My Share of Yala

The destruction of the Yala Swamp wetlands, Kenya, by Dominion Farms Inc. of Oklahoma U.S.A.

Background:

10 leaders support Yala swamp irrigation project - Daily Nation, 1st May 2006

Ten MPs led by Mr Raila Odinga have defended the controversial Yala Swamp project saying it is a major gateway to prosperity for the people of the region.

The MPs told a British NGO, ActionAid, to keep off the irrigation project since the local people were comfortable with the activities of Dominion Farms Limited, an American firm. They also cautioned the media against what they termed as biased reports on the Sh2.5 billion project.

Mr Odinga told Dominion Farms president Calving Burgges that they will support him because he had "spent millions of shillings for the sake of our people."

He said: "We have come a long way with this project and ActionAid should keep off. Let the NGO start its project rather than spend money around criticising what other people are doing."

More:  http://allafrica.com/stories/200605010993.html

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Part One

Part Two

Part Three

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See also:

The trouble with Dominion

December 7, 2006 · Filed under News and Reviews

By Otieno Amisi

Recently, Kenya Timeswas an unwelcome guest at the trouble-ridden Yala Swamp. Photographer David Gichuru and I were roughed up and almost lynched by a mob who were allegedly revenging against recent 'negative' media reports.

We were briefly detained at the farm's security office and our camera, press cards and mobile telephones confiscated before police came to our rescue.

The swamp, being trust land, remains public property. A road has been mercifully rehabilitated across it, and there are no notices prohibiting entry or taking of photographs.

The trouble here is purely a matter of public relations gone sour. Dominion farms Limited, a rich American company, is trying to revive a noble project that the government failed to implement through the botched up Lake Basin Development Authority, thanks to corruption and bad management.

Our investigations reveal that people and organisations with vested interests are trying to scuttle the project, spreading dangerous and malicious rumours, and creating unnecessary animosity among local people.

Dominion Farms entered an agreement with Siaya and Bondo County Councils to develop Lake Kanyaboli in Alego and Yimbo areas.

Such an interface is probably the only way for a struggling economy like Kenya's; it will create jobs, inject much needed funds into the local economy, uplift living standards and aid in technology transfer. Even in its current infancy, it is already doing these in a region that is one of the poorest in the country.

Part of the trouble is that the people's expectations are too high. Work had been going on until recently when NGOs, political leaders, opinion leaders and a few members of the local population have turned against the project.

What Dominion needs to do is come clear on its operations, make public the agreements between itself and the county council, painstakingly explain to the public all possible negative side effects of the project and what measures it is putting in place to forestall or curb the inevitable hazards.

The frenzied mob that attacked us at Siaya muttered things like too few development projects in Nyanza and questioned the media's sense of patriotism.

While it is true that such bickering will definitely put off many more potential investors, it is upon Dominion to meet the people's needs halfway by investing more visibly in social amenities like schools, roads and healthcare.

Dominion must explain away the rumours and controversies surrounding its operations. Some of these are outright lies and founded on malice, while some could have scientific basis.

But it is upon the firm to dispute them. Like the allegations concerning genetically modified organisms, the use of restricted chemicals like DDT, and the threat to rare fish, bird, plant and animal species.

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Storm in Yala Swamp

December 7, 2006 · Filed under News and Reviews

The untold story of Siaya's troubled farm project

By Otieno Amisi

Since Dominion Farms Limited first set foot in the muddy waters of Yala swamp, there has never been peace in Siaya. When the firm finally received approvals from Siaya and Bondo District Development Committees and the Siaya and Bondo County Councils, things appeared to be on track. But the firm's plans to establish a state of the art farm in the Yala Swamp in early 2003 after completion and approval of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) suffered an immediate setback.

According to Joyce Opondo, the personal assistant to country director, who also doubles as the firms public relations office, Dominion caused an EIA Study Report to be prepared and completed sometime in April 2004 and the firm was granted a company a license. Dominion leased agricultural land from the Siaya and Bondo County Councils for a period of 25 years with an option of another 20 years in May 2004.

The amount of land leased at the time was 3,700 ha in the gazetted area and an additional area not specified in the agreement, but which would amount to 3,200 ha after gazettement. The company also signed a memorandum of understanding with Lake Basin Development Authority and the County Councils. In the MOU, the LBDA was to act as the technical arm of the government in the management of the project, while the county councils signed as trustees to the community land. Allegedly included in the MOU were various corporate social responsibilities towards the local communities surrounding the Yala Swamp. The firm planned to rehabilitate the dilapidated infrastructure at the Yala Swamp, to complete the stalled weir left behind by LBDA for use in irrigation of the land and to construct a new 1.8 km dyke upstream of the weir.

Other plans included rehabilitation of the 7.5 Km dyke downstream of the weir and extending it by 3-4 Km to reclaim part of the 4,600 ha classified as area II, rehabilitation of the Lake Kanyaboli Feeder canal and rehabilitation of the Lake Kanyaboli retention dyke. According to Dominion's grand plan, the firm will also establish irrigation infrastructure, improve crop production and construct a spillway from Lake Kanyaboli. It would also complete the diversion of River Hwiro and its attendant civil works, including dyke construction.

The work, divided into three phases, will be completed in ten years and the swamp would produce cereal crops like rice, maize, soybean, sunflower, fisheries, cotton, soybean, paddy rice, artemisia, onions and vegetables. There will also be an improvement of beekeeping and honey production. The main crop, however, will be irrigated rice. Opondo says among other things, the MOU signed between the company and the county councils included various social responsibilities towards the local communities of both Districts. These, according to her, include the initial clearing and ploughing of 150 acres of land within the boundaries of each of the councils for local community use, rehabilitation of at two public primary schools each in Siaya and Bondo, and rehabilitation of at least two public health facilities for each of the councils.

All these would be achieved in the next ten years, Opondo says. So why is Dominion being crucified even before the first three years are over? "We want to develop a profitable business and state of the art farm for Africa, " says Opondo. "We want to reduce poverty through provision of employment and economic development. We want to increase crop and fish production for domestic consumption and improve food security in the country as a whole. Opondo could go on and on. She says the project wants to provide sustainable livelihoods for rural households, improve socio-economic infrastructure, increase government revenue and create jobs.. Opondo claims the firm has so far completed an Environmental Impact assessment and has obtained Nema's approval. It has also rehabilitated LBDA's once dilapidated housing quarters at Ratuoro for accommodation of Dominion Staff and offices. At least 2,000 of the 5,700 acres for agricultural land marked as area one is already being rehabilitated, while the construction of the weir and diversion of Yala River to flow through the dyke is well under way. Opondo says the community's expectations are too high.

"Some people here expected the company to provide employment to almost everyone, to provide social amenities too quickly. True, we made promises at inception, but these promises will certainly take time to be fulfilled. Even now, it is already a huge strain on the company, these requirements for social amenities. The company has gone out of its way to accommodate them as much as possible, but it is a Herculean task." But the inhabitants of area are not amused. According a protest note copied to the press, they claim that when the investor was making in roads into the Yala Swamp, it was generally agreed that the local people would be given the first employment opportunity.

"The understanding was that the people of Alego, Gem and Ugenya would be give first priority. That has never been the case. The investor has been employing people from out side the district, leaving the local people to languish in abject poverty," they say. The locals are also unhappy with the projects' interference with traditional pastures and water points. "The main economic activity of the residents of Kadenge and Seje used to be cattle rearing, which was supported by the undisturbed swamp. There existed proper grazing fields and water points for the cattle. When the investor came, he promised to set aside land for grazing purposes and to dig dams, drill boreholes for water purposes. None of the above projects has been done, and our cattle are declining in number. Cows are out our only source of wealth. They further argue that the construction of a causeway across lake kanyaboli has divided the lake into two, and that the investor has gone ahead to illegally possess the lower part of the lake, which connects it to other water bodies like Lake Namboyo and Lake Victoria.

This, they say, has led to a decline in the number of fish on the side of the lake preserved for the locals. The water level on the other side of the lake has dropped. The investor, they claim, was only allowed to use the swamp, and not the lake. On socio corporate responsibility, the locals argue that the investor has not kept the promises to improve infrastructure and there nothing to write home about the much hyped concept of technology transfer to the locals. "So far, infrastructure in the schools within the catchment area of the swamp remain in pathetic condition, and nothing significant has been done in the hospital. The firm's socio-corporate responsibility report card is still reading zero," they say. Dominion has also been accused of spraying dangerous chemicals over its crops using aeroplanes, even in daylight. This, the locals argue, exposes locals, farm workers their crops and wildlife alike to serious health and environmental dangers. They further accuse Dominion of encroaching on private land, initially registered as Land parcel No. 899. This land, they claim, was properly demarcated and sub divided to the members of the community and each member has a separate parcel plot.

The investor has allegedly rendered the local people squatters in their own land, without duly compensating them, they argue. At least three local organisations and several members of parliament have since joined the fray. Patrick Ochieng, Director of Ujamaa Center and Chris Owalla of the Nyanza Social Forum say there is more than meets the eye in the Yala swamp project. "The truth is being smothered with such abandon this issue invites more questions than answers, says Owalla. At the height of the controversy, both Ujamaa and Nyanza Social Forum visited the farm with a group from Central America and spent two days with the communities of Yimbo and Alego. They concluded that Dominion must reassess its approach and involve the locals even more to harness their support. "Yala swamp is a shared wetland resource between Busia, Bondo and Siaya districts, and is by and large the property of the larger East Africa. It is also a buffer zone between the land and the lake," says Owalla.

"It is here that the lost species of Lake Victoria are still found, and therefore, it is important for the entire region's ecosystem" he says. Yala swamp covers approximately 17,500 and has always been targeted for reclamation since Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners made their first proposal in their study, Kenya Nile Basin Water Resources in 1954-6. Three phases of reclamation and development were identified, the first of which was completed after 2,300 ha. had been reclaimed.

The second phase was started soon after, but work stopped in 1970 due to lack of funds. By then only 7km of a diversion canal of the Yala River had been constructed and the Lake Kanyaboli retention dyke and a feeder canal had also been put up. The organisations argue that the Dominion project, because of its application of fertilizers, pesticides and invasive species, is bound to release harmful effluent onto the environment. They argue that the possible impact of effluent from proposed fish factories, noise and pungent smell and waste discharge from various machinery has not been properly addressed. Further, the groups charge that shrines, cultural sites and spiritual spots have already been shovelled aside to pave way for development without considering the people's interests. Though Dominion has promised to put and/or upgrade health facilities within the two districts of Bono and Siaya, the groups argue, the Environmental Impact assesment undertaken by Dominion farms so far does not address the emergent health issues associated with population growth.

The report is also silent on water-borne diseases associated with rice growing and the creation of vast water reservoirs like malaria and typhoid. Both Ujamaa and Nyanza Social Forum argue that in the long term, the effects of the projects will adversely affect food security, education standards, and the general development of the community and will compromise the people potential to achieve the Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development goals. They further claim the project will cause what they call 'unpredictable ecological hazards.' Some of these include the negative effects on the three lakes Kanyaboli, Sare and Nyamboyo. "Papyrus, the swamp's most dominant plant, will disappear, the fate of the rare sitatunga buck and the goloneck, a rare bird, will be sealed forever. The filtering effect of the swamp of pollutants from Yala River before water is discharged to the lake will be lost. The breeding and nursery grounds for fish and birds will go. Rare fish species like mbiru, fulu, kamongo, okoko, nyamami, ningu, fwani, adel and ngege which are currently found in these three lakes will all disappear." These complaints are not novel, however. As far back as the 1960s, when Dominion's precursor, the Lake Basin Development Authority set foot in the murky waters of the swamp, ecologists and local leaders were already sharply divided over the rehabilitation proposal. A Busia politician at the time, Peter Okondo, is reported to have claimed, "as an economic unit, the swamp is useless; it is a danger to the economy and it takes away land. It is a breeding ground for mosquitoes, vermin and snails. The swamp should be drained to improve the ecology of the area." Were Okondo to wake up from his grave, he would be shocked that Busia County Council has been excluded from the reclamation project handed over to Dominion since 2003. According to Bondo MP Oburu Odinga, Dominion has revolutionized agriculture in the area with new farming techniques, improving yields from 5 to 35 bags of maize per acre.

Opondo says a further 10 bags from each acre is being offered to locals at shs 500 a bag, a price far lower than the market rate. Like many other local politicians who were initially hostile to the project, Oburu has since softened his stand. The MPs recently accuses a leading non governmental organisations, ActionAid of inciting locals over 'petty environmental concerns.' NEMA it is reported to have approved the company's first environmental impact assessment and was evaluating a second one at the time we visited the farm. Owalla and Ochieng describe Dominion's assesment report as "an exact scandal. Dominion's initial license issued in 2004 permitted the company to grow rice on 3,700 ha. leased from Siaya and Bondo County Councils. All of Dominion's nine projects are lumped together in the EIA submitted to NEMA, each of which falls in the second schedule of the EMCA/58(i)4 as projects for which an independent EIA must be undertaken. The projects therefore lack the kind of detail required before implementation. For example, Dominion proposes to construct a fish processing plant, a rice mill, a feed mill, a cotton ginnery, a fuel storage and dispensing station, a dam, barrier dyke, weir and irrigation, a hydro-electric generation plant and agriculture projects for rice, maize, cotton, soya beans, sunflower artemisia and onions. All these projects need a full and independent EIA.

There is no socio-economic analysis of these activities. It is disturbing that the professionals who conducted the EIA were employees of LBDA who are themselves closely linked to Dominion. It is feared that at least 300 homesteads in Siaya and Bondo districts with a human population of more than 4,500 will be displaced by the dam/water reservoir that is being constructed by Dominion. There have also been concerns with the manner of eviction of communities from the land and alleged use of police and bribes to silence critics of the project.

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