Turkana promoting pasture farming to reduce conflict and save livestock during drought

Residents of Turkana North move with their livestock in search of pastures [Bakari Angela, Standard]

Turkana County government has rolled out pasture farming at areas practising agro-pastoralism to address resource-based conflicts and provide a reliable source of pasture during drought.

County Pastoral Economy Executive Philip Aemun said that the farmers are also being trained on how to make hay for storage and utilisation when the traditional grazing fields have dried up.

Mr Aemun said there is 20-hectares of land at Simailele village that has been set aside through the Drought Resilience and Sustainable Livelihoods Programme (DRSLP) for commercial production of pasture that will also generate income for the pastoralists.

“Pasture production is a worthwhile venture for pastoralists at areas frequently experiencing rainfall and areas with irrigation infrastructure along River Turkwel and River Kerio for their home consumption and the surplus sold for income,” the county official said.

He said that Nariemeto Pasture Production Group at Songot village in Turkana West Sub County has already embraced the venture and the county government, as well as partners, are buying from the members.

Mr Aemun rallied farmers to consider the venture, noting that the changing climatic conditions were increasingly becoming a threat and therefore pasture production was a reliable way to diversify livelihoods.

He said that drought has always exposed thousands of farmers to vulnerability over lack of pasture.

He listed Kalemngorok, Kangirega, Namakat, Nabeye villages as other villages that can support pasture farming.

The villages he said had 100 households that benefited from the distribution of free goats procured by Rural Livelihoods Adaptation to Climate Change component under DRSLP to boost their resilience due to adverse effects of climate change.