The Significance and Sustainability of Charcoal Production in the ...

the lowest secondary school enrolment rates in the country (Republic of Kenya 2005: 23).
Only 25.9 percent of the Kenyan communities have the nearest primary school within one
kilometer where as 51.4 percent are located 5 or more kilometers away (KNBS 2007: v). The
first primary school adjacent to Dakatcha Woodland was started by colonial government in
1948 in Baricho, and the first one inside the woodlands in Mulunguni in 1985 (Mbuvi et al.
2011: 18-19).
Access to household amenities, particularly housing, sanitation, water and energy directly
impacts to the welfare of household members (KNBS 2007: 193). In Malindi area, more than
half of the households live in mud walled houses. More than one third of the households have
makuti (palm leaf) roof on their houses while other third have grass roof and another 25
percent corrugated iron sheets (mabati) (ibid. 205, 208). The lack of permanent water sources
in vicinity of homesteads in Dakatcha Woodland has forced people to walk kilometres to get
water (A Rocha Kenya 2009b: 1-2). During the droughts, River Sabaki is the main source of
water as the two seasonal rivers, Deki and Koromi, are dry. Kenya National Commission of
Human Rights (KNCHR) 2006 report argues that the average distance to the nearest water
point in the rural areas is 3 kilometers (KNCHR 2006: 39).
The Magarini district statistics state livestock keeping, farming, small business and casual
labour to be the main socio-economic activities in the area (Marafa Government Office 2011).
Ikiara (2003: 245) states that small-scale agriculture is the main livelihood in Dakatcha
Woodland which is approved by the people from Mulunguni village in Kasikini (Baricho)
who stated agriculture and artisanery to be their main livelihoods in the Dakatcha Baseline
Survey in January 2006 (Musila et al. 2006: 6). The main source of income for the artisans
was woodcarving, and the main income activity for the farmers was pineapple farming that
anyhow was facing difficulties due to prolonged drought of 2005, and due to transport
difficulties caused by poor murram road and involvement of many middlemen. The soils that
are mainly sandy lose fertility quickly and would be more suitable for millet and sorghum
than for pineapple and maize which require frequent fertilization (ibid. 10). Most of the farms
are too small to stand on themselves. 98 percent of the farm holdings in Kenya are less than
10 hectares in size, the average being 2.5 hectares. The medium and large scale farms account
for about 2 percent of the holdings, but cover about 54 percent of the area farmed (Diaz-
Chavez et al. 2010: 73). In Malindi area, the mean agricultural parcel size is 2.8 acres while
the total holding size is 3.6 acres, in average (KNBS 2007: 167). There is a pressing need for
sustainable and productive agricultural practices; clear land tenure; education to farmers to
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