By; Issa Hussein
The County Government of Garissa has allocated Sh100 million to stave off starvation as severe drought ravaged the area.
Finance and Economic Planning CEC, Hon Issa Oyow said the funds were set up due to a humanitarian crisis that resulted in severe food and water shortage caused by prolonged drought.
He was speaking to representatives from the county and national governments as well as non-state donor partners during emergency drought response and resource mobilization meetings.
Hon Oyow said a coalition of partners was necessary to unveil at least Sh 300 million in response to address the gnawing crisis.
Mr Issa Oyow CEC Finance and Economic Planning, Garissa County
He said the county government was initially involved in several mitigation measures that included the drilling of boreholes, construction of water pans, supporting crop farmers, massive livestock vaccination, and disease surveillance that helped to reduce the impact of the current drought.
The CEC urged the emergency response teams to share their plan of action, budget, and areas of operation with the donor coordination department to avoid duplication of services and inefficiency.
“We need to meet on monthly basis to share drought intervention progress to harness our response efforts,” said the CEC.
He appreciated the efforts of donor partners who have taken an active role in the water, agriculture, health, and livestock sectors to respond effectively to drought intervention.
The CEC for Water and Irrigation Hon Abdi Omar said sharing information among partners was necessary and the water department was willing to engage and give technical support to all organizations undertaking water projects in the emergency response.
He said solarization of water projects was the best innovation that helped the communities in the drought-ravaged areas to cope with the situation.
He called for a paradigm shift in the future programs of organizations to have a prior budget to respond swiftly towards emergencies such as drought and floods.
Representatives from the County Department of Water, Health, Agriculture and Livestock, Save the Children, Islamic Relief, UNICEF, Pastoralist Girls Initiative, UNHCR, IUCA, RRDO among other organizations attended the meeting.
