Yes, another story on Kenya, but this describes a good descrip­tion of the real­i­ties on the ground.

The price of cat­tle has severely dropped, due to the own­ers of the cows just want­ing to sell them for a lit­tle food. In some areas of Kenya, cat­tle farm­ing was very good thanks to the open grassy land. Now, due to a few years of poor rains, and almost none this year, even the cows don’t have much to eat.

From this IRIN that we found at Reuters Alert Net, we read more about the price of Kenyan’s cattle.

A few months ago, cat­tle traders in Kiser­ian live­stock mar­ket in Kaji­ado Dis­trict, south­west of Nairobi, could sell a cow for up to KSh15,000 [US$200], but that has dras­ti­cally changed.

“There is a lot of hunger; most pas­toral­ists are sell­ing their cat­tle at the mar­ket to buy other food­stuffs,” Jane Sayena from Mag­adi, another town in Kaji­ado, said.

Four years of con­sec­u­tive poor rains, experts say, have pushed com­mu­ni­ties in Kenya’s eastern, north­ern and south­ern pas­toral zones to the limit, finally forc­ing them to hur­riedly sell off their herds for a pittance.

“It hurts to see the pas­toral­ists sell­ing their cows for as lit­tle at KSh500 [$6.50],” Sayena told IRIN. “Some­times [they] cry… but it is bet­ter than see­ing ani­mals dying at home.”

Live­stock accounts for 80 per­cent of house­hold income in some pas­toral areas. Since the drought, the pas­toral­ists have tried to cope by feed­ing their goats wet paper and slaugh­ter­ing new-born calves to save lac­tat­ing ani­mals, but most ani­mals have ended up in poor health.

Oth­ers tried to migrate to other areas, but the sit­u­a­tion has grown worse. In north­ern Marsabit and Sam­buru, up to 20 per­cent of cat­tle and sheep have died — and the fig­ure could rise to 50 per­cent if the drought con­tin­ues, accord­ing to the Kenya Food Secu­rity Steer­ing Group (KFSSG).

“If I sell even one cow, the chil­dren can at least get food,” said John Ole Kopito, a pas­toral­ist from Kaji­ado, which bor­ders Tan­za­nia to the southwest.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/3ee1f1adf6e7061b8622c40fb5f434d9.htm

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