Ministry aims to help farmers re-stock herds
11/01/2010
Kenya’s livestock ministry is asking the national treasury for money to help farmers replenish their herds after several of the African country’s most important agricultural areas suffered drought and floods.
The government has already promised around $1.7 million in funding to help farmers build up their herds again, and last year spent $2.6 million on buying up cattle that had been ravaged by the conditions. But the livestock ministry has submitted a formal request for an additional $9 million for the replenishment programme.
Permanent secretary, Kenneth Lusaka, said the idea was to help farmers who had lost their herds find a new source of livelihood.
The ministry has estimated that 6,700 Kenyan households lost livestock because of drought alone in recent months and has put a value of more than $30 million on those losses.
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