We, the people of Garissa, Mandera and Wajir counties are urgently seeking the intervention of the national government and concerned international organisations into the drought crisis in our region.

We welcome the move by the former president H.E Uhuru Kenyatta by declaring drought to be a national disaster in Kenya but we are yet to fully mitigate the effects of the drought crisis. Millions of people continue to risk starvation as this drought persists in our counties.

“I have lost so much," said Loudi Lokoriyen, a goat-herder searching for water outside the town of Lodwar. "Close to three hundred (goats) have died, 50 camels have died, and they still continue to die."

So far over the last few years many institutions and stakeholders have  supported the livestock industry and on many occasions they usually come together at the District level in their respective District Development Committees (DDC) and District Steering Groups (DSGs) to share their plans; but there has not been a forum at the provincial level where stakeholders who operate in one or more districts can meet and interact. A provincial forum would therefore be most appropriate for a ‘one stop shop’ for sharing experiences/best practices and plans with an aim of building teamwork in our approach to development.

Some of the challenges we face in drought mitigation are:

• Uncoordinated planning and implementation of activities, 
• Short term interventions, 
• Mix-up and interference between emergency interventions and development initiatives, 
• Uninformed stakeholders including frontline workers and pastoralists, 
• Misunderstood pastoralists, 
• Inefficient utilization of resources, 
• Duplication of efforts 

At this point we need to start the implementation at the county level of the numerous proposals that have been made.

We are grateful to H.E President Ruto for flagging off relief food earlier this week on 3rd October. This will definitely assist to feed many of our people in the interim period but we are asking for more sustainable measures.

Recommendations 

1. Provide lifesaving aid to address the immediate hunger crisis in these drought hotspots.
2. Guarantee adequate drought financing to help impacted people adapt, prepare for and cope with the next disaster.
3. Compensate livestock owners who are most impacted for what they have already lost in the drought.
4. Reduce future climate impacts by submitting realistic drought plans that reduce the impact of drought.

Regards,

Alikheyr A. Mohamed

Development and Humanitarian expert.