Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / Kenya / Pastoralism / Somalia / Vulnerability

Climatic conditions linked to Horn’s 2011 drought persist–could spell another food crisis

Somali dust storm (image on Flickr by Frank Keillor). ‘The climatic conditions linked to the drought in the Horn in 2011 have persisted, and some early warning officials say the aid community should brace themselves for a possible re-run of last year’s food crisis. . . . ‘According to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network … Continue reading

As another drought bites the Horn, 12 million face food shortages in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia
Camels / Cattle / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / Goats / Kenya / Livelihoods / News clipping / Nutrition / Pastoralism / Sheep / Small Ruminants / Somalia / South Sudan / Uganda / Vulnerability

As another drought bites the Horn, 12 million face food shortages in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia

With as little as one-quarter of expected rainfall received, widespread drought conditions in the Horn of Africa have intensified since the failure of the October–December rains, FAO said. Areas of greatest concern cover much of Somalia, northeast and coastal Kenya, southeast Ethiopia as well as the Afar region still to recover from El Niño induced drought of 2015/16, and South Sudan, which faces a serious food crisis due to protracted insecurity. Continue reading

Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Film and video / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Livestock insurance for the Horn: Looking back in anger, forward in hope–CNN video

A new CNN video—Protecting farmers against drought—describes the benefits of ILRI’s Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) scheme in Kenya’s Marsabit District, runtime: 5:44, 11 Jun 2012 (CNN Marketplace Africa). Watch the video     Read the transcript Some half a year after the drought that devastated large parts of the Horn of Africa broke towards the end … Continue reading

Camels / Cattle / Climate Change / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Ethiopia / Goats / ILRI / Kenya / Markets / Pastoralism / Project / Sheep / Somalia / Trade / Vulnerability

Foolhardy? Or just hardy? New project tackles climate change and livestock markets in the Horn

If only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the tropical midday sun, what shall we say of Americans in Alabama and Kenya setting out to learn from, and support, sales of livestock in the hot and drying badlands extending across the Horn of Africa? This is what Peter Little, of Emory University, and Polly … Continue reading

Supporting dryland pastoralism with eco-conservancies, livestock insurance and livestock-based drought interventions
Biodiversity / Drought / Drylands / DRYLANDSCRP / East Africa / Event / ILRI / Kenya / Pastoralism / Research / Southern Africa / Vulnerability

Supporting dryland pastoralism with eco-conservancies, livestock insurance and livestock-based drought interventions

The wildlfie-rich rangelands of Kitengela, outside Nairobi, Kenya (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann). Scientists at the Nairobi, Kenya, headquarters of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) are this week hosting a regional inception workshop on a new CGIAR Research Program on dryland agriculture. Three livestock-based models likely to be discussed at this week’s dryland agriculture workshop … Continue reading

CGIAR / Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Kenyan herders cope with drought by buying livestock insurance

Sake Dabasso Halake stands proudly in front of Equity Bank’s Marsabit branch. She smiles, clutching an envelope filled with 16,000 Kenyan shillings that she just received. It was her insurance payout for the 10 cows she lost during the drought. Photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins. Jeff Haskins, director of the Nairobi office of Burness … Continue reading

Drought / Drylands / East Africa / Ethiopia / Food Security / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project / Vulnerability

To insure or not to insure: That is the question for Kenyan herders restocking after the great drought of 2011

The first payouts for livestock insurance being made in Marsabit District, in northern Kenya (photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins). From Reuters AlertNet comes this update on how the livestock herders of Kenya’s Marsabit District are faring. Some bought an innovative livestock insurance product this year that is being piloted by the International Livestock Research … Continue reading

Drought / East Africa / Ethiopia / Event / Food Security / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

Pioneering insurance for remote livestock herders taking hold in drought-prone areas of Kenya and Ethiopia

Sake Dabasso Halake with her recent livestock insurance payout, which was made in northern Kenya’s Marsabit District following the great drought that afflicted the Horn of Africa in the latter half of 2011 (photo credit: Jeff Haskins/Burness Communications). Laurie Goering, a reporter for AlertNet writing from the United Nations climate change meetings in Durban this … Continue reading

Drought / East Africa / Event / Food Security / Geodata / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

New insurance program in Kenya covers cattle lost to drought

A blind pastoral herder in Kenya’s Marsabit District awaits payout of an insurance premium he bought to protect his livestock against drought (photo on Flickr by Jeff Haskins). Tristan McConnell, reporting from Nairobi, writes in the GlobalPost (Boston) yesterday of a new insurance program set up to protect a group of pastoral livestock herders in … Continue reading

Drought / East Africa / Event / Film and video / Food Security / Geodata / ILRI / Insurance / Kenya / Pastoralism / Vulnerability

News agency interviews herders who received drought insurance payouts in Kenya’s Marsabit District

Insurance payouts for Kenyan drought victims, posted 26 Oct 2011 by Agence France Press TV: Runtime 2:06. Agence France Presse TV has posted on YouTube an interesting 2-minute video piece on the first-ever insurance payments made to pastoral herders in northern Kenya’s remote Marsabit Dictrict, following a great drought in the Horn of Africa that … Continue reading