A total of 3300 households in six sub-counties of Turkana are set to benefit from distribution of 165 Metric tonnes of livestock feeds, procured by SAPCONE organization.
County Chief Officer for Livestock and Veterinary Services John Tukei Friday flagged off vehicles ferrying the feeds to sub-counties, and later led the team in distribution of range cubes to the targeted beneficiaries in Kanamkemer village Unit.
Addressing beneficiaries at Kanamkemer village, Tukei said that supplementary feeds were meant to protect livestock from succumbing due to lack of feeds and enough vegetation by bridging the gap before regeneration of pastures/browse is realized.
The County Chief Officer revealed plans by the Pastoral Economy department to procure an additional 4000 bags (50Kgs each) of supplementary feeds to cushion pastoralists from losing livestock to drought that he described currently in Turkana as moderate.
He lauded Concern Worldwide and SAPCONE organizations for their support and assured of the department’s willingness to strengthen collaboration and partnership in different livelihood sectors.
Deputy Director of Livestock Production Ernest Anzeze expressed regret that despite Turkana County leading population of livestock in the country, it remained the most affected by recurrent drought adding that the directorate had built reserve stores for strategic prepositioning of supplementary feeds.
The distribution of range cubes is being undertaken through the USAID funded Drought Emergency Response for Food And Nutrition security (DERF) project, with technical support from Concern Worldwide and SAPCONE as the implementing agencies in Turkana County.
According to the distribution plan, Turkana Central and Loima will get 1031 and 530 bags of range cubes respectively with Turkana South getting 209 bags. Each beneficiary will get a single bag of 50Kg.
Five hundred households from Kibish have been factored in the process, 600 from Turkana North while Turkana East have been budgeted with 430 bags.
Concern Worldwide County Program Manager Ian Kinyanjui noted that the drought had worsened community vulnerability as it led to loss of livestock, while SAPCONE’s Lomaria Iria decried that climate change had disrupted the mainstay of the Turkana community and suggested for a multi-faceted approach to build resilience among the pastoralist.
By Peter Gitonga
