Waste bodaboda tyres find use among cattle keepers in Nyanza region

In a bid to save the environment, residents of Nyanza have resorted to using waste motorcycle tyres as ‘pegs’ in their cow pens.

The waste tyres are a common fixture in most homes.

You will find them (tyres) halfway dug into the ground, firmly, leaving the other half jutting out of the ground.

The cows are then tethered onto the protruding part.

Residents say that the traditional cow pen that was made of pegs cut from trees, locally known as ‘loch’ are slowly being replaced by this little ‘invention’.

The recent string of droughts has destroyed trees and other forms of vegetation in the region, forcing residents to come up with something new, something less harmful to the environment.

“Our community wants to save and protect the few remaining trees after the recent drought nearly wiped out the vegetation,” says Daniel Okinyi from Sori, in Migori County.

Most farmers along lake Victoria are embracing the new trend, and this is fueled by the fact that nearly every homestead has a motorbike.

According to the residents, disposing of the rubber tyres has been a major environmental headache.

This is because there are no existing recycling centres that understand how to properly dispose worn out and used tyres.

“In the past, you would find people either burning the tyres, or just throwing them at the backyard, in the gardens, but now livestock keepers want every available tyre,” says Okinyi.

Reports indicate that thousands of tonnes of waste tyres have been burnt dumped or re-used by methods that pollute the air, soils, and groundwater.

Some of the residents said that handling used motorcycle tyres presented a fresh problem.

Many had grown accustomed to recycling the bigger car tyres; often using them to make traditional sandals, the famous akala.

The residents are now using the waste tyres as ornaments to decorate their compounds, and it's beautiful.