Prolonged dry spell in Garissa worsens as pastures degrade and livestock suffer
Nuno village situated 40km away from Garissa town is among many villages in Garissa county experiencing harsh climatic conditions.
Women and children scrambling for water delivered by a Good Samaritan and the degraded pasture surrounding Nuno village along Garissa-Madogashe road in Balambala constituency describe a bitting prolonged dry spell affecting the pastoralist communities in Garissa County.
A few meters away from the point where women and children were fetching water from the truck that delivered water, elders and religious leaders gathered under an indigenous tree that shaded its leaves for prayers, seeking divine intervention.
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Omar Yussuf, a retired chief and the community elder explains the extreme weather conditions after the 2024, October-December short rains failed.
"We are undergoing a difficult moment, the pasture land is degraded and the water pan dried due to the dry weather and high evaporation rate," he said.
"It is God who can relieve us from the challenging moment, we gathered here for prayers to seek intervention," he said.
He said the prayers will continue for two days, expressing hope that their prayers will be accepted and they will have enough rain in the coming March-May long rains.
Mohamed Abdi a livestock farmer stated the community was facing the impact of the harsh climatic shock that disrupted the livestock breeding circle.
"Our livestock are not giving birth, we have no milk, if the situation continues without abundant rain we fear losing our livestock, already they are getting weak and we have moved them to pasture land along the River Tana," he claimed.
He appealed to government and non-governmental organisations for intervention in water trucking and fodder for weak livestock in the village that could not move together with other herds.
Children and women scrambling for water at Nuno Centre in Garissa County. (Photo: Issa Hussein)
Abshiro Garat is among several women at Nuno village, who were milk traders, buying from the local herders and transporting milk to Garissa town for sale. She said the prolonged dry spell affected the supply of milk.
"For the past two months, we are no longer doing milk business and if the situation persists it will be life-threatening," she claimed.
She further stated how a local non-governmental organisation constructed a milk selling point in the village to promote their milk trade as a resilience against climate change that was threatening the livestock farmers but there were no activities currently at the milk point due to the prolonged dry spell.
Nuno village situated 40km away from Garissa town is among many villages in Garissa county experiencing similar harsh climatic conditions.
Two months ago Garissa governor Nathif Jama announced that the county government will embark on water trucking due to the ongoing prolonged dry spell.
Recently, the peace committee in Garissa County has called on the government to take proactive measures to prevent inter-communal clashes arising from dwindling pasture and water resources in the region.
Community prayers gathering due to the prolonged dry spell in Garissa County. (Photo: Issa Hussein)
Two weeks ago Garissa County Peace Committee Chairman, Hassan Osman Shurie, emphasised the need to sensitise the community and strengthen existing non-institutional peace-building structures, such as the council of elders and religious leaders. His appeal comes amid concerns over scarce resources and predictions of below-average rainfall for the March to May 2025 long rain season.
"Let us not be reactive only when killings occur due to competition for scarce water and pasture. The two levels of government, along with non-governmental organisations, need to intervene urgently to mitigate potential conflicts among pastoralist communities," he said.
In a statement, the peace committee chairman noted that past conflicts over limited water and pasture resources have claimed many lives.
The chairman also urged the relevant government ministries to enhance state security presence, invest critically in the water sector, and establish fodder reserves.
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