{"id":12000,"date":"2010-11-11T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-11-11T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=12000"},"modified":"2010-11-11T07:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-11-11T12:00:00","slug":"invasive-species-turned-economic-opportunity-in-kenya","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/invasive-species-turned-economic-opportunity-in-kenya\/","title":{"rendered":"Invasive Species Turned Economic Opportunity in Kenya"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Water hyacinth on Lake Victoria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Water hyacinth is an extremely devastating invasive species in Kenya, choking the largest body of fresh water in Africa, Lake Victoria, but some proactive, inventive folks in the region have found ways to turn this destructive water weed into a useful resource. Via Danielle Nierenberg of our sister site EatDrinkBetter<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cWater hyacinth is actually a really great raw material for so many things,\u201d says Shana. \u201cWe are helping communities in Kenya harvest it and use it to create tools to use in the home and to sell. We are using it to make fuel briquettes for cook fires and turning it into a very effective fertilizer.\u201d Village Volunteers is also helping local entrepreneurs produce chairs, baskets, and other pieces of furniture that can be made by weaving together the tough stems and leaves of the hyacinths, as well as biodegradable sanitary napkins.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hyacinth invasion is an overwhelming problem,\u201d says Shana, \u201cbut it is becoming a business. And by using only locally available materials and labor\u2014oxen help to harvest the hyacinth, for example\u2014the end result is largely self-sustaining.\u201d And while the villages on the shore of the lake can\u2019t eliminate the hyacinth all together, they are clearing it away from the immediate shores, helping to improve the quality of their immediate water supply, as well as habitats for the fish populations they depend on.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more on this story here:\u00a0Turning an Invasive Species into a Livelihood<\/a><\/p>\n

This post is a\u00a0quickie<\/a><\/em>, a way for us to share more news with quickly covering good stories on other sites.<\/em><\/p>\n

Connect with me on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0StumbleUpon<\/a>,\u00a0Twitter<\/a>, or\u00a0Care2<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo Credit:\u00a0sarah_mccans via flickr<\/a> (CC license)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Water hyacinth is an extremely devastating invasive species in Kenya, choking the largest body of fresh water in Africa, Lake Victoria, but some proactive, inventive folks in the region have found ways to turn this destructive water weed into a useful resource. Via Danielle Nierenberg of our sister site EatDrinkBetter: \u201cWater hyacinth is actually a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,10,47],"tags":[1369,18896,18911,19862,37676,37762],"spectra_custom_meta":{"dsq_thread_id":["518149966"],"_oembed_f14913bdfe741d3a3b7c287fcf68d7a8":["