Livestock faces threat of death because of drought #kenya

If government does not intervene fast enough, hundreds of
livestock might die because of the severity of the drought currently
being experienced in the Kunene region.
Without urgent assistance, the drought would leave many livestock
farmers without an income and as a result push their families into
poverty because livestock farming is the backbone of the OvaHimba
community in this vast and remote area.
Opuwo constituency councillor from the Otuani village, Tjiumbua Ellie
Uaturumika said their area has not received significant rain for the past
few years.
Sitting in the early winter morning sun, dressed in a khaki uniform,
Uaturumika outlines the daily hardships his people and their animals
experience due to the drought.
The Otuani village is situated about 70 kilometres south-west of Opuwo
and is home to about 300 people.
Despite being unable to say exactly when last they received 'proper'
rainfall in the area, the councillor's facial expressions are that of
concern as the community looks up to him and government for
assistance to save them and their livestock from the devastating
drought.
"We are suffering due the drought - cattle are dying and people do not
have enough to eat," Uaturumika said.
Surveying the area, this reporter sees and feels the drought - there is
little or no grass over many kilometres of this vast area. The animals
bundle together to get some shade from the few, almost bare, trees.
"I appeal to government to assist the community of Otuani with food,"
Uaturumika said.
The situation has reached a point where about 130 children staying in
the hostel at the Musaso Senior Primary School are sent home over
weekends, as the food available is hardly enough to feed them during
the week.
Many of the children stay up to 15km from the school and walk there
and back.
Walking through the village, one can sense the despair, desperation
and a weak pulse of life as goats roam the dry football field looking for
something to graze.
A man-made dam some 100 metres away from the football field is dry
and the few pieces of greenery in the area are inedible for man and
animal.
However, Kunene governor Angelika Muharukua told Nampa that the
distribution of food aid is taking place, albeit at a slow pace.
Meanwhile, mobile phone network is non-existent and the village is
connected to the rest of the world only via landline; an option available
to only a few people.
Uaturumika said despite the availability of electricity, mobile phones are
of no use here, and in cases of emergency, there is little they can do.
"We have no network to communicate with people outside our village;
we are suffering and asking the government to help us to get
connected," he stressed.
A little ray of hope came in the form of a new clinic, which opened
earlier this year. The clinic is staffed by a handful of nurses and stands
as a beacon of hope in the community.
"This clinic helps us a lot, as many people get their health assistance
from it," said Uaturumika.
He commended the government for opening the clinic, adding that in
the past, people had to go to Opuwo for medical help.
The inhabitants of one of Namibia's many vast, undeveloped and
sparsely populated areas, are forced to adapt to the unpredictable
patterns of weather that leave them desperate for government's
intervention.