Drought Spreads Beyond Kenya’s North, Herders in Crisis
Kenya’s pastoralist communities are facing a worsening drought that has spread beyond the country’s traditionally arid north, plunging herders into crisis.
In Kajiado County, which borders Nairobi, dozens of cow and goat carcasses lie around the compound of 24-year-old Maasai herder Maria Katanga. Since August, she has lost more than 100 cattle and 300 goats. The few animals left are too weak to produce milk.
Kenya has faced drought before, most recently in 2022 when a record dry spell decimated livestock and triggered hunger in the north and northeast. But now, climate disasters are hitting areas that were not previously considered drought-prone, such as Kajiado.
The economic impact has been devastating. Katanga’s stepson, Emmanuel Loshipae, said livestock prices have collapsed. “A cow that was sold for 60,000 or 70,000 shillings before the drought is now sold for 5,000,” he explained. Families have been forced into distress sales to buy feed as grazing land disappears.
Local administrator Lemaiyan Samuel Kureko said herders are moving further afield, even crossing into Tanzania, in search of pasture and water. “There have been droughts before in the region but this one is the worst,” he said.
Kenya’s National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) warned last month that recurrent droughts are increasing competition for scarce resources and raising the risk of violent conflict.
The crisis is not limited to Kenya. Somalia declared a national drought emergency in November after repeated poor rainfall seasons. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that millions of Somalis face severe hunger, with almost half of all children malnourished and in need of urgent treatment. Aid agencies say foreign funding cuts have hampered their ability to respond.
In Kenya, the Meteorological Department forecast near-average to below-average rainfall for March to May in Kajiado, offering little hope for recovery. The NDMA said it had distributed cash aid to more than 130,000 households in historically arid counties, but relief has not reached Kajiado.
“No people have died yet, but the livestock are gone and the sun is getting hotter every day,” Kureko said. “We have been weakened to such a level that we can only pray for God’s help.”
