Last year, more than 5,000 livestock succumbed to drought. Thousands of residents were reported to have been adversely affected by hunger and water scarcity.
However, residents led by Kenyans for Greenworld founder Omar Weko estimate animal deaths to be more than 100,000, since the commencement of drought.
Cows were most affected compared to goats and sheep because they cannot stand high levels of ground heat.
Almost 90 per cent of water sources dried up forcing residents to trek for long distances in search of food and water in Kinango.
Some opted to use the remaining contaminated water in exhausted water sources. The water which had turned green and brown was used for livestock and domestic purposes.
To date, animal carcasses are still scattered in areas of Gandini, Silaloni, Kilibasi, Mwavumbo, Kasemeni and Maa.
Mwaenzi, however, urged the pastoral communities in Kwale to engage in livestock trading to reduce losses.
“We advise residents to always sell their animals and save the money instead of watching them die during dry weather,” he said.
The officer said the idea will help them buy animals in future when calamities are gone.
Kinango assistant county commissioner Peter Seronga Ole Masaa urged residents to devise new livelihood activities.
A huge percent of Kinango, Lunga-Lunga and Samburu populations depend on livestock keeping and farming.
Ole Masaa said due to the effects of climate change people living in drought-prone areas should not concentrate more on livestock and crop farming but seek alternatives to avoid losses.
In December 2021, the national government also launched a Sh40 million livestock offtake program in Kwale.
The program targeted 2,600 livestock from the drought-affected communities in Kinango.
The weak livestock were bought at Sh15,000 and the meat used to feed residents.
By then drought had affected 2.1 million Kenyans in the 23 arid and semi-arid counties, Kwale and Kilifi being among them.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
