An officer vaccinating a cow during the national wide vaccination campaign by the government. Photo: Ministry of Agriculture.
The Marsabit County Disaster and Drought Management Authority (NDMA), has said that the livestock situation in most areas of the county is currently satisfactory, with livestock in good physical condition.
According to the Authority, milk production is said to have increased more slightly than usual, and there is not much movement of livestock to distant places, as witnessed in the past.
However, according to the NDMA’s April report, there are several health challenges for livestock, as in the parts of North Horr, where there has been reports of diseases such as CCPP, and Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) in goats and sheep. In addition, some parts of Moyale, a major outbreak of CCPP and camel pox was witnessed, along with massive deaths of livestock offspring, due to diarrhea.
The report comes after, last year, President William Ruto unveiled a major vaccination plan targeting 22 million cattle against Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and 50 million sheep and goats against PPR. The program according to Ruto, was aimed to prevent animal diseases and increase production to farmers.
However, in April 29, the vaccination program was halted following shortage of funds. The halt of the vaccination effort came at a time when NDMA had raised an alarm over an outbreak of livestock diseases in several Arid and Semi-Arid Land (Asal) counties.
The program was met with widespread resistance, as many leaders, experts, and farmers openly criticized the plan and promised not to take part in it.
In terms of agriculture, the report indicated that crops such as maize, beans, pulses and others are in a good stage of growth – at the stage of producing ears, flowers and pods. However, the report further indicated that the main challenge for farmers currently is pests that destroy crops in the fields.
On resource availability, the distance to fetch water for people and livestock has decreased, indicating a positive situation. Water sources have reported high water levels, and many areas show sufficient groundwater recharge.
With the positive feedback on agriculture, earlier youths in Marsabit County had been urged to engage in agriculture as a means of self-employment, due to the lack of job opportunities, a major challenge in the country still waiting for solutions.
