Moyale Sub-County: Drought Early Warning Bulletin for August 2014

Situation Overview

• Insignificant amount of rainfall was received in the month of August across Agro-pastoral and pastoral livelihood zones. The situation is above normal at this particular period of the year.

• Quality and quantity of pasture and browse is poor and deteriorating when compared to the preceding month and is normal at this time of the year.

• Household water distance increased from 2.3km in the month of July to 2.55km in the month of August. Household water distance increased because of drying up of water reservoirs and over-concentration of livestock at water points. Household water waiting time drastically increased from 1.95hrs to2.9hrs.

• Livestock accessibility to water deteriorated when compared to the preceding month as the dry spell continues. Water pans have dried up except those in Sololo Makutano, Walda and Mado Adhi which will last for the next 3weeks. Trekking distance increased from 11.7km in July to 11.95km in the month under review.

• Livestock body condition for cattle is fair to poor, camel is good and shoats fair across agro-pastoral and pastoral livelihood zones. Before the onset of short rains, livestock body condition is expected to deteriorate further due to drastic depletion of pasture and browse and increasing trekking distances to water sources. Dabel, Godoma and Uran are worst hit because water pans have all dried up.

• There has been in migration of livestock from their normal settlements to grazing areas and watering points. Current migrations are usual and follow the usual migration routes. There have been in migrations of livestock from neighbouring Ethiopia and North Eastern into Moyale Sub-County.

• The price of milk increased from Kshs.70 in the month of July to Kshs.73 per 750ml bottle in the month under review which has made milk not to be accessible by households. Increased milk prices were mainly attributed to reduction in milk production due to migration of livestock to grazing areas and worsening pasture.

• Cattle prices reduced from Kshs.31100 in the preceding month to Kshs.24500 in the month under review. Reduced cattle prices are attributed to poor body condition.

• Goat’s prices were stable but insignificantly reduced from Kshs.3972 in the month of July to Kshs.3454 in the month under review due to cross-border trade with Ethiopia. Sheep prices gradually increased from Kshs.1800 in July to Kshs.2250 in August.

• Maize prices were stable within the normal range but increased from Kshs.34 in July to Kshs.40 to the month under review. Beans prices surged from Kshs.70 in July to Kshs.76 in August. Prices of sifted Maize, posho and rice were retailing at Kshs.96, 57 and 101 respectively across both livelihood zones.

• Nutritional status of children under 5 years of age was poor. During the month under review, children rated being at risk of malnutrition insignificantly reduced from 14.7% in July to 14.6% in August based on MUAC cut off. There has been a consistent decline in underweight levels. This was due to reduced milk consumption amongst children below the age of five years and poor child feeding practices. According to DHIS, there have been increased admission trends for both SFP and OTP programmes.

• No outbreaks of livestock disease were reported across both livelihood zones during the period under review. However, there is an upsurge of endemic livestock disease such foot and mouth amongst the cattle which is attributed to influx of livestock from neighbouring Ethiopia and North Eastern.