Author: Wasal Marylyne

As the world unites to mark the International Day of Peace. This year’s theme, “Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day”, honors the everyday architects of peace. Ordinary people who, through persistence and vision, have laid the foundations for stability and reconciliation.  Peace is indeed not only negotiated in conference halls but cultivated in homes, schools, places of worship, and community spaces.

As the 81^st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA81) convenes in New York, global leaders are calling for ceasefires and an end to wars that continue to devastate lives. The ringing of the Peace Bell at UN Headquarters, a symbol cast from coins donated by children across the world, is a call to conscience. Its chime reminds us of the human cost of conflict and that peace is a collective responsibility.

Beyond the diplomatic corridors, the true heartbeat of peace lies at the grassroots. Communities have continued to demonstrate that peace is inseparable from justice, inclusion, and environmental stewardship.

In Baringo and West Pokot, we witnessed women stepping forward as mediators, bridging divides between warring communities and restoring peaceful coexistence. Through prayer gatherings, dialogue circles, and friendship, they are transforming stories once gulfed by loss and pain into platforms for hope and trust building. 

At Lwanda Beach and Muhuru Bay, women’s groups continue to tackle resource-based conflicts by promoting adoption of alternative sources of livelihood, prayer meetings and dialogues across national and ethnic lines. These initiatives have not only helped reduce tensions but also create pathways for economic resilience, ensuring that families can thrive without resorting to competition over scarce resources.

We also witnessed the pivotal role of the faith community in calling for peace and reconciliation, guiding conversations that blend spiritual conviction with community-led solutions. By invoking shared values of compassion and dignity, they have helped communities navigate the twin challenges of conflict and resource scarcity. In places where mistrust once prevailed, faith leaders are opening doors to dialogue, reminding us that peace is rooted in moral courage and collective responsibility.

Youth from Kajiado are also stepping in as architects of peace. Their zeal and determination to actively shape peacebuilding efforts within their communities is both inspiring and transformative, especially in a society where the voices of elders have traditionally carried more weight than those of young people. Our engagements with the Kajiado youth at the close of 2025 reminded us that sustainable peace demands the involvement of all community members, both young and old, women and men.

So, as we commemorate International Peace Day 2026, let it not just be a passing cloud but an investment and support for grassroots champions.

As the Peace Bell tolls in New York, let its echoes reach Mukutani, Lwanda Beach, Muhuru Bay, Kajiado, Sudan, the Republic of Congo, Palestine and countless other places where ordinary people are building extraordinary legacies of peace and reconciliation. 

Long before maize became Kenya’s dominant staple, communities thrived on a nutritious diverse food base consisting of sorghum, finger millet, pearl millet, cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, yams, and leafy greens such as spider plant (saga), jute mallow (mrenda), amaranth (terere) and many more. These crops were not only nutritionally dense but also drought-adapted and biodiversity-friendly, forming resilient food systems that sustained households for generations.

A community such as the Luo, who settled along the Lake Victoria basin, built their food culture on three pillars: fishing, farming, and livestock keeping. Sorghum, millet and cassava were prized for their drought tolerance, while the lake offered an extraordinary diversity of fish species, complemented by indigenous vegetables like osuga, apoth, mito, boo, and dek. Meals such as fermented milk, locally produced ghee, kuon/nyuka anang’a (ugali/porridge made from millet, cassava fermented milk, and locally produced ghee), aliya (sun-dried beef), and omena (sardines) were not just food but symbols of nutrition, resilience, preservation, and cultural identity.

Yet colonial and modern agricultural practices steadily eroded this heritage. Maize displaced cassava, sorghum, and millet, narrowing diets and weakening agricultural resilience. The abandonment of indigenous seeds and crops ushered in varieties ill-suited to local climatic conditions, resulting in reduced yields.

These introduced seeds often demanded intensive chemical inputs, accelerating soil degradation and destroying vital organisms essential for soil health. What had once been everyday, nutritious staples were stigmatized as “food for the poor” and, over time, relegated to the status of rare delicacies. Alongside this decline, traditional knowledge of preparation methods began to fade, severing communities from the cultural practices that had sustained them for generations.

These changes not only transformed agricultural practices in the crop sector but also had far-reaching impacts on fisheries. The introduction of Nile perch into Lake Victoria in the 1950s dramatically altered the lake’s ecosystem, contributing to the decline of many native fish species and a significant reduction in fish diversity and stocks.

These challenges have been compounded by climate change, particularly rising temperatures that have warmed the lake’s waters, affecting fish breeding and survival. At the same time, increasing human activities on and around the lake, including pollution, habitat degradation, and the introduction of invasive species and other foreign materials, have further eroded biodiversity and contributed to fish mortality. Together, these pressures have undermined the ecological health of Lake Victoria and the livelihoods of communities that depend on its fisheries.

Against this backdrop, we , in partnership with the Kawino Women and Youth Group, convened a Food and Seed Symposium in Nyatike, Migori County. Supported by the Agroecology Fund under the broader Seeds for Change project, the gathering offered a powerful case for the revival of indigenous food systems.

The symposium brought together diverse stakeholders: community members, many rediscovering traditional foods after decades; representatives from the County Government of Migori, the Departments of Agriculture, Gender, and Trade, committing to integrate the knowledge into policies and programs; Schools, represented by both teachers and children, signaling to passing of this knowledge on to the next generation; and the Kakoth Council of Elders ensuring that inter-generational learning was preserved and honored.

The Kawino Women and Youth Group prepared a rich array of traditional dishes such as nyuka,kuon anang’a, chak mopuo, dek, osuga, mtoo, boo, apoth, omena, mbuta, omuogo, rabuon, mor alenya,  mor ng’iende and more. Participants watched the preparation, learned the cultural significance, and tasted meals that had nourished the generations before.

Elders shared wisdom on indigenous seeds and farming methods, while youth engaged in intergenerational knowledge transfer, ensuring these practices live on. Experts shared how this aligns with agroecology and why the community should embrace agroecology as a means towards food and nutrition security.

The experience extended beyond the kitchen to the field, where participants visited a community demonstration farm managed by the Kawino Women and Youth Group. They learned how Black Soldier Fly farming contributes to the production of organic fertilizer and high-protein animal feed, observed composting techniques, and explored mixed-cropping systems that improve soil health, conserve moisture, and enhance resilience in the dry conditions of Nyatike.

The visit showcased practical, locally driven solutions that communities can adopt to improve productivity while protecting natural resources.

The festival concluded with a symbolic fruit tree-planting exercise, reaffirming the community’s commitment to environmental restoration, biodiversity conservation, and building resilient food systems for future generations.

This festival was a celebration of indigenous foods and a call to action. Restoring drought resilient crops and indigenous vegetables on land, and reviving diversity in Lake Victoria’s fisheries while embracing agroecology, as essential for climate resilience.

Reconnecting the Nyatike community with this heritage was a step to building food systems that are not only sustainable but also deeply rooted in identity, and survival.

Climate change is a threat multiplier in crisis contexts, amplifying pressures that undermine peace and security. Climate variabilities like droughts, floods together with depreciating natural resources presenting itself in various ways including land degradation and shrinking biodiversity, continue to strain food systems and livelihoods while increasing risk of conflict.

In counties already affected by conflict, such climate variabilities and depreciating natural resources are deepening poverty, weakening institutions and making recovery difficult, creating a vicious cycle where climate stress and insecurity reinforce each other. 

In such circumstances, women face greater risks because they rely more on climate-sensitive livelihoods for their daily gender roles while having limited access to and control of resources and decision-making spaces. As climate pressures and insecurity disrupt traditional livelihoods, men migrate in search of income or safety and survival, leaving behind women to assume expanded economic and social responsibilities, but without corresponding rights or protection. 

 

The collapse of livelihoods and disruption family and community structures due to displacements often expose women to a greater risk of domestic and sexual violence, early marriage and other forms of exploitation. Yet, these same shifts are opening spaces for women’s leadership, as they step forward to restore degraded ecosystems, rebuild livelihoods and strengthen social cohesion for more resilient communities. 

In Baringo County, recurrent droughts, prolonged dry spells, and shrinking grazing lands have fueled resource-based tensions between the two pastoralist communities of Ilchamus and Pokot and have led to loss of lives and livelihood. As this happens, women from the Ilchamus and Pokot have chosen reconciliation over retaliation. For two months, they fasted and prayed together, each secretly interceding for another woman across community lines.

This commitment culminated in a symbolic gifting ceremony, where prayer partners were revealed and gifts such as mattresses, shukas, flasks were exchanged as tokens of solidarity, carrying far more weight than their material value. This ritual, rooted in faith and trust, has nurtured friendships among the women and inspired men and local leaders to resist cycles of violence. Africa CSID appreciates the opportunity to be part of this process.

On the shores of Lake Victoria, women in fishing communities face a different but equally devastating challenge. Through dialogues facilitated by Africa CSID, women shared firsthand accounts of the complex and often devastating impacts of dwindling fish stocks and resource-based conflicts on their lives and livelihoods. Yet, beyond these challenges, the dialogues also revealed the remarkable agency of women, who continue to emerge as leaders and peace-builders within their communities.

At Lwanda Beach in Mbita, declining fish stocks and encroachment disputes have escalated into violent clashes between Lwanda Beach community and their neighbors from Uyoma, leaving injuries, loss of life, and deep scars on livelihoods. Amid this turmoil, women are stepping forward as peace brokers, working towards organizing dialogues and advocating for reconciliation in the face of pressures that have fueled mental health struggles and a troubling rise in gender-based violence.

In Muhuru Bay, Migori County, the tri-border with Uganda and Tanzania has become a flashpoint with fishermen enduring harassment from patrol officers, confiscation of their catch, and denial of access to fishing grounds. Many return home empty-handed, unable to provide for their families forcing women to bear the brunt of this economic strain while others lose their lives to the violence resulting from disputed water borders and dwindling fish stocks. The women such as those from Kogunda Ladies Group continue to mobilize a call for stronger government action and bilateral cooperation.

What binds these stories across the three counties is not just the challenges faced, but most importantly, the indispensable role women play in transforming conflict into coexistence. From prayer cycles in Baringo to peace dialogues at Lwanda Beach and reconciliation advocacy in Muhuru Bay, women emerge not as passive victims of climate insecurity but as architects of resilience, shaping reconciliation, fostering trust, and building community-led pathways toward lasting peace.