Kenya lost Sh1.2 trillion at the height of drought crisis in 2011

Devolution and National Planning Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri addresses participants at the fourth General Assembly Regional Drought Resilience Platform at the Laico Regency Hotel in Nairobi on April 29, 2016. PHOTO | AGGREY MUTAMBO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • This year, Ethiopia is already facing another drought in which an estimated 500,000 people are in need of food, according to relief charity Oxfam.

  • It was revealed that Kenya does not have regular data updates on livestock owned by pastoralists.

  • The last comprehensive livestock census was conducted in 1969.

The Horn of Africa may continue to face devastating drought effects if member states do not transform policies into actions, with the Kenyan government saying its economy lost an estimated Sh1.2 trillion between 2008 and 2011.

Devolution and National Planning Secretary Mwangi Kiunjuri told a regional conference on drought that the situation could have been averted had governments invested in policies they have already developed.

“We are dealing with a complex and generational challenge, and it is all too easy to let short-term pressures distract us from critical long-term ambitions,” he told the meeting on drought resilience at the Laico Regency hotel in Nairobi on Friday.

“We must maintain our focus and energy.”

During the conference, regional governments were accused of taking too long to cooperate.

Mandera Governor Ali Roba, the chairman of the Committee of Arid and Semi-Arid Land Counties, said projects meant to benefit more than one state have been hampered by political ill-will.

“It is extremely sad, when political bureaucracies in our member states refuse to analyse the project for its true potential to transform lives across nations,” he told delegates, referring to the Daua River Basin Initiative, a project involving Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia to develop the river.

“I would like to urge our three member States to take time to analyse the true impact of this transformative dream that will have the potential of moving the region towards self-sufficiency.”

MITIGATING DROUGHT EFFECTS

The conference was organised by the regional bloc Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to review a policy document, Drought Disaster Resilience and Sustainability Initiative (IDDRIS), passed by the bloc’s member countries in 2011 at the height of another drought.

In that year, about 13 million people in the region faced starvation, more than 200,000 died and several others were displaced.

At the height of the crisis in September 2011, IGAD member countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Djibouti and Sudan met in Nairobi, where they passed a policy document they argued would end incessant drought emergencies.

Bureaucratic problems seem to affect every member country. It was revealed that Kenya does not have regular data updates on livestock owned by pastoralists, with the last comprehensive census having been conducted in 1969.

“If this is the case, then how can the country or the counties plan effectively for measures to mitigate the drought risks?

“The entry point should always be from a known position in terms of having a fairly reflective livestock numbers to determine the level risk reduction inputs required in a given region,” Mr Roba, who chairs a committee of 24 arid counties in the country, told the conference.

But this year, Ethiopia is already facing another drought in which an estimated 500,000 people are in need of food, according to relief charity Oxfam.

Earlier this month, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that aid agencies need about $105 million (Sh10.5 billion) to prevent about a million people in Somalia from starving.

“I understand that all IGAD member states have developed plans and strategies to reach our goal of ending drought emergencies. However, it is now more than four years since the 2011 summit.

“We must match these plans with actions. Delivery must be our catchword,” he told a gathering that also included IGAD Executive Secretary Mahboub Maalim and Ethiopian Minister for Livestock and Fisheries Egziabher Yohannes.

Others included representatives of IGAD member countries, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, aid agencies, various county governors from arid regions and diplomats from countries involved with climate issues.

Mr Kiunjuri elaborated on Kenya’s own policy for lessening the impact of drought that calls for investment in better infrastructure, training of people and issuing of stipends.

Last year, the government announced the Hunger Safety Net Programme, targeting Mandera, Wajir, Marsabit and Turkana counties, where as many as eight in every 10 people are poor.

The Devolution and Planning Ministry also says this programme has shielded many of those pastoralists from plunging into poverty even during times of drought.