Kenya
» Capital: Nairobi» Population: 33.5 million
» Concern started work in: 2002
» Concern's annual budget: €2.3 million
» Concern staff: 18
» GDP per capita: US $1,140
» Infant mortality (per 1000 births): 79
» Life expectancy: 47.5
» Living with HIV&AIDS: 6.1%
» Literacy: 73.6%
» Currency: Kenyan Shilling
Effects of drought on Kenyan pastoralists
In the arid areas of Kenya, drought is becoming more common. This is having a devastating effect on the lives of the pastoralists living in these areas.
Arid and semi arid lands cover about 80% of Kenya’s total area. These areas are characterised by low rainfall and persistent drought and are the areas worst affected by climate change. People living in these parts have the highest incidences of poverty and the least access to basic services in the country.
Pastoralism – raising and herding livestock – is the biggest income provider in these arid areas. It is estimated that pastoralism provides direct employment for over 3.5 million Kenyans. Pastoralists are also the keepers of the lands inhabited by Kenya’s world-famous wildlife, areas that contribute to the tourist trade worth more than 50 billion Kenyan shillings (approximately $700m) every year. Unfortunately the pastoralists themselves retain hardly any of this income.
Drought
The number of people being affected by drought in Kenya has been steadily rising, from 16,000 people affected in 1975, to 4.4 million people affected in 1999 and 2000. Peak drought conditions usually recur about every four to five years. Now it appears that drought conditions are becoming the norm and non-drought years the exception. As a result, people do not get enough time to recover from a period of drought before the next shock occurs.
This means that many pastoralist families are losing their ability to survive. The progressive exhaustion of resources leaves people with little capacity to sustain themselves in either critical or normal times. For many this leads to destitution. Pastoralists have become increasingly reliant on wild foods and petty labour as means of survival.
Women’s situation
As women traditionally bear the responsibility to feed their family and to collect and manage water, the impact of the current crisis has arguably hit them the hardest. Oxfam reports from Wajir have suggested that the loss of donkeys has made transporting water much more difficult and time-consuming. There are also anecdotal reports that more women are being forced to seek employment away from home in order feed their family. In some cases, prostitution is the only form of employment available to them. With the men travelling further afield to look for pasture, the risk of sexual violence to the women and girls left behind increases.
