Char Tito, a 16-year-old, is busy hammering nails into wood at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School in Turkana County, northern Kenya. Under the blazing sun, she is crafting a traditional chair outside one of the classroom blocks.
The wood she is using comes from a less favored source in the community: the Prosopis juliflora, commonly known as mathenge. This species, native to Central and South America, is often disliked by locals in Turkana County due to its invasive nature and sharp thorns, which can injure both people and livestock. Residents claim that areas overrun by mathenge see rivers and dams dry up quickly, as it outcompetes other plants.
Despite these drawbacks, the community has long relied on mathenge as a convenient source of firewood and charcoal. Recently, however, young people, including girls, have begun to repurpose the mathenge tree to create furniture, particularly chairs.
"Plastic chairs can be quite costly, which is why I began crafting chairs from mathenge earlier this month," explains Tito, who sought refuge in Kakuma Refugee Camp after fleeing the war in South Sudan in 2017.
"I learned about this in school. Mathenge is plentiful here, and we've been using it for firewood for years. I had no idea it could be transformed into chairs."
Income-Generating Scheme
The land in Kakuma is largely barren, with limited vegetation and poor soil that cannot support agriculture. Turkana County experiences very little rainfall, sometimes going up to five years without any precipitation. The community is primarily made up of acacia trees and mathenge, both of which remain green despite the high temperatures and lack of water.
Government statistics show that mathenge trees are spreading at a rate of 15 percent each year and have currently taken over one million acres of land in Kenya. Some people use mathenge trees to create fences around their homes and to build shelters for livestock. The local community relies on livestock production as well as the trade of charcoal and firewood for their livelihoods. Dennis Mutiso, a deputy director at the Girl Child Network (GCN), a grassroots NGO that supports Tito and hundreds of other refugees, states that the project is providing learners with green skills.
“It contributes to national climate initiatives and aligns with the school curriculum,” he explains.
Mutiso mentions that trained youth collaborate with their untrained peers to share their skills with the community.
Tito, who lives with her mother and three siblings, is currently making chairs for her household but plans to create some for sale to her neighbors.
“This is a skill I can use for a lifetime. I look forward to earning a living through carpentry,” she says with a smile.
Introduced in the 1970s in East Africa, Mathenge was aimed at restoring degraded dry lands. Its drought-resistant nature and deep roots make it suitable for afforestation in regions like Turkana. While Mathenge has helped restore the area and reduce wind erosion in some places, it has also posed challenges for local communities.
Despite the extensive harvesting of this tree for firewood and charcoal, the mathenge regenerates quickly, unlike other trees such as acacia. Lewis Obam, a conservator with the Forestry Commission in Turkana County, notes that the community holds a negative view of the mathenge. “Communities have lost their goats after they consumed the tree, and its thorns have posed problems for the community,” he explains.
Obam describes the mathenge as an aggressive colonizer that spreads rapidly. “It was introduced to combat desertification, and the intention was positive,” he adds. He also highlights that its hardwood is excellent for making chairs. “There are more opportunities with the mathenge than we realized. It has the second hardest wood in this region, and we should maximize its use.”
Protecting the Environment
To restore tree populations in this semi-arid region, Tito and her classmates are actively planting trees both at school and at home. She has planted five trees at her residence and several more at school, although the extreme heat, with temperatures reaching up to 47 degrees Celsius, poses a significant challenge due to limited water availability.
“I take pride in contributing to efforts that combat climate change,” she shares.
At times, the girls bring water from home to school to help ensure the survival of the trees. Trees play a crucial role in mitigating climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
As part of its National Tree Growing Restoration campaign, launched in December 2022, Kenya aims to plant at least 15 billion trees by 2032.
Magdalene Ngimoe, another student at Kakuma Arid Zone Secondary School, reports that she has planted two trees at her home in Kiwandege village, Kakuma.
"I dislike Mathenge because it complicates our lives. However, I'm glad to use it to make chairs. I'm also planting trees at school to provide shade for my fellow students," says 16-year-old Ngimoe, the eldest of seven siblings in Kenya. Her family relies on selling meat, and she hopes to earn some income from her new skills.
Edwin Chabari, a manager at Kakuma Refugee Camp under the Department of Refugee Services, notes that Mathenge has been a problem not just in the camp but also in the surrounding area. "Local youths can earn money from a tree we once considered a nuisance," he explains.
With support from Education Above All, a global education foundation based in Qatar, GCN has planted 896,000 trees in Kakuma and Dadaab, aiming to reach a total of 2.4 million trees by next year.
Ngimoe's favorite subject is science, and she aspires to become a lawyer who advocates for vulnerable children.
Kakuma Refugee Camp, established in 1992, is home to 304,000 individuals from over 10 countries, including South Sudan, Burundi, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Joseph Ochura, the sub-county director in Turkana County for the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), notes that the tree-planting initiative has significantly improved the learning environment.
“When you visit many of the supported schools, you’ll notice large trees providing ample shade. During breaks, both students and teachers gather there, and sometimes lessons are even conducted in that shaded area,” Ochura explains.
He adds that out of the 15 billion trees the government aims to plant, the TSC has been allocated 200 million trees.
Some schools operate their own tree nurseries. Once the seedlings are ready, they are planted on school grounds and distributed to the community. “Many of the girls are leading the way in tree planting, which is fantastic. We encourage them to continue this work beyond school and into the community,” says Ochura. Tito, who loves English and aspires to become a doctor, feels proud to be involved in the green jobs emerging in Kakuma. “As a girl, I take pride in my contributions to environmental protection,” she shares.
