Hopelessness as Baringo farmers lose livestock to ravaging drought

Farmers in Tiaty constituency and parts of Baringo North are counting their losses after thousands of animals succumbed to drought.

Even worse is the fact that the two areas have not received rain since last August and as such, more animals continue to die due to lack of water and pasture.

Yet there has been heavy rain - even flooding - in many other parts of the country in the last few weeks.

Delamoi Ketelerok from Silale ward is a distressed man. The 54-year-old has lost 300 animals over the last few months.

He says he watched most of them die and has only seven cows left.

"I feel like a dead man. In our culture, cattle represent wealth. With all the losses I have suffered, I am officially poor," says Mr Ketelerok.

Joseph Kipton has not been spared the ravages of drought either.

He says he had 100 cows and 150 goats in January this year. But the father of nine has only 10 goats and seven cows left.

"The mooing of cows and bleating of goats brought life to my homestead but that is all gone now. I feel so sad. I don't even know how I will recover from this. The drought has impoverished us," says Mr Kipton.

"I bought some of the cows and sheep and inherited others from my parents. Unfortunately, most of them have died and the remaining ones are weak. I don't know where to start. I don't even know if the remaining ones will survive."

Three cows

Behind his grass-thatched house, three cows lie lifeless.

The Standard team arrives to find Kipton, his wife and son busy trying to help their remaining cows drink water.

The water has been drawn from a well that is 30km from the homestead.

They say they don't know how they will survive because livestock farming is their main source of income.

"I don't know what I will feed my family, let alone how I will pay my children's school fees. I am afraid I will eventually lose everything if the drought continues," says Kipton.

Farmers in Saimosoi ward, Baringo North, say they have cumulatively lost over 2,000 cattle, thanks to the drought that has hit the area.

Cheruoi Kimaiyo is left with only eight cows from the 62 he had at the beginning of the year.

In Moinonin, desperate herders have resorted to feeding their animals the bark of acacia trees.

Villagers who cannot afford hay have been pruning branches from the drought-resistant trees to feed their livestock.