- Title: Drought forces Kenya's Maasai to sell starving cattle for a pittance
- Date: 19th October 2022
- Summary: KAJIADO, KENYA (OCTOBER 17, 2022) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MEN HANDLING EMACIATED COWS EMACIATED CATTLE AT LIVESTOCK MARKET LYING DOWN MAN TRYING TO MOVE WEAK COW (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) PASTORALIST, JACKSON SANE, SAYING: "This is the kind of situation that we have all found ourselves in, with emaciated cattle. Usually, this kind of cow would fetch more than 30,000 Kenyan shillings ($247), I think almost 40,000 Kenyan shillings ($330). The brownish ones lying beside me would fetch up to around 60,000 Kenyan shillings ($495) or 65,000 Kenyan shillings ($536). Now, they are selling for only 1,500 Kenyan shillings (about $13)." MEN UNLOADING AN EMACIATED COW FROM THE BACK OF A CAR VARIOUS OF SANE WALKING ON HIS FARM COWS WALKING PAST (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) PASTORALIST, JACKSON SANE, SAYING: "The reason we, the Maasai would rather have our cattle die is because of the poor prices they are now fetching. A cow that would normally cost 70,000 Kenyan shillings (about $578) now fetching 1,000 Kenyan shillings ($8.2). We do not benefit in any way. Our goats too at the market are selling for 300 Kenyan shillings ($2.48). We haven’t planted anything since this is the third failed rain season." CATTLE WALKING PAST AS SANE AND A FRIEND LOOK ON MEN AT LIVESTOCK MARKET HAGGLING VARIOUS OF CATTLE IN HOLDING PEN (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) LIVESTOCK TRADER, JOSHUA KEDOYA, SAYING: “We are encountering two kinds of problems currently: maize meal prices have shot up, petroleum too while livestock prices have seriously depreciated. We are facing a serious challenge here." MEN COUNTING BILLS, HANDING MONEY OVER COW BEING PARADED AROUND AFTER BEING BOUGHT (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) LIVESTOCK TRADER, JOSHUA KEDOYA, SAYING: "We no longer receive buyers from afar. All these people you see here are local buyers and sellers. They just come here and place very low bids, as low as Kenya shillings 500 ($4.1). You are lucky if the bid gets to about Kenya shillings 1,000 ($8.2). We just come to the market because we are desperate and there is nothing else to do." MAN HERDING CATTLE OUT OF MARKET (MUTE) DRONE SHOT OF LIVESTOCK ROAMING VARIOUS OF CATTLE FEEDING ON HAY (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) PASTORALIST, NTYUYOTO SEPEINA, SAYING: “Most of these cows you see here have lost all their calves to the drought. We sometimes manage to save a few, especially when we feed them like this but the majority of them end up dying. You can see how some of them have sores on their hides, that's because they are sometimes so weak to stand. The drought has been severe, the last five months." SEPEINA LOOKING ON AS HIS CATTLE FEED BIRDS ON GROUND, FEEDING / CATTLE FEEDING ON HAY SEPEINA LOOKING ON TRUCKS OF HAY, PARKED MAN UNLOADING BALE OF HAY FROM TRUCK (SOUNDBITE) (Swahili) LOCAL HAY MARKET CHAIRMAN, JOHN SAPAIYA, SAYING: "The cost of hay has shot up because we usually buy a bale at 300 Kenyan shillings ($2.48) and sell it here at the market for 350 Kenyan shillings (about $2.9). So, there's a big challenge now when it comes to feeding the livestock and people alike. It's almost impossible to satisfy the livestock while you are still expected to provide at home as well." MEN CARRYING BALES OF HAY MEN EXCHANGING MONEY TRUCK CARRYING BALES OF HAY DRIVING OFF ROAD SIGN, READING: “BISIL†ANIMAL CARCASS BY THE ROADSIDE WOMAN CARRYING WATER CONTAINER WALKING PAST ANIMAL CARCASS
- Embargoed: 2nd November 2022 12:01
- Keywords: CATTLE DROUGHT KENYA LIVESTOCK MAASAI cost of living food crisis food shortage inflation
- Location: KAJIADO, KENYA
- City: KAJIADO, KENYA
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: Africa,Climate Adaptation and Solution,Climate Change,Environment,General News
- Reuters ID: LVA001313618102022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS POSSIBLY DISTRESSING IMAGERY, ANIMAL CARCASSES VISIBLE IN SHOTS 30, 31
Cows too weak to stand, with sores on their hides from lying on the ground and ribcages protruding from their sides -- such is the painful sight faced by Kenya's Maasai herders as they struggle to keep their cattle alive in a severe drought.
Livestock are central to the traditional Maasai way of life, not only as the main source of food and income but also as a marker of social status and constant presence, with cows living alongside people inside circular enclosures called kraals.
Kenya, along with neighbouring Ethiopia and Somalia, is experiencing its worst drought in 40 years, with four consecutive rainy seasons having failed to materialise, wiping out livestock and crops in some regions and deepening a hunger crisis.
"This is the kind of situation we have all found ourselves in, with emaciated cattle," said Maasai pastoralist Jackson Sane, speaking at a cattle market in the town of Ilbisil, located in the county of Kajiado, south of Nairobi.
"The brownish ones lying beside me would fetch up to around 60,000 Kenyan shillings ($495) or 65,000 Kenyan shillings ($536). Now, they are selling for only 1,500 Kenyan shillings (about $13)," he said.
The animals at the market were so weak from lack of food that men were having to lift them in and out of vehicles like unwieldy parcels.
"Maize meal prices have shot up, petrol too, while livestock prices have seriously depreciated," said cattle trader Joshua Kedoya.
"We just come to the market because we are desperate and there is nothing else to do," he added.
At his kraal, herder Ntyuyoto Sepeina gestured towards cows feeding on hay, purchased from merchants at barely affordable rates.
"Most of these cows you see here have lost all their calves to the drought. We sometimes manage to save a few, especially when we feed them like this but a majority of them end up dying."
(Production: Edwin Waita, Anne Mawathe, Isabella Ronca) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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