Drought killed five per cent of livestock in Kenya, says World Bank report

By Today Financial News Reporter

Kenya lost five per cent of its livestock population to recent drought that also left 3.7 million people mainly in the arid and semi-arid areas hungry.Drought left 3.7 million people hungry

A World Bank report says weak policies both at national and regional level had contributed to the loss that can recur if mitigation measures are not put to place before the next drought.

Bank economists now say broad policy changes are needed to reduce the nation's vulnerability to future drought as climate change continues to reduce rainfall in the region.

In a recent policy paper, Gabriel Demonbynes and Jane Kiringai, senior economists at the Bank’s Nairobi office, suggest four steps the country can take to protect itself from future food shocks.

These include direct more policies and services to people in arid and semi-arid lands, such as education and healthcare, reform Kenya’s maize policies to reduce historically high prices, revise trade policies to ease the flow of grains to the market and strengthen social safety nets to assist people in need.

“The substantial drought this year was of concern to policymakers in Kenya and we have people in government expressing an interest in getting the World Bank’s view on what could be done to minimize the impact of future drought,” Demonbynes said.

“Our report was also produced to engage a broader Kenya public. Our intent here is not to tell the government what to do, but to stimulate a discussion.”

They say distortions in Kenya’s agriculture and trade policies compounded the impact of the food crisis with import duties on grains contributing to a chronic food deficit as they are only suspended on an ad hoc, informal basis during a time of crisis.

The paper says the problem is worsened by the East African Community Customs Union’s export ban on cereals, and national Kenya policies that keep food prices in the country artificially high.

“Trade reform remains a gray area, not just in Kenya but in the larger customs union,” Kiringai noted.

“Non-tariff barriers to trade are persistent and remain contentious between the member states.”

She says in areas where people depend on livestock for their subsistence, adjusting trade and food policies may not be enough even if the political will existed.

According to the paper, during the recent drought, livestock deaths rose by up to 15 percent, wiping out five percent of Kenya’s livestock population and the livelihood for thousands of families.

“The pastoral lifestyle in the Horn of Africa makes people living there particularly vulnerable to drought and the impact of climate change,” said Kiringai.

“Of the proposals made in the recent report, strengthening safety-nets is the measure most likely to move forward in the short term – including cash transfers to families in need,” Demonbynes said.