We Need to Rethink Livestock Economy

Rethinking livestock Economy.

Well there is this talk gaining currency in the market that anyone advocating for rethinking of the livestock economy is an enemy of the pastoralist n that this group of people are in bed with the white who are are driving the conservancy agenda, nothing could be far from the truth.

The truth of the matter is this, we truly appreciate our pastoralist n their attendant livestock economy because its has over the years sustained northern Kenya people because its our predominant economic Mainstay, n the meat we enjoy in the other Kenya is because of this genuine effort.

But the question no one is asking is what the future holds for us the livestock keepers in the face of the incessant drought as a manifestation of the debilitating climate change, some twenty years ago my family proudly own well over fifty heads of cow but the figure today is nothing to write home about n you may wish to know why, n the answer is simple, the drought n consequent starvation.

Climate change if the reports from scientists n the environmental expert is anything to go by is only getting worse by the day, n such would mean more hard time for the pastoralism as way of earning a livelihood, its only fair this people are enlightened to rethink their over reliance on livestock by adopting some alternatives, this alternative may not necessarily mean conservancy or white led conservancy.

We have huge track of land more often lying idle, being put aside for not so rosy day, this practise hugely ingenious was devised by our people n its served their need then but we can't say the same anymore because the frequency of drought has reduced the efficiency of this thinking, its only fair we graduate from this to some more resilient approach which gives us some fall back just incase our first line of defence fails to give us adequate protection.

No economy running on a single pillar product line has ever withstood the shock of its product experiencing downward spiral n  history is full of such incidences, sobriety demands learning from such experiences n planning well ahead of time before the same hits you.

This planning must be multi pronged, n possibly has to happen incrementally so that we are not exposed to the danger of rushed process.

its critical we first n foremost make deliberate effort to commercialize our livestock, the age old practice of owning livestock for cultural n prestige purpose has long being overtaken by event because it's an enviable resource n should be treated as such, commercialization of this sector would earn us more value in return, create more opportunities n enhance our place in the economy value chain, it will invite the the attention of the policy makers on us n consequently allow us the opportunity to come on the platform as equal economic player like every other sector of the economy.

World over people have adopted genuine partnerships of purpose where entity's bank on each others strength n consequently overcome their weaknesses, without doubt partnerships have many challenges n we as human beings are also afraid of every new phenomena, its natural but we can conquer our fear by institutionalising this partnership through deployment of legal framework which is structured in such a way that it's built to address all the challenges n our fears, complete even with an exit clause should we feel our rights is trampled upon or we are left with the shorter end of the stick.

Time is now because tomorrow will be very late, we can toy with this new thinking before its forced on us by circumstances of life, when its early you are better placed to negotiate for better times because the danger of death is not threateningly looking into your eyes.

Its only fair n the right thing to be accommodative of each other n let those who are of different opinions be because when all is said n done, we own this land collectively n no one n I mean no one has more entitlement to this land than the other.