Time to turn policy into action – Kenya’s arid lands policy
Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) are home to more than 30 percent of the country’s population. Many years of underdevelopment and poor policies in these regions mean that pressure is increasing on nomadic pastoralists in arid lands, where poverty is higher than in the rest of Kenya.
Oxfam International is calling on Kenya’s government to end decades of marginalisation and implement its popular policy for arid lands. Covering 80 percent of Kenya, ASALs and the people living there contribute significantly to Kenya’s economy, mainly through livestock production, which currently accounts for roughly five percent of GDP. Most people living in arid lands are livestock producers. When droughts hit, like the one in 2006 that killed an estimated 70 percent of their animals, the local impact is enormous and the national economy also suffers.
Oxfam argues that appropriate long-term development in these areas would not only improve people’s lives but would also contribute to Kenya’s economy and reduce the high costs associated with emergency drought assistance. Continuing to ignore the specific needs of ASALs will result in increased poverty and environmental degradation. The effects of drought are worse every time rains fail, as people become less and less able to recover from the last one and cope with the next.
(Note Eldis and ID21 are combining resources so the link to this article may change. I’ll try and keep up with their changes and update it asap.)
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