The national government today purchased and slaughtered 1,000 goats and sheep in Ngilai and Logetei villages in Baragoi Samburu North in a destocking exercise to cushion herders from the ongoing drought.
Speaking during the exercise at Legetei village in Baragoi, National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) coordinator Alex Leseketeti said that the destocking program is aimed at buying weak goats and sheep and slaughtering them for the community.
“Instead of waiting for the goats to die due to the ongoing drought, this program is aimed at buying the weak animals and slaughtering them for the same community. Is an advantage for the herders since they get to sell the goats to us and also consume them to improve their nutrition,” he said.
Leseketeti said that NDMA will purchase 2,500 goats and sheep from Samburu North and Samburu East worth Sh 5 million in the first phase of the destocking program.
He added that 10,000 households affected by the ongoing drought will receive meat to improve on their nutrition.
“We are purchasing each animal at Sh 2,000 and after slaughter each goat will be divided among four households,” he said.
At the same time, area governor Moses Lenolkulal assured residents that the County government has set aside Sh 90million to buy and distribute relief food in the next three months to 112,000 people affected by hunger in Samburu North and Samburu East sub counties.
He said that the county government is partnering with World Food Programme (WFP) to supply cereals and vegetable oil worth Sh30million every month for a period of three months.
Samburu County Commissioner (CC) Mohamed Birik confirmed that nobody has died in Samburu County as a result of hunger.
He said that interventions by both the national and county government have been effective to mitigate drought in the county adding that the national government has doubled relief food allocation per ward from 1,000 bags to 2,000 bags.
The destocking exercise was also attended by Samburu North MP Alloys Lentoimaga, Samburu East Mp Raphael Letimalo, Saburu Central MP Lati Lelelit among others.
