The Kenya Red Cross has rolled out a Ksh500 million project aimed at addressing the current hunger and drought situation in at least 13 counties.
Already the project that seeks to purchase livestock from pastoralists has been rolled out in Turkana and West Pokot Counties.
Esther Chege, the Kenya Red Cross North Rift regional manager says nationally, the initiative is targeting to benefit at least 267,000 persons.
“The government is the main funder of the program which seeks to save lives and also cushion farmers against loss they are likely to encounter when livestock die as a result of drought,” said Chege.
Speaking to the press after a media sensitization forum with a section of Eldoret-based Journalists, the Kenya Red Cross North Rift manager said they are targeting to purchase at least 5,000 livestock from farmers in Turkana and West Pokot.
“In Turkana, we are targeting 45,000 beneficiaries where about 3,100 livestock will be slaughtered. There are about 13,100 beneficiaries from West Pokot where 1,310 livestock will be bought and slaughtered,” she said.
Under the initiative, the Kenya Red Cross purchases livestock from farmers affected by drought, the livestocks are slaughtered and given to those affected by hunger.
Once the drought situation improves, the Kenya Red Cross will help farmers re-stock their livestock.
The program is being implemented by the Kenya Red Cross with the funding from National Government in partnership with among others the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC).
Hunger situation in Kenya
“This is a six-week project that has already been rolled out. We have already seen a mindset change among the pastoralists in accepting the fact that their livestock can be a source of food in times of hunger,” Chege said.
Concerning the current hunger situation, the Kenya Red Cross North Rift boss said at least 120,000 households have been affected in Turkana and over 85,0000 in West Pokot.
Data from the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) shows that people affected by drought in the country increased from 3.5 million that were reported in May 2022 to 4.1 million by June 2022.
NDMA uses about Ksh667 million annually to cushion Kenyans from effects of drought.
