More than 650 vulnerable households in Kajiado have a reason to smile after Kenya Commercial Bank(KCB) Foundation donated food and livestock feeds to cushion them against the ravaging drought.
While addressing the members of the press after handing over the donations to the Kajiado Governor, Caroline Wanjeri from KCB Foundation said the bank has had fruitful discussions with Governor Joseph ole Lenku on how to provide long-term solutions that will enable the pastoral farmers in Kajiado to fight the next drought cycle.
She revealed that the bank is working closely with the county government to see how they can give loans to farmers to enhance adaptation and build resilience as climate change is real and inevitable.
“We plan to work with Kajiado county farmers to make them better and see how we can provide resources that help them create smart farming solutions,” said Wanjeri.
Ole Lenku appreciated the move saying that his administration will work closely with other well-wishers who will come on board to help during these heart-wrenching times.
“It is our desire and commitment to start looking for long-term solutions now because this drought may take longer than expected. We have had a discussion on how we will train our communities to learn coping skills by putting them into cooperatives and the county government giving a guarantee fund to KCB to provide funding for the farmers,” said governor Lenku.
The governor further noted that there is a need for farmers to be trained on how to plant animal fodder because the demand is high, and appealed to other well-wishers who would like to chip in to do so as the drought situation is now dire in Kajiado.
According to the Kajiado County drought risk coordination committee, over 100,000 households across Kajiado are in dire need of food support while 400,000 livestock are also in need of livestock feed.
Most families are now forced to survive on one meal per day as they watch their only source of livelihood die due to hunger.
By Diana Meneto and Sammy Rayiani
