Kajiado: Kajiado County through its Department of Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change has launched a community sensitization campaign to eradicate ipomoea, an invasive weed that has choked grazing fields.

According to Kenya News Agency, the County Executive Committee Member for Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change, Michael Semera, emphasized the need to address the threat posed by the weed. Declared a county disaster last year by Kajiado Governor Joseph Ole Lenku, ipomoea has occupied large areas of grazing fields, leading to significant losses for livestock farmers as it prevents the growth of pasture.

Speaking at the campaign launch in Matapato South, Semera stressed the urgency of tackling the spread of ipomoea, which suppresses the growth of grass and other vegetation, rendering large tracts of land unproductive and unsuitable for livestock grazing. The weed has widely spread in Matapato North, Matapato South, and Imaroro in Kajiado East, causing livestock keepers to seek pasture elsewhere despite local rainfall.

Semera highlighted that uprooting the weed, particularly during the rainy season, is crucial. He urged farmers to remove ipomoea from their lands to protect the environment and safeguard livelihoods. The department has also sensitized ten community groups, each consisting of a hundred people, to disseminate this message further within their communities.

Under the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action Program funded by the World Bank, the department is reintroducing high-quality pasture species to reverse the damage caused by the weed, locally known as Oltiameleteti. As part of the campaign, the County Government has set aside 30 acres in Imaroro and Matapato as demonstration sites. Community members, with support from technical officers, will lead efforts to clear ipomoea and restore the land.

During the sensitization events, technical officers demonstrated how to identify, uproot, and safely dispose of the invasive plant. Grass seeds were distributed to community groups to aid in regenerating cleared land with pasture, supporting both livestock and soil health. The weed, first detected in Kenya during the extreme El Ni±o rains of 1997, has spread to an estimated 3 million acres in Kajiado alone.