East Africa is suffering from what has been described by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) as the ‘most severe drought in 40 years.’
There have now been three consecutive years of failed rains, and we are on the cusp of a fourth, with devastating consequences for wildlife and pastoralist communities.
Drought
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Climate Prediction and Applications Centre (ICPAC) announced on 22 February that below-normal rainfall is expected in most parts of the Greater Horn of Africa over the next three months.
The pattern of drought is most likely caused by La Niña – the cooling of ocean surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. La Niña has the opposite impacts on weather to El Niño, which is when warmer ocean surface temperatures are seen in the same region.
La Niña and El Niño together make up the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), creating cycles of extreme weather, ranging from droughts and floods in different parts of the world: snow blizzards are forecast in Los Angeles this week (a rarity), while New Zealand declared a national state of emergency following Cyclone Gabrielle earlier this month.
Pastoralist Communities
The Food Security and Nutrition Working Group (FSNWG) estimates that close to 23 million people are currently highly food insecure in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.
11 million livestock have already died. Some pastoralists have shifted in recent years from traditional livestock (cattle and goats) to camels, but with the sustained drought even camels are dying.
In northern areas of Kenya, loss of livestock and ruined crops has fractured communities as people disperse in search of water and forage.
This triggers a tragic cycle of events – livestock and people are displaced, resulting in increased land degradation; livestock competes for grazing with wildlife, leaving some areas overgrazed and at risk of desertification; weakened livestock is targeted by predators, which causes conflict with humans.
In addition, having lost livestock and already struggling with the burden of the tough economic climate, some people are turning to poaching for bushmeat for survival, bringing them into contact with wildlife and creating further conflict.
IGAD has announced the launch of a partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to address the multi-faceted crisis in the region.
Spotlight on Grevy’s Zebra
Almost all of the world’s rarest zebra – the Grevy’s Zebra – live in the arid landscape of northern Kenya (Samburu, Laikipia, Shaba & Buffalo Springs). There are estimated to be just 3000 Grevy’s Zebras remaining.
Easily identifiable, the Grevy’s Zebra is the largest species of zebra, with spectacular narrow black & white stripes, white belly, large ears and brown muzzle.
Teams at the Grevy’s Zebra Trust are working around the clock to distribute fresh hay, dig shallow wells in dried-up riverbeds and work with the community on securing water for livestock and families.
They also work towards long-term solutions which include restoration techniques to heal degraded land and implementing land and livestock management plans.
We are in touch with the Grevy’s Zebra Trust and are keen to support them with a small donation if at all possible.
If you would like to contribute, please follow the link below.
Thank you.
** Update: we transferred KSH 125,000.00 in support of the Zebra Scout programme – this was safely received and acknowldeged by GZT on 14 March 2023.
