IN PICTURES - In Kenya, elephants and Maasai threatened by intensive avocado cultivation

In Kenya, avocado cultivation has become a very lucrative business.

But this economy threatens biodiversity, especially the elephants of Amboseli Park, as well as the way of life of the Maasai communities, which largely depend on herding and tourism.

Europe 1 went there. 

REPORTAGE

The demand for lawyers is exploding in the West.

They are notably the stars of vegetarian diets, to the point that this product is now nicknamed "green gold".

The business has become so profitable that avocado plantations are emerging all over Kenya.

But the consequences of this intensive cultivation can have serious consequences.

One of them even threatens today the famous Amboseli Park, located at the foot of Kilimanjaro, a sanctuary for many elephants in danger of extinction.

The avocado farm is also endangering the Maasai community, which lives nearby.

The correspondent of Europe 1 went there. 

A very rich and threatened biodiversity

The Kimana reserve, at the heart of the Amboseli ecosystem, is home to one of the richest biodiversity on the African continent.

Early in the morning, dozens of elephants savor the grass there.

Daniel Kutata, a seasoned ranger, comes to greet a large lonely male.

"This is Michael, I recognize him by his tusks and his ears. He really likes this place. He is used to going back and forth between the Kimana reserve where we are here and the national park of Amboseli ", he says.

Michael the elephant / @Charlotte Simonart

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Daniel was born here in Maasai land.

From an early age he learned to live with these wild animals.

"Elephants are like my brothers. These animals are so important, it's because of them that we have work. So we depend on each other. Michael is 30 years old, just like me. What we have in common is this land. "

But this wild land is increasingly prized by agricultural societies.

A few months ago, the elephants saw the emergence of a 73-hectare avocado plantation: the KiliAvo farm.

Ranger Daniel Kutata

/ @Charlotte Simonart

Daniel Ole Sambuest is program coordinator at the Big Life Foundation, which fights for the preservation of the Amboseli ecosystem.

"What threatens the survival of elephants today is the loss of their habitat. That kind of pasture where they can find food, where they can live freely without human interference. KiliAvo is right there, right in the middle. of the animal corridor. "

"In this region, we have more than 2,000 elephants but Amboseli Park can only feed a hundred of them. More than a thousand elephants therefore remain outside the park on the lands of the communities where they are found. find enough to eat. If they lose this space, they will lose their source of food and water and they will die, "he warns.

The great concern of the Maassai 

The fauna is threatened, but also the way of life of the Maasai, this pastoral tribe which has lived on livestock for centuries.

Samuel Kaanki chairs ALOCA, an association that brings together the Maasai owners of the Amboseli reserves.

"After the partition of the Maasai territory, some started to sell their piece of land. And people from Nairobi bought them to develop mass agriculture there."

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"KiliAvo blocks the passage of elephants but also of our herds. It is a grazing area for our goats and our sheep. If we do agriculture here, it could wipe out us, the Maasai", says Samuel Kaanki .

The KiliAvo plantation covers 73 hectares, fully fenced and electrified that elephants sometimes come to smash to pass.

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Jeremiah Shuaka Saalash, owner of the farm / @Charlotte Simonart

1,000 liters of water to produce 1 kilo of avocados

Avocados have become very profitable since the explosion in global demand. Their exports brought in over $ 127 million to Kenya in 2020. Jeremiah Shuaka Saalash is one of the owners. He shares this land with 3 other Kenyans, inhabitants of the capital. "Here it is private land. We, the owners, have developed this land because it had been fallow for a long time. We started operations last year, we planted around 2,000 avocado plants. Everyone is looking. to make money. We're new to the avocado market, so we're trying our luck. "

Profitable but devastating products in an arid environment like this. 1000 liters of water are needed to produce a single kilo of avocados and the water is pumped into the water table. "We use groundwater. We have two boreholes and two reservoirs which allow us to water the plantation. Since I was born, there has always been water here. People say that if we continue the boreholes in the region, there will be no more water. But that's a lie, "said the owner.

Samuel Kaanki, president of ALOCA, denounces him a short-termist vision.

"If we let them continue, we will lose control. Others will come and set up agricultural farms and we will lose our livestock and our way of life as Maasai. Agriculture is not sustainable here. This region is arid. and can only be used for wildlife and livestock, ”he warns.

Tourism also affected

If the Maasai live mainly from livestock, tourism is a second essential source of income for the community and supports thousands of households.

In Amboseli Bush Camp, Dickson Parmuya Timoye has been a guide since 2013. "I am a guide for foreign tourists. Most of my family are waiters, take care of rooms, or are rangers. A lot of us work. in hotels. And that is thanks to the animals. "

Dickson Parmuya Timoye at Amboseli Bush Camp / @Charlotte Simonart

Without these landscapes and this wild fauna, threatened by the exploitations, the tourists will not return.

"Tourists come from abroad to experience bush life and see animals. They don't come to see farms. That's why the government needs to stop this agriculture here. We need the animals so badly." , he emphasizes.

With the Covid, tourism collapsed.

Farm owners use it to coax Maasai communities by promising them thousands of jobs.

Many accept, happy to find even precarious and seasonal income.

A judicial victory for the Maasai

The Maasai, however, have just won a first legal battle against the lawyers.

Justice lifted the license for the KiliAvo farm, forcing the plantation to cease operations.

But the owners of the agricultural farm have initiated other procedures and intend to resume their activity.

The KiliAvo farm / @Charlotte Simonart

If the growers succeed, it could set a precedent and open Pandora's Box.

Other investors, who have also bought land from the Maasai, would develop new plantations, which would sign the death of the Amboseli ecosystem in the coming years.

Especially since the proliferation of farms is already discouraging investors in the tourism sector.