Relief for Kajiado herders as rains pound
By KNA, April 11, 2023It is a reprieve for Kajiado livestock farmers as they begin moving the remaining herds of cattle back to their homes as the March-May long rains season continues.
The herders who relocated in search of pasture to Nakuru, Makueni, Machakos, Kitui and Taita Taveta counties are now streaming back to their homes in Kajiado albeit with reduced herds.
Though their livestock numbers have greatly reduced, the farmers are grateful for the rains and are praying that the rain continues till the pasture for their livestock is fully replenished to help them restock.
One of the livestock herders, Mzee Peter Naikuni from Isinya sub county said that he had 400 head of cattle while moving to Nakuru County in search of pasture in August last year but his herd has reduced to 200.
“I relocated to Nakuru county in August last year but I ended up losing 120 cows due to the different climatic conditions there which affected the cows. I later had to move to Kibwezi in Makueni County in January this year when the pasture depleted in Nakuru. I lost 80 cattle in Makueni due to diseases,” said Naikuni.
Buying pasture
Naikuni lamented that he has spent over Sh1 million trying to ensure his herd survives as he was forced to buy pasture for his livestock to consume in the respective counties they relocated to.
Another farmer, Mzee Sapur Leyian shared the same fate with Mzee Naikuni. Leyian owned a hundred head of cattle before the ravaging drought commenced and has now been left with 20 cows.
“I relocated to Magadi in Kajiado West in June last year. I later moved to Narok in September. By December, I shifted to Taita Taveta County all in making sure my herds survive. I have spent about Sh800,000 on the cattle now as I had to lease the parcels of land they grazed on. Due to their frail nature, I also had to use lorries and the train to transport them from Narok to Taita Taveta which was quite costly,” said Leyian.
Asked whether they plan to change their source of livelihood, the pastoralists said that the government should train them on modern ways of livestock keeping, fodder growing and build mega dams for them to have adequate water.
“We do not know any other means of sourcing for our livelihood, if the government can help us improve on what we already know concerning livestock keeping, we would appreciate it,” said the aged herdsmen.
Livestock deaths
According to the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), more than 2.6 million livestock deaths have been reported in the country as a result of the drought with losses from the deaths estimated at Sh226 billion. Elsewhere, residents of Kabuto in North Kadem Ward-Nyatike Constituency have called upon the County Government of Migori to move with speed and fill a section of the dyke that was destroyed by the Monday floods.
Three sections of the dyke were destroyed when River Kuja burst its banks leading to flash floods that destroyed property. The Monday floods destroyed about 100 homesteads at Kabuto village with those living along the dyke being the most affected.
The residents were forced to move out and seek refuge at a nearby Onger Market after their houses were flooded. The floods also rendered the Kabuto Health Care facility in accessible forcing residents to seek medical services at Onge’r town, which is five kilometers away.
Meshack Ojwang a farmer in Kabuto area said that his five-acre land of maize, cassava and sweet potatoes was swept away by the raging flash floods.
He affirmed that the dyke which was erected in 2014 by the national government has helped to reduce flooding in the area giving them hope of cultivating their lands, rearing livestock and doing other business ventures.
Beryl Achieng a resident of the area asked the government to quickly repair the three broken sections of the dyke to prevent further losses. The area experiences flooding menace in the months of April, May and June.
Over 600 families from Irehaboru area in Isiolo County need to be relocated owing to recurrent floods when Ewaso Nyiro River burst banks, the deputy County Secretary in charge of coordination of NGOs Mohamed Boru has said.
Speaking during a Special County Steering Group Boru said that people living in Irehaboru have been experiencing disasters related to floods every rainy season forcing the government to spend a lot of money on rescuing and feeding them at the expense of other priorities.