The Kenya livestock marketing council has appealed to the National to put in place measure of mitigation drought to relieve herders the pain they go through during the drought season.
Addressing the press in Garissa town today, the council’s national chairman Dubat Amey hinted that the rains that were expected late last year failed in many parts of the county and that this year’s drought may be severe.
“All indications are pointing to a severe drought this year. We must start preparing early to avoid loses of livelihood and on extreme, human lives,” Amey said.
He said open water sources such as earth dam and wells may dry up in the next 4 to 6 weeks due to the projected sunny condition that commenced last month.
Among the measures the council want the county and national government to undertake to, the menace includes the livestock off-take programme that will include but not limited to purchase of herds for slaughter when they are still in good condition and can fetch better returns.
“We don’t want to wait until the animals are emaciated to start the livestock off-take programme. This activity of purchasing animals should start early enough,” he said.
The chairman said the national government should allocate funds for these activities.
“This requires concerted efforts. Drought is a complex matter and requires a joint planning with all stakeholders and private institutions,” he noted.
Amey also appealed to the national assembly to develop and approve relevant legislation to guide on the use of national drought contingency funds to unlock funds held in this account by the national treasury.
He added that the same funds should be created at the county level for long-term drought mitigation measures.
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