State distributes animal feeds in Garissa as residents ask for more aid

The government through the National drought management authority (NDMA) and the European Union has stepped up drought mitigation measures to cater for the livestock in the drought hit areas through provision of animal pellets.

Garissa county has received 5,600 50kg -bags of pellets which will be distributed in five most affected subcounties to 2,800 households and is expected to supplement at least 14,500 livestock.

Speaking on Saturday during the flagging off of the animal feeds in Garissa, NDMA CEO Col (Rtd) Hared Adan said the government has reviewed the drought coordination process to bring up synergy and avoid duplication of services by the actors.

The coordination will now be done through the county steering group which is co-chaired by the governors and county commissioners, bringing together all relevant government institutions, NGOs and donors.

“In order to assess the impact of the response, the county steering committees have created monitoring teams which will be visiting the areas where mitigation measures are undertaken so that we know the progress,” Adan said.

“The government has up-scaled the drought mitigations by providing the animal pellets for the weak livestock that have been left behind as others were taken to other areas to look for pasture and water. Last week, the government released food relief to all the affected counties and we are also looking at the health and nutrition sectors,” he added.

Garissa county commissioner Boaz Cherutich said at least 332,000 people in the county are already affected by drought and that the number is likely to rise to over 400,000 if the rainy season is delayed.

Cherutich however said the government is doing the livestock offtake programme in the county through the Kenya Meat Commission to buy the livestock and feed the residents.

“Already the KMC and the Kenya Red Cross have bought 891 cows at a price of Sh15,000 each and 10,065 goats at Sh3,000 each. A total of Sh43 million was used on the programme to help the farmers to pay school fees for the children and afford their daily upkeep,” Cherutich said.

“We are also targeting over 25,000 livestock for another offtake phase with the same prices so that households can have money to help themselves. We are calling on the farmers to come forward and register with the NDMA,” he added.

The county commissioner assured residents that the government through the steering committee, will continue with water tracking, repair 18 broken boreholes that are strategically located and drill at least 10 new boreholes in most affected areas.

He noted that plans are also underway to reach the children who have dropped out of school due to drought and appealed to all NGOs and donors in the county to prioritise the school feeding programme so that children can be cushioned.

“I want to assure Garissa residents that the government in collaboration with the county and other non-governmental organisation will make sure that our people get timely assistance and that we reach them from all corners of this county.”

The drought has affected at least 23 counties, according to government data. In Garissa,  Kenya Red Cross says 378,000 people are staring at starvation as the number continue to increase by the day.

The drought has taken a heavy toll on the counties due to the prevailing situation of depressed rains or lack of rainfall in the past four consecutive rainy seasons.

On Monday last week, Garissa Governor Nathif Jama appealed for immediate intervention measures for the ravaging drought.

He appealed to development partners, donors and the national government to work together.

Jama said the immediate focus should be on life-saving interventions including water, food and retaining of children in schools.