Abstract
Kenya has integrated several international, continental, and regional strategies and policies into its national and county programs to address climate-related disasters in livestock systems in pastoralism. This study reviews how these policy instruments have been integrated into local laws and the viability of hay production, a drought risk reduction strategy. The methodology used was a desktop review of policies, a KAP survey using a quantitative and qualitative questionnaire on 354 pastoralists and key informants selected using stratified random sampling, and a cost-benefit analysis of 23 hay farms in Kajiado-Central sub-county. The findings established that Kenya had adopted adequate legal instruments to support disasters in general and droughts specifically. However, the strategies are not elaborated into practical guidance resulting in poor implementation. For instance, the flagship hay production project in Kajiado focuses on building infrastructure on the government farms, with little support going to the actual hay farmers. In addition, staffing levels of technical officers are too low to adequately translate the strategies into activities that address the hay farmer’s pain points, namely the lack of a stable hay market, expensive capital assets and machinery, lack of quality forage seeds, and extension education. This paper recommends reviewing the implementation of the ongoing hay flagship projects to address the hay enterprise’s profitability and elaborating the strategies down to guidance that can be easily rolled out cognizant of the low staffing levels. Public-private partnerships can also address some challenges by stabilizing the hay markets, providing storage, and maintaining good-quality hay. In addition, the strategic feed reserve should include hay for pastoral livestock systems under drought risk reduction programs. Thus, targeted, relevant projects are critical if private hay enterprises are a sustainable drought risk reduction strategy.
Highlights
The pastoralism livestock systems are crucial to the livelihoods and the economy of Africa’s drylands
The findings are described in three sections, the first section reviewed how disaster risk reduction (DRR) global, continental, and regional policies are being translated into national DRR policies
The second section looks at how national DRR policies are translated into County DRR policies, taking the case of Kajiado County
Summary
The pastoralism livestock systems are crucial to the livelihoods and the economy of Africa’s drylands. They cover 43% of Africa’s landmass in 36 countries, stretching from Southern Africa, the Sahelian West, the Horn of Africa, and Eastern Africa and are practiced by around 268 million pastoralists (FAO, 2018). The nomadic nature of pastoralism is well suited to drylands, in recent decades, it has faced several challenges ranging from land-use change, conflicts, and institutional neglect, all leading to the curtailing of pastoralists’ mobility over vast land areas. Hay production is a rangeland management practice, vital for climate change adaptation for pastoralism, as it supports livestock keepers’ livelihoods, conserves ecosystem services, promotes wildlife conservation, and promotes indigenous cultural practices, reversing environmental degradation (FAO, 2009)
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