Kenya

Dadaab, Kenya: World's largest refugee camp is 'unsustainable'

Friday, 02 September 2011 17:17

Written by IRIN jk/am/mw

On the outskirts of Dadaab, where many refugees are sheltering as the main camps are overcrowded, a family gathers sticks and branches for firewood and shelter. Vast areas of land outside Dadaab have been reduced to scrub. Photo: Andy Hall/Oxfam. [DADAAB] For months, the Kenyan government resisted opening an extension of the world’s largest refugee complex in Dadaab to accommodate Somalis displaced by drought and conflict, finally relenting in late August.

The town, about 80km from Somalia in Kenya’s arid Garissa region, has been drawing in refugees for more than two decades, throwing up complex problems that fuel Kenya’s frustration at having handled more than its share of the “Somalia problem”, says Badu Katelo, Kenya’s acting commissioner for refugees.

Somali refugees outnumber locals in Dadaab by a quarter of a million at least and counting, said J Ndamburi, the district commissioner. The three camps – Hagadera, Dagahaley and Ifo – designed for 90,000 people, now host approximately 440,000 refugees, 150,000 (all Somalis) of whom have arrived in the past three months, says the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR.

Read more...Add new comment

Insured Kenyan farmers await drought compensation

Wednesday, 17 August 2011 09:53

Written by Maina Waruru

0 Comments

An International Livestock Research Institute researcher discusses the livestock insurance scheme with nomadic herders in Marsabit District, in northern Kenya's great drylands. Photo: ILRI/Flickr. [NAIROBI] Insurers will assess in October whether Kenyan farmers signed up to the Index-Based Livestock Insurance scheme will receive their first payment, after the worst drought in the region for 60 years.

The scheme, which has been piloted in northern Kenya since early 2010, uses freely-available satellite data to assess the state of pastures. When the images show that pastures have dried up, farmers can claim compensation for animals that have died as a result — without insurers having to verify the deaths in person.

In Kenya about 2,500 farmers have purchased the product since its inception, paying a yearly premium of up to US$100 for 6–8 animals. No payouts have been made yet, but farmers who lost more than 15 per cent of their cattle may receive around US$180 per animal.

Read more...Add new comment

Kenya: Malnutrition levels in northeast stubbornly high

Monday, 13 September 2010 00:00

Written by IRIN aw/eo/mw

0 Comments

A mother and her babies who are recovering from malnutrition at a therapeutic feeding centre in Mandera town, Kenya. Photo: John Nyaga/IRIN. [NAIROBI] Malnutrition levels in pastoralist districts of northeastern Kenya have remained high, despite recent rains that boosted livestock productivity, the mainstay of the local economy, officials said.

"There could have been improvements in the nutrition situation for individuals, but it will be difficult to see an impact at population level, given the various factors that affect nutrition," said the World Food Programme (WFP) in Kenya.

The Ministry of Health and its partners recently found Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) levels above the UN World Health Organization's 15 percent emergency threshold in Mandera Central Districts, Wajir South and Wajir East. Mandera West recorded GAM rates above 25 percent.

Read more...Add new comment

Kenya hopes to become Africa's carbon trade hub

Monday, 21 June 2010 19:12

Written by Duncan Mboya

0 Comments

The retreating glaciers on Mount Kenya may be a sign of climate change. The government has allocated US$721 million to conservation. Photo: Flickr/Kalense Kid.

[NAIROBI] Kenya has announced plans to establish a regional carbon emissions trading scheme to steer Africa's carbon market.

This would hopefully position the country as the continent's carbon credit trade hub, finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta said in his budget speech to parliament earlier this month (10 June).

Kenyatta said a framework for carbon trading — in which polluters buy and sell the right to emit carbon — would be set up to outline how to register to participate in the scheme, how revenue would be shared and how to ensure accountability.

The framework would also describe development areas to be funded by the resources generated from the scheme.

Read more...Add new comment