Jusper Machogu (Substack | Twitter) is a farmer and graduate agricultural engineer living and working in Kisii, south-western Kenya. He was formerly a Greenpeace member and he wanted to improve the environment. As he explored the climate issue, he came across the work of Greenpeace’s disillusioned founder, Dr Patrick Moore (also previously interviewed by UK Column), including his book Fake Invisible Catastrophes and Threats of Doom.
He also read the work of Alex Epstein, such as The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, the assertively-titled Fossil Fuels Improve the Planet and Fossil Future: Why Global Human Flourishing Requires More Oil, Coal, and Natural Gas—Not Less. This research led to a total shift in Machogu’s views on environmental politics.
Machogu describes his life, work and the environment in Kenya, and explains his farming products and how he makes a living in the village and land that he loves. He explains the advantages of mechanisation and the use of fertiliser in farming in a manner that comes from a personal experience that few in the West possess. His conclusion is that fossil fuels are what Africa needs to develop, to become more productive and to feed its people and the wider world. He sees a huge potential if only modern technology and modern energy sources were more abundantly available.
He then explains the current energy use and consumption in Kenya and nearby countries more widely, and discusses other technological advances that have helped Africa: technologies like the mobile phone and the motorcycle. He explains with great clarity the limitations brought by limited energy use, contrasting his village with life in the Western democracies.
In Machogu's part of Kenya, no-one cares about climate change: the locals are focused on feeding their families. He finds the UN narrative, which concentrates on famines and droughts, sustainable development goals and climate change, to not be in the interest of Africa and the Africans. Likewise, he sees the roles of the UN, IMF, World Bank and WEF as not having the interests of Kenyans at heart. Rather, he perceives these supranational bodies as conduits along which pressure is applied to national governments to comply with the climate orthodoxy.
David Scott and Jusper Machogu go on to discuss banking and investment in today's Kenya, including the farming of cut flowers as a cash export crop to Europe. Machogu also highlights the effect of cold (despite the equatorial location) on both the food supply and human population of his country.
Machogu summarises his position by stating that fossil fuels for Africa, and the development, productivity and riches they bring, are what are needed. He sees no benefit in the increased barriers preventing African development that are the only visible effect of the current climate narrative.