Armyworms caused a farmer in Kajiado South sub-Murtot county village to lose 28 cows. A herder is tallying his losses during a catastrophic drought that has claimed the lives of numerous animals in Kajiado County.
The late Interior Minister George Saitoti's trusty bodyguard for ten years, Mr Samuel Topoika, 50, a retired police officer, watched sadly as his animals passed away one by one.
He would have made a cool Sh1.7 million after selling each animal for Sh60,000.
Mr Topoika, who was devastated, told the Nation that his herdsman's alarm call from the grazing fields had shocked him.
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Most herders feed the green maize stovers grown in the Loitoktok agricultural zone for irrigation cultivation.
"My herder informed me when the first three animals perished. I hurried there, but there was nothing we could do to save the animals, " he explained.
Mr Topoika believed the animals had consumed armyworm-infested green corn stovers.
animal corpses
He disclosed that the 35 animals that had survived the drought included the deceased animals.
"My herd had at least 100 cows before the drought. Drought has caused the majority of the animals to perish. I currently only have nine cows. I have to look after my family. This is terrible, "Added he.
Mr Topoika is not the only herder in Kajiado who has experienced this misfortune; many others have also similarly lost hundreds of animals. To prevent livestock deaths, they now want the veterinary service to educate herders on recognizing plants afflicted by armyworms.
Most herders have relocated to neighbouring counties in search of pasture as the severe drought devastates the enormous Kajiado County.
More than 400,000 families in Kajiado County are at risk of hunger, and more than a million animals have perished, according to data from the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA).
In the past ten years, the country has had three severe droughts affecting the arid and semi-arid regions (Asal) counties: 2010–2011, 2016–2017, and 2020–2022.
The drought from 2020 to 22 will be the worst and longest in recent memory.
In some regions of the Nation, it hasn't rained much in the previous four years.
