Drought in Kenya: In numbers

The Kenya Meteorological Department has forecast that rains will begin in different parts of the country from mid-March, with expected rainfall likely to be slightly above the long-term average amounts for the long rains season, which falls in March, April and May.

While this may come as good news to farmers, the Director of the Climate Predictions and Applications Centre at the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Dr Guleid Artan, ICPAC, said in a news release that the long rains do not mean immediate recovery from drought, seeing as the last three seasons have recorded below average rainfall.

This implies that recovery from drought will take a few more months and the effects of the prolonged drought will continue to be felt, even after the rains begin.

 

 

Kenyan drought facts and figures:

 

September 2021 - Government declares drought a national disaster

 

2 - number of rainy seasons

3 - number of consecutive rainy seasons that have failed

23 - arid and semi-arid (ASAL) counties

12 counties - most affected by drought: Marsabit, Turkana, Samburu, Baringo, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa, Isiolo, Tana River, parts of Kitui, Meru and Laikipia

 

 

2.8 million - number of people in food crisis in December 2021

3.1 million -  people in need food assistance in February 2022

730,000 - number of women of reproductive age facing drought crisis

Photo by Ian Macharia on Unsplash

656,000 - children aged between 6-59 months acutely malnourished and in need of treatment in February 2022

100,000 - pregnant and lactating mothers acutely malnourished in February 2022

 

1.4 million - livestock that have died after the failure of 3 rain seasons

58 to 85kg - amount of maize sale whose sale could buy one goat in Turkana in January 2022

 

Sh2 billion - amount allocated by government for relief food distribution, water and livestock offtake

 

 

Sources: National Drought Management Authority; Economic Survey 2021; Farming Early Warning System (FEWS), ICPAC Compiled by: Felista Wangari

 

This feature is supported by a grant from WAN-IFRA’s Women in News Social Impact Reporting Initiative on Climate Change

How goat farming lifted us out of poverty

 How a goat farming project helped lift women groups in Kitui Central out of poverty. BY FELISTA WANGARI

When the 2019 national census was conducted, nearly half of the residents of Kitui were found to be living in poverty. A just over a decade prior, the women of Kwa Ukungu and Kwa Nginda say that was them.

At Kalumu Malombe’s homestead in Kwa Ukungu, Kambua John recalls being so poor that drinking milk tea was a fantasy.

“We had nothing. We were chosen from the poor of the poor … goat farming has transformed our lives,” says Ms John.

Their fortunes began to change in 2005, when the local assistant chief asked them to form two groups of 25 women, who would then be trained on dairy goat farming and be given a starter stock of three galla she-goats each. Each group was also given an exotic Toggenburg buck for cross-breeding with the local drought-resilient she-goats that could produce hybrid offspring to provide milk, meat and a livelihood.

The two groups were part of the larger Kitui Mwingi Breeders Association, which was supported by Farm Afrika, an organisation that seeks to boost the harvests and incomes of smallholder farmers, to lift them out of poverty.

The goats had to be cross-bred and bear kids twice before the required hybrid was achieved. The first two rounds of offspring were sold at Sh8,000 per goat, but once the required mix was achieved, the goats fetched higher prices with the third crossbred offspring fetching Sh13,000 a goat. The local goats in contrast, would sell for Sh3,000 on average, depending on the season. The pure Toggenburg breeds were sold at Sh28,000 per goat, but they couldn’t withstand the climatic conditions of Kitui Central, and died off. The hybrids were better adapted to the climate.

Margaret remembers selling three goats at Sh15,000 each and getting Sh45,000 as a result.

“I had never handled that kind of money. I couldn’t believe it was my money. I used it to clear a school fees balance of Sh15,000, bought chairs for my house and two large sufurias, so that I wouldn’t have to borrow whenever I had guests,” she says, adding that goat farming has helped them climb out of poverty.

Making changes

With their improved income, the women made changes to their chama (informal savings group), and turned it into a table banking group instead. With table banking, they now have access to credit to buy farm inputs like fertiliser and feed like napier grass, if the rains fail and there is insufficient feed on their farms.

“Before, we didn’t have access to money, so we would contribute Sh50 and give the money to one person in rotation. We didn’t achieve much with that. Now a member can get a Sh20,000 loan for school fees,” says Ms Mwende.

Rebecca Kasikali, the chairlady of the Kwa Nginda group, adds that improved income reduced their financial dependency.

“We used to wait for our husbands to bring money home. If they got nothing, we would sleep hungry,” says Ms Kasikali, adding that goat farming taught them how to make a living through selling milk and meat.

The group’s buck also earned them money, as those who brought their goats would pay Sh50 for crossbreeding services. Currently, those with bucks charge Sh200 for the services.

The proceeds from goat farming have also seen some of the women start other small businesses in addition to farming. Ms Mwende and Ms John, run a grocery shop and a cafe at the local shopping centre, respectively.

“We used to struggle to find income as casual labourers on other people’s farms; but now we are business women and we can afford to employ people to help on our farms. The goats uplifted us,” says Ms Mwende.

Goat farming in Kitui in numbers

-        87% of rural household income in Kitui is generated from agriculture, which is the main economic activity

-        82% of households involved in farming keep livestock

-        69% of farmers rear goats, keeping an average of 5 goats per household

This feature is supported by a grant from WAN-IFRA’s Women in News Social Impact Reporting Initiative on Climate Change

Climate smart farming saves farmers in Makueni from loss, but water remains a challenge

Women adapt to changing climate using climate-smart techniques, but water remains a thorn in the flesh. BY FELISTA WANGARI

 

Before Mary Mathule got together with her neighbours to form the Kikumini Muvao Farmers Self-Help Group in Makueni, in 2012, life was difficult.

“Getting money for food was a struggle and we often ate one unbalanced meal a day. It was either ugali or plain maize with black tea, in the evenings,” she recalls.

When she first moved to Muvao location as a newly-wed in 2003, she remembers it raining sufficiently twice a year. Over the years, however, the rainfall patterns changed and crop failure became the norm. Ms Mathule and her neighbours had to put more effort to reap a harvest.

While the climate hasn’t improved, their farming techniques have, since they formed the 17-member group and started practising climate-smart agriculture. Their livelihoods have also improved.

“We used to lose most of our crop as residue on the farm because of insufficient rain. Harvesting was a dream. We decided to do proper farming. Now, I have enough food and I am in agribusiness,” says Ms Mathule, who currently has cowpeas, beans and maize crop from improved drought-resistant seed on her farm. She also raises day-old chicks for sale and keeps dairy cattle for milk.

 

In addition to their individual farming, the Muvao farmer’s group also farm as a group on a one-and-a-quarter acre they bought together. They occasionally lease three acres too, whenever there is sufficient rain. They also rear chicken and run a general shop.

“This past season we didn’t lease farmland because we heard on the radio that there wouldn’t be sufficient rain, so we decided not to waste our money,” says Hellen, one of the members of the group.

 Ms Mathule started rearing poultry in 2015 with 10 improved chicken and 20 local (kienyeji) chicken.

 “I started noticing the change in 2018 and by 2019, I became known as a serious chicken farmer,” says Ms Mathule, who adds that since they started practising climate smart agriculture, the survival of their crops has improved, especially in the reality of insufficient rains.

 

“In the group we learn about selecting drought-resilient seeds, fighting pests,  using fertiliser and manure and early planting and staying up to date with information on the weather as ways to adapt to the changed climate conditions,” says Hellen.

“When the climate changes, you also change as a farmer. That’s what smart agriculture is about,” says Ms Mathule.

 With their village savings and loans association (VSLA), they have access to credit to fund their individual and group farming, as well as other needs like school fees. Last year, Ms Mathule used a loan and her dividends from the VSLA to add chicks to her poultry project.  Selling their poultry as a group also helps them fetch better prices than they would as individuals.

“The main challenge for farmers is that when you put money in the farm, you are not assured that you will get a return. Perhaps what you harvest will be just enough to cover costs. That’s why we must practise climate smart farming,” says Ms Mathule.

 

Some of the techniques the farmers are using are planting resilient seeds suitable for drylands, mulching, planting cover crops and ripping with tractors instead of ploughing, as part of conservation agriculture. They also practice crop rotation.

“When people complain of no harvest, you will not lack something to eat if you practise this type of agriculture. For pest control, monitor the crops early and spray that section if you find pests, to save the crop from infestation,” says Ms Mathule.

Even as they adapt to the changed weather patterns, Ms Mathule says that water remains a major challenge and suggests that digging farm ponds would be helpful as people can use that water for kitchen gardens to promote food sufficiency.

 

“We went to Tharaka Nithi and found it was even drier, but people had farm ponds which provided water for farming. When I came back home, I dug one, but within two weeks after the rain, the water had dried up, so I was advised to get a dam liner, but the cost of getting the dam done properly at Sh80,000 is rather high.”

For now, when the rains fail, the farmers rely on the community borehole about 10 kilometres away, or the community pond that is nearer home. They also buy water from neighbours with ponds.

In the neighbouring Sinai village, where Elizabeth Mutisya leads a 42-member group of farmers, the members bought two hens and a cock for each person, through table banking, to produce eggs for their consumption.

Ms Mutisya has learnt to plant drought-resilient cereals like cow peas and green grams, which  withstand the changing weather better. Like the other women farmers, she says that water is still a challenge for most farmers.

“What people need are dams so that if it rains they can collect water for vegetables because it has become harder to rely on rain-fed agriculture,” says Ms Mutisya, who had a farm pond dug just before the previous rain season in October.

 

This feature is supported by a grant from WAN-IFRA’s Women in News Social Impact Reporting Initiative on Climate Change

 

 

 

How seeds are saving women in Gilgil from hunger

In the face of poor harvests from frequent drought, women in Gilgil turn to indigenous knowledge on seed saving for food security, and it comes with reduction of intimate partner violence, reports FELISTA WANGARI

 

 For nearly a decade, Beatrice Wangui often stared at the rocky ground surrounding her new home in Langalanga, and reminisced upon the good old days in Molo, where farmland was in plenty, soil was fertile and bumper harvests of maize, beans and potatoes were routine.

Ms Wangui and her family were forced out of their home in Molo in December 2007, following the violence that erupted in light of the contested presidential election result. They initially sought refuge in Gilgil, before settling in Langalanga in 2012. There, the smallholder farmer family figured that farming would not be part of their new life.

“We bought the land we could find (and afford) at the time. We didn't have the luxury of being choosy, but the land was so rocky, I didn’t think anything could grow out of it,” says Ms Wangui, who is now a vegetable farmer in Langalanga, Nakuru County.

Back then Ms Wangui got by as a casual labourer on other people’s farms, until she learnt about dryland farming techniques from a local community group, which was being trained by Seed Savers Network, a Nakuru-based organisation that trains small-holder farmers to improve the productivity of their farms for food security.

“I learnt that crops could grow anywhere, even on rocky ground, and learnt that I didn’t have to worry about seeds,” she says

Beatrice Wangui, a vegetable farmer in Langa Langa in Nakuru County, never thought that the rocky ground in her home could produce food for her household, let alone surplus for sale. Photo | Seed Savers Network

With rains comes conflict

According to the Nakuru Climate Risk Profile, nine in 10 smallholder farmers growing crops like beans, garden peas and Irish potatoes use local or recycled seed. Moreover, like in other parts of the country, farmers in Nakuru rely on rain-fed agriculture, which is a challenge as rains are erratic and unpredictable.

 These two factors would come into play for women, on whose shoulders the burden of providing food is placed. During the rainy season, conflict, and in turn gender-based violence, would increase in homes.

“The onset of the rainy season comes with conflict (and violence) when women ask their husbands for money to buy seeds. You can’t plant when others are planting if your husband doesn’t have money or hasn’t given you money,” says Ms Wangui.

 According to Julia Kamau, the gender and agroecology officer at Seed Savers Network, for many of the women, land, which is owned by their husbands, is their only source of livelihood.

 “It can take even a month just to get Sh1,000 which may not be enough for a packet of seeds and other needs,” says Ms Kamau.

John Wainaina at his home in Gilgil, where he hosts the community seed bank for members of the 20 -member Kikopey Seed Banking Self-help Group, 16 0f whom are women. Photo | Felista Wangari 

 

Mitigation strategy

To get around the lack of seeds and money to buy them, women would seek work on other people’s farms to raise money for seeds, but that would affect their ability to use early planting as a climate adaptation strategy.

 “The rainy season is projected to start in the third and fourth week of March, but that was preceded by drought. This means people don’t have money because they didn’t harvest in the previous season. If it rains now and you don’t have seeds, you have to first work for those with money, so that you can get money to buy seeds. By the time you get to working on your own farm, the rain has subsided. When you have seeds, that is no longer a challenge,” says John Wainaina, who leads the Kikopey Seed Saving Self-Help Group in Gilgil.

Seed saving has been a game changer.

 

“We have seen transformation with the women when they are able to save seeds. They say that there are no more fights and quarrels because they are not asking anyone for money, and they have food. From this position, they have a voice at the table, respect and some independence. Giving a woman her own means of getting food doesn’t rely on another person is transformative,” says Ms Kamau, the gender officer at Seed Savers Network.

Ms Wangui, who shakes her head in disbelief when she recalls her journey from 2007 to this point, no longer has to worry about where the seeds or money to buy them will come from once the rains begin. She can also plant the seed varieties of her choice.

“When you start saving seeds and adopt better farming techniques, you don’t have to ask for money to buy seeds, salt or to go out and about because every day someone is buying your produce. You stop being a borrower because you now have your own seeds,” says Ms Wangui.

Eunice Wainaina, a teacher who practises farming with her husband Mr Wainaina of Kikopey Seed Savers Self-help Group, has 90 kilogrammes of bean seeds of various varieties in the seed bank -- enough to plant on nearly five acres. She says that having seeds in the seed bank means that she can plant early, which is one of the recommended climate adaptation strategies to minimise instances of failed crops. In addition to seed saving and early planting, her family uses permaculture to conserve moisture in the soil and help the crops grow long after the rains have subsided.