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Devastating drought

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jul 15 2009 | By: lionguardians

The drought is worsening day by day. It has not rained properly for two consecutive years, and the pastoralist Maasai community who inhabit the group ranch have moved their livestock in three directions in search of greener pastures. The cows are all becoming very thin, and many are dying.

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The first group moved their livestock all the way to Manyara in Tanzania. Others decided to take their cattle to Tsavo West National Park, but they have been experiencing serious clashes with the park authorities, who are trying to prevent the pastures of the national park from being overgrazed by cattle, leaving the ground bare.

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Following some unexpected rain in the north towards Nairobi a few weeks ago, almost all the remaining livestock has been moved that way, including some who had already gone to Tanzania, meaning they had travelled for over 400km with their herds to find grass. We are now almost resigned to the fact that it may not rain until the end of October.

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This devastating drought spares nobody. Livestock and wildlife are affected in equal measures. Elders in the group ranch are describing this drought as the worst ever, and with price of consumer goods sky-rocketing while the price of selling livestock and other domestic products are falling, the situation is triggering a catastrophic food crisis.

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19 Responses to “Devastating drought”

Wanda - Atlanta, on 15 Jul 2009

Is any organization helping — is there any big drive underway to get water to the animals — is there a website –

sauwah, on 15 Jul 2009

i think here in the u.s. we are having the el nino ; which means rain will not be showing up as generous as usual. water is vital; however grass is what these livestock and wildlife need. the sight of such skinny animals is very sad. and knowing the price of livestock is falling so much is a double killer for the owners.

if i were as wealthy as bill gates or some wildlife conservation organization with some spare cash, i would have bought out all these skinny cows from the owners. fatten them up and resell them back to the owners when the rain returns at a loss. in this way, the owner would have make some profit and would still be able to keep their traditional way of life.

Dana-Phoenix Arizona, on 15 Jul 2009

With rain comes the grass - it is very, very heartbreaking to see cattle this way. Heartbreaking to think of all the people that don’t have enough to eat also.

Thanks Mr. Climate Change!

Mark Kelly, on 15 Jul 2009

How many cattle are there in need in Kenya? I wonder if we couldn’t organize some farmers here to donate feed for the cattle there? Are the cows able to digest typical US cattle feed?

Please email me - I have no clue how to organize such an effort but there are many cattle farmers here I could talk to about this problem.

Thanks,

Mark

sauwah, on 15 Jul 2009

i am not a scientist and know nothing about the climate thing. but i wonder is the climate or global warming created by all of us( the developed countries like the u.s., the rest of the western countries, china and india) has a great deal to do with this god awful drought! and guess who is paying for our sins? the wildlife and the african people who actually leave a very light carbon foot print. it just to show us that there is no justice on earth. if so, animals would be ruling instead of us.

cows are cows, i assume. since they are the same species. so why can’t they all digest the same product as those here in the us.? but how much and for how long?

rain is must needed and we must prey for it.

Pauline, on 16 Jul 2009

And I wonder if it has anything to do with the amount of water that is channeled off by businesses to sustain the flower industry and the beans which we can buy here in the west? What can we do to help?

lionguardians, on 17 Jul 2009

Thank you for all your comments and ideas. There is not a lot that can be done, we must just wait for the rains to come and the grass to grow, and hope not too many of the livestock and wildlife suffer.

Pirjo,Finland, on 20 Jul 2009

It’s the curse of the climate change that is starting to have an effect on the Equatorial part of East Africa. The amount of rainfall is going to be more erratic and unpredictable. We humans are distroying the life on this beautiful planet, especially those of us who live and consume like there was no tomorrow. I feel ashamed for the politicans,big corporates and private individuals who don’t want to face the painful truth about changes we need to do in order to save what is still left to be saved.

I feel so anxious and frustrated at times having to witness all the suffering in Africa.

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