Herders reap dividends from livestock insurance

Pastoralists whose herds have been decimated by drought receive first payments under innovative new scheme
About 650 herders in the vast arid area of Marsabit in northern Kenya last week received the first insurance payouts from an unusual project designed to cushion the impact of drought on pastoralists.
Payouts have averaged 3,000 Kenyan shillings (£18), with a maximum of 37,000 Ksh. Developed by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi and US universities – and backed by USAid, the Department for International Development and the World Bank – the scheme was launched last year in Marsabit, where pastoralists keep 86,000 cattle and 2m goats and sheep. The livestock generate millions of dollars in milk and other products, and serve as the main source of sustenance and income. But ILRI estimates that up to one-third of all livestock in the region have perished during the current drought, which has left 12 million people in need of help.
In east Africa, an estimated 70 million people live in the drylands, many of them herders. In Kenya, the pastoral livestock sector is estimated to be worth $800m, while regional authorities estimate that more than 90% of the meat consumed in east Africa comes from pastoral herds
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