Govt warns of severe drought in Mandera

A boy collects water from an earth pan in Banisa Sub-County on May 12, 2015, Mandera County. The government has warned of an impending drought in the county. PHOTO | MANASE OTSIALO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

The government has warned of an impending drought in Mandera.

Poor long-term rains in April-May in Mandera is likely to cause a severe drought in the coming months, according to National Drought Management Authority (NDMA).

Speaking at NDMA offices in Mandera Town, the county drought information officer Hussein Ibrahim said only a few parts of the county received near-normal rainfall while others recorded no rainfall.

“We received near-normal rains in the western and southern parts of the county that supported pasture but for now and due to massive migration of livestock in search of pasture and water the areas have dried up,” said Mr Ibrahim.

He said pastoralists were now moving with their livestock to Ethiopia's interior along River Daua and to parts of Wajir County in search of pasture and water as the situation worsened in Mandera.

“Areas of Banisa, Kotulo in Elwak and Takaba had pasture regeneration when it rained in May, but for now it’s over and herders are migrating into Ethiopia and even Somalia from parts of Mandera East, Lafey and Rhamu which received no rains,” said Mr Ibrahim.

DRIED UP

He said water pumps in the county had dried up and that the only source of water were boreholes in areas with high concentration of livestock.

He added that the county government was undertaking water trucking in more than 50 centres.

"The current situation has affected milk production with the prices shooting up and has lowered market livestock prices,” said Mr Ibrahim.

He said a satellite report referred to as Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) that states the greenness of plants would be out by next week to define the action to be taken for food supply.

Already, the Mandera County government has started food distribution targeting vulnerable households, the poor and the elderly in areas most hit by the drought.

Livestock migration in search of pasture and water has for many years been blamed for causing clan clashes in Mandera.

The recent fallout between the Garre and Degodia clans that left more than 15 people dead this month (June) was attributed to the grazing fields.