Kajiado County is suffering one of its worst droughts forcing women to dig deep in finding food for their families with many having to walk several kilometres from their homes in their quest for survival.
Jackeline Parsin, a woman who lives in Ilkelunyeti village, narrated the situation in the County, saying that no rain has been sighted so far with the drought affecting her livelihood and that of her fellow villagers.
While seating next to a Community borehole, Parsin, disclosed how she has so far lost over 20 cows since the drought started its occurrence in the county. she added that she is forced to walk more than 15 kilometres in search of water.
“Men have strategically left us and moved to hilly areas to find at least a greener environment. We now have all the abilities to search for other sources of water and food as well. In the process of looking for greener pastures, men sometimes take three or more months before coming back home,” Jackeline Parssin narrated.
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The World-Wide Fund for Nature-Kenya with the support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development funded the sinking of a borehole and the solar-powered well which has come as a relief to the communities neighbouring the conservancy at large.
Veronica Shaga, a ranger employed in the conservancy, explained that the borehole serves at least one hundred fifty (150) households which include; Forty-two (42) in Ilkelunyeti, thirty (30) in Esiteti, fifty-one (51) in Nemasi and twenty-four (24) in Emirishoi.
One of her core duties since the drought started, has been to protect the borehole as well as make sure wildlife and neighbouring communities appropriately share the scarce resource.
“The wild animals such as; hyenas, monkeys, zebras, and impalas, among other wild animals, start to appear at the borehole at 5 pm East African Time for water, so I have to make sure that the community members and their livestock have gone home before that time to avoid human-wild animals conflict,” she said.
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The Horn of Africa region, including Kenya, is experiencing one of the worst droughts in a period of forty (40) years. Two consecutive years without rains have staged misery for millions of people.
At Kimana market in Kajiado County, a cow goes for a selling price between Ksh6,000 and Ksh10,000 down from as far as Ksh40,000 to Ksh50,000 in the period before the drought in the County.
Speaking at the Kimana market chairman Banati ole Keneti said that the sharp drop in prices can only be attributed to the ongoing drought in order to come up with other options or methodologies to curb the situation.
The National Drought Management Authority-NDMA noted last month that the drought occurrence deepened its roots in twenty (20) out of the twenty-three (23) Arid and Semi-Arid Land counties.
The number of people in need of Humanitarian Assistance currently stands at 4.35 million based on the 2022 food and Nutritional Security Assessment report.
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Eleven counties are the hardest hit by the drought namely; Wajir, Kajiado, Garissa, Isiolo, Samburu, Mandera, Kitui, Marsabit, Laikipia, Tana River, and Turkana. Alarming drought also giving a signal in Nine counties including Makueni, Taita Taveta, Narok, Embu, Kilifi, Kwale, Meru, Nyeri, and Tharaka Nithi are on alert for drought. The remaining three counties which include; West Pokot, Lamu, and Baringo are in the Normal drought record.
