THE ORIGINS OF THE EARTH AND MAN – Oasis Ecosystem | Project to combat desertification and for management of water resources – Lake Turkana, Loiyangalani, Marsabit County, North Kenya

by Lorenzo Vallerini

DIDApress – University of Florence, Italy

© 2018

English text and Italian Summary

263 pp., col.ill., cm 24×27  € 30,00

ISBN: 978-88-3338-009-4   EAN: 9788833380094

The origins of the Earth and man  is a special book: it collects travel experiences and, as in all great journeys, experiences of human relationships, knowledge and exchange with different cultures, but it is also the account of scientific research and passion for research, of projects to “do” things, to try to help others, those who have had less from life and from their starting conditions, to try to provide a method of intervention that can also be used in other areas of the planet affected by the advancing desertification, a consequence of climate change and a bad use of natural resources.

The Lake Turkana, almost 300 km long, is the region of the origins of man; all the men who populate the Earth today started from here. If in those distant times there was an environment rich in resources and generally humid, today the entire region and the Lake Turkana basin are characterized by arid and semi-arid lands on 100% of their territory. The ongoing process of desertification is leading to a reduction in the soil’s capacity to produce resources and services on which the populations who live here depend. In this place, more than any other, food, water, territory represent the elements on which the life of these people is based and on which it depends. Preserving and improving the state of the environment is not only a crucial factor for their survival and the preservation of their identity, but also to have the possibility of avoiding in the near future a forced emigration to other areas of the region and/or to other geographical areas.

The Oasis Ecosystem project aims to create a “revegetation” prototype aimed at expanding the ecosystem of the Loiyangalani Oasis, increasing food productivity and providing new “forage” areas for domestic animals that are one of the main causes/effects of soil degradation. To achieve all this, it was also essential to increase the available water resources. In fact, although in Loiyangalani (about 390 hectares) there is a significant presence of water coming from Mount Kulal, the Oasis area is also arid and with sterile soils, very hot and crossed by strong winds, with a large mass of water, that of Lake Turkana, apparently available, but, due to the strong alkalinity of its waters, not usable for drinking or for irrigation purposes.

The Oasis Ecosystem project was characterized by a research “on the field” developed on a scientific basis using, as far as possible, traditional local knowledge, but also innovative “simple” and “renewable” technologies, for five pilot projects:

  1. access to water and the creation of new distribution points;
  2. the reconstruction of the plant ecosystem of the Oasis, in association with fruit trees and horticulture, to produce food;
  3. the cultivation of areas intended for fodder production;
  4. the creation of the new Nursery and a composting plant with a Monitoring and Documentation Centre (M&C Centre);
  5. the activation and development of information, awareness-raising and professional training activities.

The five projects as a whole are the starting point and a practical demonstration of feasibility for the authorities and local populations, perhaps expandable or repeatable in other areas.

The goal is to “close the circle”, that is, to give to the men who live in these lands the opportunity to remain there while maintaining their cultural identities, and, once again in these places that “… give a fairly precise idea of how the world must have been immediately after the creation of heaven and earth …” (Alberto Moravia, “La ragazza di Baragoi”, in Alberto Moravia ‘Lettere dal Sahara”, Bompiani Editore, March 2007, Milan), man is at the center of change, for better or for worse. At the beginning, when he started from here to expand into the world, today, perhaps to give an indication, a road map to face a different future that will have to necessarily evolve towards situations of greater balance if we want this future to still be in the hands of men.

The hope that comes from this experience is that the three “S”  of the Turkana area “a land of stones, snakes and scorpions” can be transformed back into “Loiyangalani”, or, as the village elders remind us and translate it, “the place of trees”.

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