Prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) for living fences and livestock feed in the drylands (Stephen MUREITHI / Willem VAN COTTHEM)

When visiting the Facebook account of the Rehabilitation of Arid Environments (RAE) Trust (http://nyasinipesa.blogspot.com/), I noticed a nice photo in which the prickly pear cactus was used as a living fence:

2004-04-13 : Enclosure with living fence in Baringo area (Kenya) : young Opuntia invaded by Prosopis juliflora shrubs (Photo Stephen Mureithi)

Stephen Mureithi sent me a series of photos and some of these are published here :

2004-04-13 : The start of a very efficient living fence : a line of prickly pear cactus paddles (Photo Stephen Mureithi)

2005-08-17 : The start of a very efficient living fence with young prickly pear cactus (Photo Stephen Mureithi)

Opuntia cactus as living fence in Kenya (Photo Stehen Mureithi)

Today I read the following comment :

“Opuntia make quite a robust fence, but needs control since it can encroach if left unattended. There is also a thornless variety of Cactus that is being popularised in Kenyan arid and semi-arid areas as it is used as livestock feed during droughts. Stephen“

MY COMMENT (Willem Van Cotthem)

Having seen in many drylands fences made with tree branches (in some cases destroyed by termites after a certain period), I am very much in favour of building living fences with the prickly pear cactus (even in the desert !). Yes, it needs some control, but outgrowing paddles can easily be pruned and those pruned paddles can easily serve for building new fences around the neighbours’ fields. Let us not forget that dry paddles can also be burned (household energy) and the ashes used as fertilizer in the field or garden.

Edible fruits of the prickly pear cactus (Photo Stepehn Mureithi)

Here is my opportunistic strategy : First set up a living fence with the prickly Opuntia.  Once that one established, set up a second living fence with the spineless variety (var. inermis), which can be used for food (paddles cooked and fruits) and for fodder.  The prickly fence will then need to be controlled only at the outer side (if necessary !).

Livestock can be kept within the Opuntia-fenced enclosure (Photo Stephen Mureithi)

Prosopis juliflora, a tree species which is very aggressively encroaching degraded areas in Baringo, is 'choking out' the Opuntia, and actually killing the plant (Photo Stephen Mureithi)