Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai on Tuesday launched the distribution of supplementary livestock feeds, veterinary vaccines, drugs, and equipment to support pastoralist communities across Turkana County.
The initiative includes 2,870 bags of supplementary livestock feeds, benefiting an equal number of vulnerable households whose livestock have been affected by drought.
The distribution targets pastoralists in Turkana East, Turkana South, Turkana West, Loima, Turkana Central, and Turkana North.
Governor Lomorukai emphasized that the initiative aims to save lives, protect pastoral livelihoods, and support recovery efforts following prolonged drought.
The feeds are specifically allocated to core breeding stock of sheep and goats to ensure sustainability.
“The goals of supplementary livestock feeding are to maintain livestock body condition, increase feed availability for targeted households, improve household nutrition through milk availability, especially for children, reduce food insecurity, and enhance purchasing power through improved incomes from livestock sales,” he explained.
In addition to the livestock feeds, the Governor also flagged off a Sh25 million consignment of veterinary vaccines, drugs, and equipment.
These supplies will be stored in strategic cold-chain facilities across the county and used for emergency vaccination, deworming, treatment, and disease control.
Governor Lomorukai announced plans to allocate additional funds for livestock feeds in preparation for the forecasted drought.
He directed the Department of Agriculture and Livestock Development to coordinate distribution at the sub-county level to prevent pilferage and ensure the intended beneficiaries receive the support.
The distribution also prioritises households in Todonyang, which were recently affected by deadly attacks by suspected Ethiopian militia.
Chief Officer for Livestock Development, Dr. Gilchrist Lokoel, reported that the county has successfully vaccinated, treated, and dewormed over 2.4 million livestock in the past two years.
He also revealed that the county plans to procure additional livestock feeds worth Sh25 million to cushion pastoralists from the anticipated drought.
He further appealed for more funding to meet the high demand from pastoralists, who constitute over 70 per cent of Turkana’s population.
County Executive for Agriculture, Livestock Development, and Fisheries, James Wang’iros, reiterated the county’s commitment to achieving food security. He informed the Governor of an ongoing assessment of irrigation schemes and a re-evaluation of strategies to maximise agricultural production.
“Rather than spreading limited funds across multiple small projects, we will prioritise mega investments in irrigation schemes to ensure sustainable impact,” Wang’iros stated.
To further strengthen food security, Chief Officer for Agriculture, Marian Lotieng’, announced that county tractors have been deployed to support land preparation ahead of the long rains.
Meanwhile, Chief Officer for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Evans Lomodei, revealed that the county is mobilising boats from other regions to support recovery efforts in Todonyang, ensuring fishing communities can rebuild their livelihoods.
The launch was attended by Chief of Staff Peter Loyapan, along with directors and senior officials, including Dr. Benson Long’or (Director, Veterinary Services), Bobby Ekadon (Director, Livestock Production), Richard Lokoyan (Director, Land Reclamation), Dr. Erenius Nakadio (Deputy Director, Veterinary Services) and Emmanuel Ewar (Assistant Director, Administration).
By Peter Gitonga
