There have been huge investments in ‘early warning’ facilities across East Africa, prompted by previous emergencies where livestock have perished and people’s lives have been threatened. The most recent of these was the drought that struck the Somali region in 2011-12, but affected parts of northern Kenya seriously too. Predicting droughts and communicating the predictions in terms of risk reports and early warning bulletins is now standard practice. Yet, despite all the talk of early warning, disaster risk reduction, shock-responsive systems, contingency planning and anticipatory action, the end results are mixed to say the least.
In Kenya, the impressive National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), a government outfit based in 23 Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) counties, was established in 2011 with significant donor support. It produces monthly bulletins stacked with information derived from earth observations from satellites as well as surveys of key vulnerability indicators (household food consumption, market prices for livestock, food, water, livestock body condition, vegetation status etc.) collected across each region. These bulletins are shared with the county government and the array of NGOs working in each area, as well as local communities.
This article is from PASTRES, a research programme that aims to learn from pastoralists about responding to uncertainty and resilience, with lessons for global challenges. PASTRES is co-hosted by IDS.