By Hamdi Buthul for KNA.
The Government, through the State Department for Livestock Development (SDLD) has launched Community mobilisers for the De-Risking Inclusion and Value Enhancement of Pastoral Economies (DRIVE) project, expected to benefit 375,000 pastoralists and their dependents in Wajir County.
Principal Secretary (PS) for Livestock Development, Jonathan Mueke, stated that the initiative, unveiled in partnership with ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company), Kenya Development Corporation (KDC), and the World Bank Group (WBG), seeks to bolster pastoral systems by addressing key vulnerabilities and promoting economic inclusion.
“Severe droughts, on average, affect 3-4 million people in the country, with the most affected regions being Arid and Semi-Arid Lands,” he said.
Speaking on Thursday during the launch of the community mobilisers and market linkages in Wajir County Mueke noted the significance of the livestock sector, which he described as an important pillar in Kenya’s food system and a major contributor to poverty reduction, food security, and livelihoods.
He said that the sector contributes between 10 per cent to 13 per cent of the national GDP and employs up to 50 per cent of the agricultural labour force.
“In ASAL counties such as Wajir, the sector supplies 90 per cent of employment opportunities and 95 per cent of family incomes and food security,” he explained.
The PS highlighted the challenges that the livestock sector faces, including inadequate pasture and quality feeds, scarcity of water resources, climate change, breeding management challenges, poor marketing, and socio-economic constraints.
To alleviate these challenges, he stated that the government initiated the De-Risking Inclusion and Value Enhancement of Pastoral Economies project.
“In Kenya, the project is funded through a credit facility from the World Bank and implemented by the State Department for Livestock Development in partnership with the private sector, ZEP-RE Reinsurance, and Kenya Development Corporation,” said Mueke.
Finding a constant market for your goods is a businessman’s foremost dream.
Today in Wajir County, Gov. Ahmed Abdullahi and I, together with our partners from Zep-Re re-insurance and the Kenya Development Corporation (KDC) witnessed market linkages between livestock owners and… pic.twitter.com/uZLbmjH7dk
— Hon. Jonathan Mueke, CBS (@jmueke) August 1, 2024
He revealed that the project was designed to build on the lessons learned during the implementation of the Kenya Livestock Insurance Program, which was implemented in eight ASAL counties.
Mueke said that by supplying subsidised insurance products, drought insurance will become affordable to millions of pastoralists who face immense climate change risks, leading to the loss of 2.5 million livestock in the last drought cycle.
He said the community mobilisers and the livestock production groups or cooperatives would share the livestock insurance commissions when their trained members successfully register for livestock insurance.
“This creates a livelihood for our youth and community-owned groups who participate in this program,” he said.
He further stated that through the DRIVE project, an innovative livestock producers and market actors’ engagement approach has been initiated.
Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi said the sector was facing many challenges, including climate change, diseases, resource-based conflicts, and attitudinal change leading to pastoralist dropout, especially among the youth.
Governor Abdullahi emphasized how the project will help to mitigate the effects of the harsh weather and improve their economies.
He said that during the pilot project of component one of the DRIVE in October 2022, Wajir County alone registered 17,656 beneficiaries for the index-based livestock insurance aimed at protecting pastoralists against drought risk.
“The number of livestock insured was 65,488 tropical livestock. To this end, our pastoralists paid Sh54 million with a government subsidy of Sh169 million. The bonus payment summed up to Sh94, 308,000 with claims of Sh85,788,300,” he disclosed.
The governor expressed hopes that the project would be successful based on lessons learned from the previous project implemented by the Kenya Livestock Insurance Program.
