A section of leaders and environmentalists from Garissa County are calling on the National Government to commit more funds to ASAL counties since they bore the biggest brunt of climate change.
Addressing the press in Garissa town Sunday, the vice chairman of the Kenya livestock marketing council, Dubat Ali Amey, said despite climate change affecting the entire country, the North Eastern is the hardest hit.
Dubat said local communities have had varied first-hand experiences occasioned by the undesirable effects of climate change, which have taken a heavy toll on the people.
He said this was evident with the piles of animal carcasses strewn all over the roads, where livestock farmers continue to lose their herd in huge numbers due to the perennial drought.
“Climate change is real and has negatively impacted our people. It is no longer tenable to continue keeping large numbers of livestock. For this reason, the government must come up with a marshal plan to cushion livestock farmers against the vagaries of the weather that continue to recur,” Dubat said.
On his part, Abdikadir Aden, an environmental crusader, said that he was looking forward to seeing the government put more effort towards nomadic communities, noting that out of the 47 counties, 23 are classified as ASAL.
“We want to see more action on the ground, where people’s lives are impacted positively, so that they can feel that indeed they have a government that not only listens but also cares for them,” Aden said.
“Otherwise, if we don’t take action to address the challenges, the impact will spill over to other counties,” he added.
By Jacob Songok
