Sisal in arid regions

By Simon Munyeki

Inhibitors of Arid and semiarid regions for centuries have been struggling with hostile climatic conditions without knowing which is the right crop to cultivate in their farms due to unpredictable weather patterns which have forced many of them to turn to pastoralism and nomadic lifestyle moving from one place to another in search of pastures and water for their livestock.

sisal planted to mark a boundary

Although sisal has been cultivated in different parts of the world, many of the residents of kenya`s remote regions have not realized the potential and huge benefits they can yield in sisal production in their farms in which they only plant sisal on the boundaries to demarcate their land which also attracts wild animals such as elephants in places such as laikipia where elephants population is high due to many conservancies within the county.

Sisal farming in kenya is mainly done in TAITA TAVETA county where its produced in large scale by different companies such as Rea Vipingo.  sisal is mainly cultivated for its fibre which is delived from its fleshy leaves which varies in size depending on which variety that was preferred by the farmer, the fibre is used to make different products such as  marts, baskets, ropes and dart boards which are sold both locally and internationally.Sisal fibre is also used in textile industry to strengthen the wool in textile production in order to produce high quality and tough textile which is used to produce canvas.

Basket made of sisal fibre

The lower-grade fibre is processed by the paper industry because of its high content of cellulose and hemicelluloses. The medium-grade fibre is used in the cordage industry for making ropes, baler and binder twine. Ropes and twines are widely employed for marine, agricultural, and general industrial use. The higher-grade fibre after treatment is converted into yarns and used by the carpet industry.

Although sisal has not been planted In  large scale  laikipia, farmers have been selling their sisal to middle men who have been buying the little sisal that is found within the county motivating residence of laikipia to make use of the land that has been lying idle for many years.