Four Governors from the Amaya triangle landscape, which brings together Isiolo, Samburu, Baringo and Laikipia counties, have underscored the importance of education in promoting peaceful co-existence and fostering sustainable development.
During a two-day summit on ‘Cooperation on Peace and Development (CoPaD)’ in Nyahururu, Baringo and Laikipia Governors Benjamin Cheboi and Joshua Irungu respectively, and Samburu and Isiolo Deputy Governors Dr. James Lowasa and Gabriel Lenengwesi respectively; noted that education is key in transforming negative cultural norms and mindset towards fostering peace and cohesion among their communities.
Speaking at the summit organized under the auspices of the European Union funded-Kenya Rangelands Ecosystem Services Productivity (EU-Kenya RangER) Program, Governor Cheboi lauded CoPaD for creating a vibrant forum that could act as an anchor institution for the regional counties.
Cheboi, who also chairs the Amaya Triangle Initiative (ATI), said CoPAD captures the region’s desire for development which is predicated on peace, emphasizing the need to use resources sustainably for the progress of the people in the region.
“As EU, ICRAF, E4Impact, ICS, JKUAT, NRT and other partners, we can chart a way to harness the resources to improve livelihoods, address challenges such as floods, drought, insecurity and disease,” Cheboi noted.
“As we increase our conservancies, how can we make our people to understand, support and to benefit?” he posed.
The Governor expressed his desire to work with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in a number of value chains to benefit communities.
On his part, Governor Irungu said, “The main factor driving conflict is limited natural resources in the four counties,” and appealed for more resource allocation to address the challenges.
He said he was ready to offer land in Rumuruti for the establishment of the ATI headquarters to act as a physical address where stakeholders can meet and have conversations on issues affecting the Amaya triangle.
The presence of the four governors, Irungu stated, was a demonstration of commitment to take the dialogue forward and proposed the establishment of a regional public school to enhance sustainable peace in the region.
The EU-Kenya RangER program is a consortium of CoPaD that brings together the Amaya county governments, technical partners (Northern Rangelands Trust, JKUAT, ICRAF, E4Impact Foundation, and Community Safety Initiative) with funding from the European Union in Kenya.
The program aims “to eradicate poverty through enhancing the productivity of ecosystems services provided by rangelands for food-feed-human-and wildlife security in the Amaya landscape counties of Baringo, Isiolo, Laikipia and Samburu.”
Under the Kenya RangER program, “JKUAT is spearheading knowledge production to guide and inform interventions in the Amaya triangle landscape.”
The project coordinator is Dr. Clifford Obiero, leading a team of experts – Prof. David Mburu, Prof. James Messo, Dr. Mathew Kigomo, Robai Liambila and Wycliffe Nyang’au.
“The team is leveraging on the university’s technical capacity to facilitate mapping, monitoring, evaluation, analysis, interpretation of agriculture and natural resources information for sustainable land use,” Dr. Obiero said.
By Patrick Amunavi
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