The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) in Garissa has flagged off 7,800 bags of animal feeds to the most drought-hit sub-counties in the county.County NDMA Coordinator Abdinoor Dubow said worst affected sub-counties are Lagdera, Balambala, Hulugho, Dadaab, Fafi and Garissa township and urgently needed water and food interventions as 40% of the county population are currently affected.He said low rains have put the county in a very precarious situation and currently have close to 430,000 cattle and 630,000 sheep and goats at risk as a result of the current drought.“We are doing water tracking and also supplying some food through our capacity is too limited, the situation is very dire and also getting out of our hand's reason we are seeking urgent intervention from well-wishers and donors,” said Abdinoor.Area Deputy Governor Abdi Dagane appealed for help from National Government and other agencies in a bid to mitigate ongoing drought that he said is worsening by the day.He said some 200 ECD schools have already been closed down after villagers shifted with their animals to far areas where they get water and pastures for the animals.Dagane said urgent support in terms of food supplies, animal feed, water and other sustenance is required for hundreds of villagers in the sub-counties.He said the county government has done efforts including the hiring of over ten water bowsers to supply water to different areas in the county however he said they are overwhelmed and more support is needed.He said after doing an assessment with county government officials they concluded that over 72,000 of the population in the county require food aid, this he noted is because the county has been receiving rainfall below normal for four consecutive seasons.The County Executive Committee CEC for Agriculture and Livestock Issa Yarrow said the drought has put the pastoralists from his county and those of the neighboring counties at loggerheads over pasture and water as it happened in the border of Isiolo and Garissa. The construction of big water dams to the capacity of 200,000 cubic meters per sub-county that has been proposed in the county Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) if implemented well can be long time measures in coping up with a perennial drought that has hit the county.
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