Trees provide communities with sufficient fodder to sustain livestock during prolonged droughts

Trees provide communities with sufficient fodder to sustain livestock during prolonged droughts
Trees have enabled Gladys to get sufficient fodder for her goats. They continue to supply her with milk even during prolonged droughts. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.
Friday, March 31, 2023

By Hellen Owuor, Communications Specialist (CRIFSUP), World Vision Kenya

Gladys Bargoret routinely starts her day by milking her goats before setting them free to browse for pasture within her farmland in Losekem Village, situated in Baringo County.

She claims that for the past three years, they have received negligible amounts of rainfall, barely enough for a productive harvest.

Due to climate change, residents in the area are experiencing extreme heat, lack of pasture, food insecurity, drying up of water sources and livestock deaths. This is in turn affecting people’s livelihoods.

During dry seasons, Gladys cuts down on milking to enable her goats to have sufficient milk for their kids. ©World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.
During dry seasons, Gladys cuts down on milking to enable her goats to have sufficient milk for their kids. ©World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.

 

Gladys’ livestock has however survived the prolonged drought ravaging parts of Baringo County as she has embraced the Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) approach.

The FMNR approach boosts the regrowth of indigenous trees from felled tree stumps, roots of previously cut trees or naturally occurring tree seedlings present in the soil.

Gladys is among other 628 smallholder farmers and pastoralists who were trained on the FMNR approach in 2018, through World Vision’s Central Rift Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration Scale-Up Project (CRIFSUP) that is funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

Gladys has over 200 goats that have remained healthy at a time when some families are losing their livestock due to the ongoing drought in Kenya. ©World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.
Gladys has over 200 goats that have remained healthy at a time when some families are losing their livestock due to the ongoing drought in Kenya. ©World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.

 

“In the year 2000, before implementing FMNR, I lost 324 out of the 345 goats I had due to drought. We used to walk for 15 to 18 kilometres in search of water and pasture. Some livestock would die along the way,” Gladys recalls.

“I am very happy that so far, none of my livestock has died, thanks to FMNR. They are healthy because they no longer have to go far to get fodder,” Gladys adds.

In 2018, she enclosed one acre of her farmland, for use in practicing the FMNR approach. She has been gradually increasing it and now has six and a half acres dedicated to the approach.

Before embracing the FMNR approach, Gladys says that the enclosed area was a dense thicket, creating a convenient hiding place for wild dogs that frequently preyed on her goats.

“After World Vision trained us on FMNR, I fenced my farm, thinned the thicket and pruned selected tree stumps. Thinning enabled me to reduce the dense population of mathenge trees [scientifically known as Prosopis Juliflora] as well as make room for the healthy regeneration of other beneficial plant species like the acacia trees. Wild dogs no longer have a place to hide, meaning my goats are safe,” Gladys says.

Prosopis juliflora is an invasive plant that has covered almost 70% of Baringo South. Although its thorns are poisonous, the pods are a good source of protein for animal feed. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.
Prosopis juliflora is an invasive plant that has covered almost 70% of Baringo South. Although its thorns are poisonous, the pods are a good source of protein for animal feed. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.

 

Despite many people viewing the mathenge trees as destructive, Gladys is using the invasive plant to her advantage, especially during dry seasons.

Thanks to the continuous pruning as well as the effective management of mathenge trees and acacia trees on her farm, Gladys is able to get firewood, shade, herbal medicine, fencing material and animal feed from her farm.

She usually mixes the mathenge tree pods with dried maize cobs to make fodder which supplements her livestock’s diet.

Apart from the mixture of grounded maize cobs and mathenge pods, Gladys also feeds her cattle with grounded nutritious beans and green grams. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.
Apart from the mixture of ground maize cobs and mathenge pods, Gladys also feeds her cattle with ground nutritious beans and green grams. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.

 

“World Vision gave us a hay chopper that we use to grind livestock feed. This has really helped us. Once we dry and grind pasture, it gets a longer shelf-life and wastage is minimised. My livestock feeds on it and the surplus is stored for use during dry seasons,” says Gladys.

World Vision through CRIFSUP donated a hay chopper to Gladys and her savings group in June 2021. The chopper is shared among group members and at times rented out to the community thus creating an extra source of income. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.
Through its CRIFSUP initiative, World Vision donated a hay chopper to Gladys and her savings group in June 2021. The chopper is shared among group members and at times rented to the community for income generation.. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.

 

The availability of diversified sources of nutrition has enabled Gladys to maintain healthy goats amid the escalating drought in the area.

During wet seasons when there is abundant animal feed, Gladys usually milks the goats and collects at least four litres daily. She sells two litres at 60 Kenyan Shillings (USD 0.47) per litre and leaves the rest for consumption at home.

When need arises, she also sells her goats depending on the age, size and demand. The price of a goat ranges between 2,000 to 4,000 Kenyan Shillings (USD 15.41 to 30.82). The cost can rise up to to 6,000 Kenyan Shillings (USD 46.22) during festive seasons in Kenya.

Gladys’ 2-year-old granddaughter enjoys drinking traditional fermented goat or cow milk locally known as Mursik. It is fermented in a special gourd lined with soot. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.
Gladys’ two-year-old granddaughter enjoys drinking traditional fermented goat or cow milk that is locally known as Mursik. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.

 

Gladys also rears chicken. At the beginning of the year (2023), she sold 21 hens and made 15,100 Kenyan Shillings (USD 118.34). She now has 59 hens left.

Gladys uses the extra income received from these sales to pay her children’s school fees and buy other household necessities.

Gladys uses the money earned from the sales of her livestock and their products to cater for family and household essentials. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.
Gladys uses the money earned from livestock production to cater for her family needs and household essentials. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.

 

Rainfall patterns are no longer predictable as a result of climate change in Baringo County just as in most parts of Kenya. This has led to prolonged droughts that adversely affects communities.

The FMNR approach is increasingly building the resilience of communities against these detrimental effects of climate change, as illustrated by Glady’s story.

Rainfall patterns are no longer predictable as a result of climate change. Gladys’ first priority is the survival of her family and livestock. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.
Rainfall patterns are no longer predictable as a result of climate change. Gladys’ first priority is the survival of her family and livestock. World Vision Photo/Hellen Owuor.

 

This is restoring hope among affected communities, as they are assured of the sustained well-being of their families and survival of their livestock all year round.

“As long as there is money and food for my family and livestock, I am satisfied. So far, FMNR has made that possible,” Gladys says.