[A farmer with his livestock in Wajir County. The locals are expected to harvest more produce, after the latest rains.] (flickr.com)Farmers in Wajir are expected to rip big during harvest period as rains continue pounding the mostly arid county.
Wajir North sub county livestock development officer Francis Ndung’u said goats, sheep and cattle have registered remarkable improvement after a drought that his the county until late March.
“Camels have also shown significant improvement in their body condition compared to April, although they were not so much affected by the January to March dry spell,” he said in Wajir town.
His counterpart from Wajir South said there was plenty of pasture for the once weak animals.
“The pasture recovery was observed in Wajir East, Wajir North, and parts of Tarbaj,” he said although he acknowledged that some parts of the county including Aldas and Wajir West were still receiving less rainfall.
He said as a result of the rains, milk production had slightly risen in individual households.County Agriculture executive Yusuf Gedi attributed the milk production increase to availability of pasture, limited trekking of animals and improved animal body weight.
County National Disaster Management Authority coordinator Yahya Hassan said the improvement in the animals had led to higher prices.
“Due to improved livestock body conditions and high demand in the market, cattle prices improved from Sh15,000 in April to Sh15,500 in June,” Hassan said.
On the other hand, goat prices averagely rose from Sh2,569 in April to Sh2,974 in June.