Grass crisis: The silent driver of livestock losses in Asal counties

Indigenous cattle grazing. Ministry of Agriculture report revealed that Kenyan pastoralists lost 1.5 million livestock due to pasture and water shortages. [File, Standard]

Demystifying the age-old adage “as common as grass” reveals a deeper truth: grass, though ubiquitous, is far more valuable than its familiarity suggests.

In Kenya, where arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL) constitute more than half the country’s land mass, the absence of grass is not merely a botanical concern but a matter of survival.