Food insecurity among herders despite rains

Food security among Kenyan livestock farming communities remains precarious despite the improved availability of water and pasture following the recent rainfall, a famine early warning agency has warned. The rains ended a spell of prolonged drought in which many thousands of animals died. However, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net) said in its June food security update on Kenya: "The recent abnormally high rates of livestock mortality suggest that in the absence of a combination of emergency and mid- to long-term multi-sectoral [aid] interventions, the viability of the pastoral livelihood remains in jeopardy." Improving pasture and water availability would bring little relief to many households whose herds were wiped out by the drought. "Pastoral food security is being supported by relief food rather than household production, underlining the fragile food security situation of pastoralists," said FEWS Net. Full livelihood recovery among pastoralists will require a substantial restocking of herds, a process likely to take several good seasons - an increasingly rare event in this drought-prone environment. The March to May long rains were largely sufficient for most pastoral areas of northern, eastern and southern Kenya, but there were localised exceptions of low precipitation, according to FEWS Net. Areas that received poor rainfall included parts of Marsabit, Turkana, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa and Samburu districts. Pasture remained scarce particularly in Mandera, Wajir, Turkana districts and parts of Garissa District, the areas worst affected by the drought. Milk availability had increased only slightly despite the improved environmental conditions. This was due to the small number of animals lactating following the livestock mortalities and slow recovery of the herds. As a result of milk shortages, child malnutrition remained exceptionally high in Moyale, Samburu, Turkana, Mandera and Marsabit districts. District Global Acute Malnutrition rates ranged from 18 percent in Moyale to 30 percent in Marsabit, well above the World Health Organization’s emergency threshold of 15 percent. Poor nutrition was compounded by a rise in diarrhoeal illness in Mandera, Marsabit, Garissa, Wajir, Isiolo and Samburu districts, and an outbreak of measles in Wajir and Mandera districts, FEWS Net said. In contrast, national crop prospects were favourable with a good harvest anticipated during the current season. The improved supply of food commodities coming to market from July would stabilise prices and ease the pressure on the purchasing power of drought-affected households, FEWS Net said, adding that rainfall was expected to continue through August to early September in the key growing areas of the Rift Valley and Western provinces, from where nearly 60 percent of Kenya's crop output is produced.