The programme targets 500 cattle. [Photo/kenyamarkets.org]
The national government through the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) has begun buying livestock from farmers in Tana River County in the second phase of the Livestock off-take Programme.
The Sh10 million programme targets 500 cattle at a cost of Sh16,000 each.
Several parts of the country were hit by drought for the better part of this year, which saw pastoralists lose hundreds of their animals due to lack of pasture.
As a result the government started buying livestock from locals to protect them from further losses.
4,000 heads of cattle were purchased from farmers in the first phase of the Livestock Off-take Programme last year.
The ADC buys malnourished cattle from locals before fattening and selling them to butcheries.
Locals are however appealing to the government to extend the off take programme to goats and sheep to ensure even the farmers who do not keep cattle benefit.
Garsen MP Ali Wario is urging the government to come up with a plan where herders can be allowed to graze around the Galana Irrigation Scheme until the effects of the drought subside.