State bets on new initiative to end drought disasters

A veterinary doctor vaccinates animals. The Government has previously launched vaccination campaigns to protect livestock from harsh drought conditions. [PICTURE:FILE]

The Government has launched a programme designed to end drought emergencies in Kenya, according to James Oduor, the National Drought Management Authority chief executive officer.

He says that the economic cost of drought between 2008 and 2011 left a trail of damage that cost a whopping Sh1.2 billion ($12.1 million), a worrying scenario they hope to address in the new programme. Mr Oduor adds that droughts regularly affect between 1.5 to 3.5 million Kenyans.

“Drought emergencies, unlike many other disasters, can be avoided,” he says adding that the State has a new policy direction for drought management which builds on the arid and semi-arid land policy.

He told a media briefing in Nairobi that drought emergencies represent a failure of development and that ending drought requires accelerated investment in appropriate development.

According to Oduor, Ending Drought Emergencies (EDE), which was launched recently by Deputy President William Ruto, will require action by almost all Government sectors and their partners.

The latest initiative will focus on reducing vulnerability to drought.  Instead of focusing on humanitarian-led programmes that that put emphasis on food, the new programme is development-led, with emphasis on sustainable investments to complement social protection. It also seeks all government institutions to work together to end drought emergencies.

He says vulnerability, which is the main focus of EDE, has been the missing link as drought emergencies are a product of poverty and inequality.

Droughts evolve slowly and in a predictable pattern, and a drought ‘emergency’ represents a specific set of conditions determined by the early-warning system.

“It’s not sufficient just to respond to the immediate effects of a drought; we should also reduce people’s vulnerability to those effects over the long-term” explains Oduor.

Kenya, he says, undertook a commitment at the Summit of Heads of State and Government in 2011 to end drought emergencies by 2022. That commitment is also reflected in the ‘foundation for national transformation’ in Vision 2030.

Oduor called for harminsation of combined contributions of the Government, county governments and development partners to adopt common programming to achieve better co-ordination and alignment.

He says better results will be delivered through common programming to create synergy and collaboration between sectors, actors, counties and governments, rather than operating in isolation.

Vulnerability to drought, he argues, is largely the result of historical inequalities in access to public goods and services. Similarly, he says, insecurity, isolation and illiteracy undermine development and resilience.

“Investing in these foundations helps other interventions such as in the agricultural sector to achieve their results,” he says.

Oduor adds that drought is a permanent threat, and ‘resilience’ is built over generations.