Over 180,000 p****e face f****e in Laikipia
About 183,000 people in Laikipia county are facing starvation due to prolonged drought, says the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) county coordinator Golicha Guyo.
Speaking at the weekend, he added that Laikipia has slid to ‘alarm’ drought stage, alongside Tharaka Nithi and Tana River. Other counties in alarm stage include Isiolo, Mandera, Garissa, Turkana, Wajir, Samburu and Marsabit.
The county coordinator noted that Laikipia North and East sub-counties are the hardest hit, noting that due to the current drought, at least 7,000 herders from Laikipia, Meru and Isiolo have moved to Mount Kenya forest in search of water and pasture for their livestock.
Guyo said the government, jointly with the Kenya Red Cross Society, was addressing the crisis through distribution of relief food, cash stipends and livestock off-take programmes.
Relief food
Between July and this month, Kenya Red Cross has assisted 1,500 households in Laikipia North with maize, beans, rice, cooking oil, green grams, and salt.
The prevailing drought has been attributed to failed rains, with the number of people in dire need of relief aid being projected to increase to 4.35 million countrywide. To ease drought in arid and semi-arid lands, NDMA said the government would scale up interventions, in partnership with the United Nations.
Meanwhile, the State department of Energy Principal Secretary Gordon Kihalangwa has called for enhanced reforestation to mitigate the effects of climate change. He said tree planting is the main way of environmental conservation.
The PS, who spoke while on a tour to assess restoration efforts in South Maragoli hills forest in Vihiga Sub County, urged the residents to take advantage of the prevailing short rains to plant trees.
He discouraged planting o eucalyptus species, particularly near rivers, as they have high water uptake. — Irene Githinji
He was in the same area in June where he led other stakeholders including the Kenya Forest Service (KFS), the Community Forest Association (CFA) and the locals in planting thousands of seedlings on a portion of 150 hectares of land that has been earmarked for rehabilitation.
He discouraged the people from planting eucalyptus species particularly along the rivers as they have high water uptake that could cause the streams to dry up.
Governor Dr Wilber Ottichilo said his administration will continue collaborating with other stakeholders for the restoration of the degraded forest.
He added that the department of natural resources has planted over 70,000 seedlings in the area in the past three years and they also encourage the people to practice agroforestry.
The Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Julius Kamau, said the restoration initiatives have been successful in Tana and Sondu Miriu rivers catchment areas which now have high potential for generating hydroelectricity.
In a speech read by his deputy Charity Munyasia, he said they are carrying out rehabilitation in 22 sites across the country and so far, 1, 744 hectares have been restored.
