About 1600 households in Narok East Sub County will benefit from a Sh. 6, 000 monthly cash transfer and 8, 000, 50kg bags of pellets to mitigate the effects of the ongoing drought in the area, thanks to the county government in collaboration with Food Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The newly appointed County Executive Committee Member in charge of Agriculture and Livestock Ms. Joyce Keshe said the money will be given in the months of November and December to the selected homesteads that have been severely affected by drought.
This means each household will get a total of Sh12, 000 in the two months that will be used to buy basic commodities like food and milk, while the pellets will be used to feed their livestock.
“This is one of the measures the county is taking to mitigate the ongoing drought. The National and County governments recently flagged off 400 bags of rice and 160 bags of beans to each of the sub-counties to be distributed to the vulnerable families,” she said.
Ms. Keshe said the households were mostly selected from hard-hit areas namely, Mosiro, Ntulele, Nturumeti, and Suswa areas.
At the same time, she said, the veterinary department will vaccinate the livestock in the entire county against foot and mouth disease and Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) and Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) that is common during prolonged dry spell seasons.
On the sale of livestock, the CEC said the prices are a bit fair in Narok County compared to other counties like Kajiado where many animals have died of hunger.
“We have not reached a point of selling our animals at Sh. 500 for a mature cow or Sh. 100 for a mature goat. At least a cow is selling between Sh.20, 000 and Sh30, 000.” She said adding that in normal seasons, the price of a mature cow is Sh50, 000 and a goat sells at Sh.5, 000.
The CEC spoke from her office today after she was oriented in the office by the sector directors among them Bernard Kimento, Agriculture, Dr. Gideon Geasha., Veterinary, David Naisho, Livestock, Vincent Kinyua, Fisheries and Peter Lunanu, Meteorology.
By Ann Salaton
