In Kenya, whose northern territories bear the heaviest brunt of drought, experts say that the country needs sustainable solutions to counter the situation as the days of waiting for rains from heaven are long gone.

Kenya, according to the experts, must address its water deficiency by investing in scientific tools for forecasting and gauging water levels. Scientific innovations are required to predict future weather patterns and to take into account land gradients when constructing rainwater impounding dams for irrigation.

Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) President Jacques Diouf has called for immediate actions and policies to prevent famine from recurring.

"We must think not only about saving lives today, but build sustainable livelihoods to avoid future calamities," he said. "What the world is seeing now is the unfortunate result of three decades of underinvestment in agriculture and underdevelopment."

Kenya’s agriculture minister, Romano Kiome, said long-term solutions to drought had not been taken seriously. He stressed the need to make available drought-resistant seeds to farmers, building small irrigation projects as well as infrastructure, drilling dams and boreholes, so that food can be moved quickly round the region. Kiome also said the world needed to make the link between the problems of food production and climate change.

Food security

Abbas Gullet, the Secretary General of Kenya Red Cross Society said though the country expects another drought in the future, it was prudent to adopt long-term solutions that would ensure sustainable food security.

"Arid and semi-arid areas in Kenya constitute two thirds of the country's land mass and could be reclaimed through irrigation and other alternative modern farming techniques to produce sufficient food both for local consumption and even export," he said.

Gullet said Kenya has fertile land that could be used to produce adequate seeds which has been a significant factor in the low production of food in the country.

One of the methods of tackling food insecurity is by distributing the right seeds to farmers and establishing irrigation schemes in arid and semi-arid areas. Gullet noted one such success story in Ukambani, a Kenyan region which is predominantly dry; where Red Cross officials distributed 90-kilogram packet of maize seeds to farmers, thus enabling them to produce 15 to 20 bags of maize.
“If this method is replicated in other arid and semi arid parts of the country, we can say goodbye to drought,” he said.

The government needs to cushion farmers from the negative effects of climate change by providing them with drought resistant seeds to grow crops like sorghum, known to withstand dry spells. At the same time, pastoralist communities need to shift their focus to farming as the drought is claiming their livestock-their main economic mainstay.

Gullet, who has been at the forefront of a holistic fund and humanitarian campaign in aid of the hungry, notes that Kenya can be self-sufficient in food production in the coming years.
"We need to move away from food relief and rain-fed agriculture by focusing on measures that will guarantee sustainable food security for all Kenyans.

Water harvesting


Locals travel miles in search of water

Tapping water from big rivers that cut across dry areas is a sure way of mitigating the effects of climate change. To this effect, the Kenya Red Cross has embarked on holistic approaches of teaching drought-prone residents on how to utilize water from rivers; to aid in irrigation.

River Tana, about 1000 kilometres long, is Kenya’s longest river which ironically passes along arid areas including Garissa, one of Kenya’s driest areas. Residents of this area are predominantly pastoralists but the reeling effects of drought have taught them to venture into agriculture.

“The Kenya Red Cross has educated us on how to farm and pump water from Tana River,” says one Mohammed Hussein. The 60 year old father of 12 children could have been among the victims of the current drought hadn’t he benefited from the Red Cross-funded irrigation scheme.

He uses a long pump, donated by Red Cross to harvest water from the river and irrigate his farm of pawpaw, watermelons, bananas, tomatoes among other crops.

“With the pumps supplied to us, I have comfortably irrigated my land. As a result, I have not been affected by drought again.”

Abbas Gullet of the Kenya Red Cross envisaged a grand project of irrigation, which would be sustainable in ensuring food security.

“We focus mainly on drought-stricken communities who are nomadic and depend on food aid. Since realizing that food relief was not sustainable and was only meant for short-term measures, the Kenya Red Cross took advantage of the community’s proximity to River Tana to empower locals towards food security, through irrigation.

While commending countries in the region for having comprehensive investment plans for agriculture, FAO President Jacques Diouf decried low funding from donors.

"Unless these plans are carried out, famine will return to shame the international community," said Diouf. "With the financial resources, technology and expertise at our disposal, it is inadmissible for 12 million people to be at risk of starvation today. We have the opportunity to help these people out of crisis by building more livelihoods more resilient to climate shocks.

Rearing camels

As drought ravages northern Kenya, some development workers are arguing that camels could provide a more drought-resistant alternative to cows and other livestock.

Philippa Young from the What Took You So Long Foundation says camels could substitute other livestock in such harsh times as they (camels) are known to produce milk all year round and produce when other livestock stop or die from dehydration.

The foundation is currently trying to raise awareness of the benefits of camel milk and points out that the animal's relevance to food security, with its ability to withstand long periods without water, shouldn't go ignored.

"A lot of lives could be saved and jobs created simultaneously."

Other aid organizations stationed in drought-stricken areas say that camel milk has a longer shelf life (than other livestock milk), and even without refrigeration facilities, can be consumed over longer periods of time.

Young says that camel milk could be marketed as a high-end health-food product and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization says camel milk is three times as rich in Vitamin C as cow's milk and is rich in iron, unsaturated fatty acids and B vitamins.

Although camels are more expensive to buy than cows, they are cheaper to keep and their milk fetches more on the market.

A Nairobi University lecturer warns that if appropriate adaptation measures are not taken, Kenya will continue to witness year in year out food insecurity, problems of land degradation in search of elusive livelihoods, underdevelopment as water touches every aspect of development and an upsurge in the disease burden, says Alfred Opere.

Scholars urge African governments, to seriously think of setting up centres of excellence dedicated to climate-change research and the time to act is now as we are yet to see the worst of scenarios resulting from climate change.