will have contributed greatly." Further, the CS said he will be interrogating saccos and co-operatives' environmental reports before renewing their licenses.

Murang'a has a strong co-operative movement that he said can help ensure tree planting activities are implemented in the grassroots.

The co-operatives, he said, should identify areas that they can adopt and plant trees, to further boost the county's tree cover that currently stands at 27.8 per cent.

"Next time I come, I want to have a meeting with co-operatives and groups to plan how they can help plant trees."

With 47 banks operating in the county, Chelugui called upon them to consider hiring a few workers who will solely be focusing on planting trees and environment conservation.

Multi-national firms such as Kakuzi and Delmonte were also challenged to plant trees on the edges of their farms and road sides.

"There should be trees from Blue Post to Sagana. Nairobi water is sourced from Murang'a and therefore, you have a national responsibility to plant trees and conserve the environment," he said.

The CS said countries such as South Korea were able to transform their land from near desert to a green land full of resources, through conservation.

With the United Nations Environment Programme headquartered in Nairobi, Chelugui said the country cannot afford to lag behind in environmental matters, challenging each family to ensure they plant trees.

Chelugui spoke at Karii water treatment plant that is operated by Murang'a Water and Sanitation company (Muwasco) where he led tree planting activities.

Muwasco MD Daniel Ng'ang'a reiterated that the firm is partnering with Murang'a University of Technology to convert the sewage waste into biogas that will then be piped into homes.

The plant treats sewage waste from Murang'a town and it's environs and the gas will be significantly cheaper than the conventional cooking gas.

Ng'ang'a said his firm will tend to the trees planted in the sewerage plant and ensure they grow to maturity.

He said the company operates a fruits trees nursery with over 10 million seedlings at the sewerage plant.

"We have been working with the surrounding primary schools to have pupils plant trees. We have also supplied over 100,000 fruits seedlings to farmers."

Murang'a deputy governor Stephen Munania said the devolved unit intends to take tree planting as a commercial venture.

The county government has already consolidated mango and avocado farmers into co-operatives that can be supported to plant more fruit trees and increase their returns.

"The mangoes co-operative has over 2,000 members while the avocado one has over 5,000 people who can help to greatly increase the tree cover, by planting the fruit trees that thrive in their areas."

Mining Principal Secretary Elijah Mwangi said local fruits processing plants will benefit from the tree planting initiative that will increase fruits production.