Livestock herders in the drought-affected county of Garissa are now calling on both the national and county governments to intervene and help them source for better markets for their dying herds.
As a resort, the livestock herders have decided to sell their herds to avoid total losses since the region has turned unproductive owing to the ongoing drought.
Even as this emerges, livestock markets are a beehive of activities with traders from far flung areas trolling into the county to buy livestock at low prices.
One of traders, Abshir Mohammed Abdi who spoke to this writer intimated that there are many willing sellers who are ready to dispose their livestock at cheap prices but willing buyers are few since most of them have exploited the situation to fleece the pastoral households.
In the local Garissa markets, a three-year-old heifer that ordinarily goes at Sh20,000 now sells at only Sh10,000, while a camel that costs between Sh40,000 to Sh30,000 is now retailing at as low as Sh13,000.
Garissa County is among the 23 counties across the country that have been severely affected by the ongoing drought as issued by the National Drought Management Authority.