Download The Diocesan Harvest Appeal for 2015/16 MLN (Maize Lethal

The Diocesan Harvest Appeal for 2015/16
MLN (Maize Lethal Necrosis)
Maize is the primary staple crop in Kenya and in 2011 a new
disease (MLN) severely damaged crops in some areas of
Nakuru and Kericho dioceses. It has since spread to other
areas and in Nyahururu there has been a severe outbreak.
We shall be helping subsistence farmers with new seeds.
Bishop Stephen Kabora, of the Diocese of Nyahururu in Kenya, has told us
that MLN struck his region in 2014. The combination of drought and MLN
wiped out the maize harvest and pushed many subsistence farmers and their
families deeper into poverty. The Diocese of Nyahururu is doing its best to
help provide food and seeds.
MLN is a viral disease affecting maize. It arrived in East Africa in 2011.
MLN is highly infectious. It attacks the leaves and plants are stunted, producing little
or no seed. The disease is spread by tiny insects carried on the wind and once a
field has been infected it must not be replanted with maize for a period of years. For
small subsistence farmers, MLN represents the difference between survival and
starvation.
MLN was first identified in the
USA in 1976. MLN is caused by
the double infection of maize
plants with Maize chlorotic mottle
virus (MCMV) and any of the
cereal viruses in the Potyviridae
group, such as Sugarcane
mosaic virus (SCMV). These two
viruses
rapidly
produce
a
synergistic reaction that seriously
damages or kills infected plants.
(CIMMYT-Nairobi, Kenya)
The Diocesan Harvest Appeal for 2015/16
Ebola and Hunger
Ebola is still a threat in West Africa, but a
major consequence of the outbreak last year
has been food shortages caused by people
who did not grow enough. We shall support
our partners with seeds and feeding
programmes.
Mothers’ Union Ebola Task Force team (Diocese of Bo, Sierra Leone)
taking food and medical supplies to a quarantined family.
Stimulating agriculture and encouraging farmers through micro-financing
schemes is one way in which the Church is playing its part in rebuilding
communities, local economies and preventing hunger, which are recovering
from the Ebola outbreak.
Ebola came as Sierra Leone and Liberia were struggling to recover from civil wars.
Frightened farmers stopped growing crops, market sellers could not buy supplies,
government restricted movement and gatherings which affected markets,
businesses, schools and other activities such as church attendance. Civil society has
been eroded and it will take years to recover.
The Church is well placed to help, reaching into even in the most remote rural areas.
Parishes and Mothers’ Union branches are amongst those at the forefront of
providing food to families in quarantine and offering pastoral care to the bereaved.
They have also been organising Ebola prevention training and helping those who
recovered from Ebola and now face stigmatization and exclusion.
The deserted market place in
Moyamba during the 3 days shut
down in the whole country.
EBOLA continued
Because in its early stages Ebola can be confused with Malaria or Yellow Fever,
many health care workers unwittingly caught the disease when treating patients.
The severe impact on the region’s fragile health care caused an increase in deaths
from preventable diseases have risen. In the recent outbreak around 28,000
contracted Ebola mainly in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone and nearly 12,000
people have died.
EBOLA is a highly contagious virus spread through physical contact with the body fluids of
an infected person or animal. It is not an airborne infectious disease. Symptoms manifest
themselves two or three weeks after contracting the virus, which attacks internal organs.
Early symptoms are similar to those of malaria or ‘flu: fever, muscle pains and severe
headache. The patient soon develops a rash and experiences vomiting and diarrhoea.
Kidney and liver functions begin to suffer and internal and external bleeding occurs. There
is, as yet, no known cure and the death rate at the height of the current outbreak reached
90%.
Ebola is not a new disease. It first came to people’s notice in 1976 when an
outbreak affected Nzara in South Sudan, Sudan and parts of the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Its name was taken from the Ebola River in the DRC which was
at the geographical centre of the outbreak. It is thought that the virus originally
entered the human population through the hunting, butchering and eating of “Bush
meat” (monkeys, fruit bats, deer, etc).
The Diocesan Harvest Appeal for 2015/16
Lack of Money & Women’s Action
Often it only takes a few pounds to set up a
market stall and start a small business. Microfinancing initiatives are a great way to help. The
Mothers’ Union is also active in such projects.
The Mothers’ Union (MU) in the Diocese of Kericho, Kenya, is one of the main
organisations fighting poverty in remote rural communities in southern Kenya
and drawing women into local economic life. Emmy Ronoh, the diocesan MU
worker, has been instrumental in introducing Table Banking as a means of
empowering women.
MU members bring an affordable sum of money each month. The money is tabled
(presented to the treasurer) who sets aside some for the church – in some
communities this can be up to 50% of the money given by members – and the rest is
given to one of the members in turn.
The women use the money as they wish. Some pay for children’s schooling or
medical treatment; others may start a small business. Pooling resources and
making it available to each in turn is transforming small rural communities and
making women active agents of change.
The MU has been promoting
Assets Based Community
Development (ABCD) for
some years – Table Banking
is an outstanding example of
this approach.
Emmy
encourages
local
MU
branches to meet monthly for
prayer and Bible study,
fellowship
and
pastoral
support.
This creates the
Christian environment that
makes Table Banking unique
among micro-credit schemes.
The Diocesan Harvest Appeal for 2015/16
Drought and Floods
In Kenya especially the weather
can be unpredictable. There has
been a drought in Northern parts
of Nakuru and Nyahururu
dioceses – especially Baragoi and
Maralal – while in Kericho severe
floods have washed away homes
and crops. Through our partner
churches we can give vital aid
both to meet emergencies and to
rebuild homes and farms.
Loss of vegetation due to prolonged drought
(Narok County, Kenya)
The past year has been tough for those living in Baringo, Maralal and Narok,
which are in our Link dioceses of Nakuru, Nyahururu and Kericho respectively.
A prolonged drought hit all three areas. Flash floods then devastated parts of
Kericho Diocese.
Development activities can
be impaired by inter-tribal
conflict, low levels of
education and isolation
caused
by
inadequate
infrastructure. The Church,
however, is involved in
dialogue aimed at peace
building and reconciliation
as well as the distribution of
food aid.
Victims of tribal violence in Baringo
receive aid from church members.
Drought and Floods continued
Bishop Jackson Ole Sapit of Kericho wrote recently:
Horticultural crops did not produce and this drastically increased the cost of
food. On the other hand, the large commercial wheat and maize farms dried up
causing massive losses among the farmers. Many farmers also lost herds of
cattle to drought as they moved around with their animals in search for water
and pasture which was not available. Some families lost more than fifty cows to
drought. The effects of drought were strongly felt by the business people whose
stock remained stagnant since January.
Bishop Joseph Muchai of Nakuru wrote:
Baringo County experiences persistent droughts that result in chronic food
shortages…Currently the county is undergoing a disarmament process as
recent incidents of cattle rustling have led to the loss of livelihoods and innocent
lives.
The flood damage to the centre of Narok – buildings were swept away.
Narok, which is the gateway to the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, experienced severe
flooding in April. After months of drought flash floods swept through Narok after two
dams burst. Properties were damaged, vehicles washed away, herds drowned and
more than thirty people were reported missing.
The Anglican Church was at the heart of the rescue and relief efforts and
Chichester’s Diocesan Overseas Council responded by sending a grant of £1,000 to
the Diocese of Kericho to help victims.