Isiolo County pastoralists in the drought stricken Chari and Oldonyiro Wards are set to receive animal feed support from the USAID funded Nawiri Emergency Response Program to help them sustain their livelihoods.
Nawiri in liaison with the county government and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), who are the implementing partners are targeting more than 1,000 pastoralists whose animals have been severely hit by the ongoing drought in the region.
The animal feeds include 837 bags of range cubes rich in vitamin- and mineral-packed feeds intended to be fed to livestock to supplement their diet and provide them with needed nutrients to be distributed per household, while other beneficiaries receive two bales of hay per household from the available 1,800 bales.
Two generators were also flagged off with equipment meant to repair and maintain only six existing boreholes, which have already been identified to be rehabilitated to ensure a continuous flow of water for livestock and domestic usage in the severely affected areas.
The water sector which is the most strained in terms of supply-demand has greatly been affected by the severe drought in the county, and therefore creating scarcity of the precious commodity for both animal and domestic use.
Dr. Mohammed Kuti, Governor Isiolo County during the official launch of the program promised to partner with more NGOs in initiating more sustainable long term projects that will transform and permanently solve water crisis in the drought prone areas in the region.
Thomas Musyoki, Head of Nawiri Isiolo County noted that more similar projects will be rolled out in the area and promised to commit resources to support the communities. The 5 year 8billion Nawiri programme is in Isiolo and Marsabit counties.
The project comes in when the region is facing the perennial shortage of animal pasture and water for livestock caused by the annual drought season, which is set to affect Isiolo and its neighbouring counties for the next two months.
By Parklea Ivor
