Safeguarding pastoral livelihoods: FAO’s anticipatory action against drought

In the dry lands of Isiolo, Samburu, Garissa, and Tana River Counties, pastoral families are struggling to keep their herds alive as drought intensified for the better part of 2025 spilling into 2026. For these communities their lives hinge around livestock. Livestock are their banks and their supermarkets from where they get money and food respectively.

With pastures dwindling due to the drought conditions and livestock at risk, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through funding from the Belgium Government under the Special Fund for Emergency and Resilience Activities (SFERA), is stepping in with anticipatory action to protect livelihoods before the crisis deepens.

Keeping livestock healthy and families fed

Through the project “Safeguarding Livelihoods and Increasing Immediate Food Access for Vulnerable Rural Households Affected by Forecasted Drought Through Anticipatory Action”, FAO is delivering timely livestock health services and Unconditional Cash transfers to protect families from the most severe impacts of drought. Animals are being dewormed, treated against internal and external parasites, and given multivitamins to sustain milk and meat production, directly preserving both the livelihoods and the nutritional well-being of vulnerable households.

Cash assistance enables vulnerable families to immediately access food and address urgent basic needs without engaging in negative coping strategies, such as incurring debt, selling animals or withdrawing children from school.

For Hawa Guyo, a mother of ten in Haroresa, Tana River County, this support is lifesaving. She has walked her 300 goats and sheep to a central treatment point where veterinarians are providing care and she watches with optimism as the shoats receive the drench, jabs and pour-ons.

“My husband left with our cattle in search of pastures and water; the drought is biting hard and he had to leave. These shoats are all I have to feed my children. The dewormers and insecticides am getting here will reduce my costs and free up cash I urgently need,” she says. Alongside animal health services, Hawa also received 9,200 KES through the Unconditional Cash Transfer support to meet her family’s subsistence needs.

Stories of Resilience

In Bangale’s Biyole area, Fatuma Abdi has managed to keep her 300 shoats alive through feed supplementation, though at great cost. Previous droughts decimated their stock and this time she was prepared to save them at whatever cost.

“We agreed to sell three camels to afford supplemental feed,” she explains, as she says standing against her herd that is waiting for the treatment. She applauds FAO support and she knows this time round her family will not suffer as it previously did.

Alow Dahir, a trained Animal Health Assistant from the same community, is helping record livestock treated as his colleagues administer the treatment in makeshift enclosures. “They are my family. I went for training in the city and came back to work for my people. It is painful to see animals become weak and die for lack of feed. I appreciate FAO’s efforts and hope we can explore pasture conservation for the future,” he says.

Village elder Isack Habana echoes the gratitude: “These interventions not only ensure food security but also dignity for our community.”

Despite losing nearly half of his shoats to drought, Isack sees hope in the support provided and is optimistic of good days ahead with the arrival of current rains.

All the sites where veterinary treatment is happening there are many livestock keepers that have availed their animals. A testament of their love for livestock which is their main economic activity. Recently droughts have become regular and more intense negatively affecting livestock keeping that relay on rainfed pastures.             

Scale of the Challenge

Across Kenya’s arid counties, an estimated 2.12 million people are facing acute food insecurity, with 160,300 in Emergency (IPC Phase 4). By September 2025, Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes were already widespread in Turkana, Marsabit, and Mandera, and were expected to expand to Garissa, Tana River, and Wajir through early 2026.

With USD 500,000 in funding from Belgium, FAO is targeting vulnerable households in Samburu, Isiolo, Garissa, and Tana River to deliver:

• Unconditional cash transfers (UCT) to 2,000 beneficiaries
• Enhanced access to animal health services for drought-affected households
• Coordinated livelihoods support interventions

By protecting livestock health and supporting families with cash transfers, FAO and partners are helping pastoral communities not only survive the drought but preserve their resilience and dignity in the face of disasters and climate induced shocks.