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The pastoral life system is not
a commercial system. It is a way of life that involves people moving around from
place to place,
in search of pasture and water. North Eastern kenya has some of the
driest Counties
in the country. Garissa is the capital town of
both Garissa County and North Eastern Kenya.
It is a market town, located on the Tana River
about 374 kilometers East of Nairobi.
Tana River is a vital resource for North Eastern Kenya
and plays a vital role in the livestock value chain.
Among the farm produce is livestock fodder,
which is high in demand and fetches good prices
during dry seasons. The County harbors the largest livestock market in
East and Central Africa. Animals from as far as Somalia,
Ethiopia, Isiolo and Madera converge
in this live stock market. Pastoralist are adapting within their existing
resource constraints,
as a result camels are becoming more important.
KDLDP as we know it is
a livestock value chain program
which means it addresses issues
of the producer in this case
the pastoral system we deal with. The marketing
links in between all the way to the processor and the consumer.
The Kenya Drylands Livestock Development Program
KDLDP operates in the districts of Garissa, Wajir,
Mandera, Ijara in North Eastern Kenya
and Tana River in the coast region, helping pastorilist households to
enhance household incomes
and attain food security. The program supports the equal empowerment of
men, women, children as well
as the youth. The program which is funded through the USAID
focuses on the entire livestock value chain and has five
principal themes. One -- enhancing livestock trade and marketing,
Two -- adding value to livestock products,
Three -- increasing livestock productivity and competitiveness,
Four -- supporting a more favorable policy environment for the industry and
Five -- promoting strategies for mitigating the effects of climate change.
Livestock marketing is one of the key solutions for improving pastoral
household income.
By addressing the challenges that impede the development of efficient
and vibrant marketing activities in the region,
the vulnerability of pastoral households to drought
and other climatic shocks is significantly reduced.
Financial services are a powerful tool
in terms of wealth creation and economic growth. With access to financing,
producers a able to get loans and advances to operate in local
or even export markets. COFI
Community Owned Finance Institution is a community
locally owned and managed finance institution,
developed along the SACCO model which has successfully been widely used
in Kenya. The COFI SACCO is a new initiative
of KDLDP and has been registered with the Ministry of Cooperative
Development and Marketing,
to specialize in offering sharia-compliant financial services
to pastoral communities and related small business
entrepreneurs on a permanent sustainable basis.
Most market animals are moved out live from the North Eastern Kenya by trekking
or on trucks across provincial borders. There is little value addition
in North Eastern Kenya, either by fattening of live
animals or in the local processing a animal products.
The innovation and product development activities
include training of groups and value addition of camel bones,
camel milk, skins, hides
and leather production. Ours is like a support system.
It is not us doing the job, it is us helping
the real owners of the activities.
Camels are critical source of milk in dryland areas.
The harsh climates in these areas are siutable for the hardy camel.
The scarcity of fodder in these areas spreads camels far and wide
making milk collection very challenging.
Inspite of these obstacles, the people here have found their
own ways of reaching the furthest production areas
to bring milk out to the settlements either selling it as raw milk
or processing it into milk products. Women are
able to craft beautiful jewelry out to bones
that have been thrown away in the past and meat products
are made into long-lasting packaged meats.
I came to learn about fodder through KDLDP.
I was interested because I have some animals in the farm.
After six weeks, just six weeks of planting the napier and the sudan grass,
I think it was like we are in a different world. This was all a green area.
In th Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Kenya
ASALs, limited access to livestock inputs
such as veterinary drugs, is a significant constraint that affects
livestock productivity and ultimately pastoralist household income.
By establishing expanded agrovets so that pastoralists have access to services
at a closer proximity, household incomes are directly
impacted.
One of the key constraints to sustainable livestock production
in the ASAL regions arises from poor institutional governance
and unsupportive development policies. We are not saying
all policies are wrong with good reason, but we are saying maybe a review
to make these friendly to the producer,
that trader, so that production and marketing
can move without hinderance.
For this particular season we had recieved enough rains. The strategy we are looking forward is
we can also partner with CNFA on
drought mitigation mechanism where we should
be able to stock enough feed to be able to have
these animals on board throughout the year.
The animals cannot survive in fixed sites.
The statement I want to make is --
The livestock must keep
mobile in fragile drylands as we are talking about.
Otherwise,
pastoralism would be a thing of the past.