Effectiveness of Drought Risk Reduction Policies: Case Study of Hay Production in Kajiado County, Kenya

Kenya has integrated several international, continental, and regional strategies and policies into its national and county programs to address climate-related disasters in livestock systems in pastoralism. This study reviews how these policy instruments have been integrated into local laws and the viability of hay production, a drought risk reduction strategy. The methodology used was a desktop review of policies, a KAP survey using a quantitative and qualitative questionnaire on 354 pastoralists and key informants selected using stratified random sampling, and a cost-benefit analysis of 23 hay farms in Kajiado-Central sub-county. The findings established that Kenya had adopted adequate legal instruments to support disasters in general and droughts specifically. However, the strategies are not elaborated into practical guidance resulting in poor implementation. For instance, the flagship hay production project in Kajiado focuses on building infrastructure on the government farms, with little support going to the actual hay farmers. In addition, staffing levels of technical officers are too low to adequately translate the strategies into activities that address the hay farmer’s pain points, namely the lack of a stable hay market, expensive capital assets and machinery, lack of quality forage seeds, and extension education. This paper recommends reviewing the implementation of the ongoing hay flagship projects to address the hay enterprise’s profitability and elaborating the strategies down to guidance that can be easily rolled out cognizant of the low staffing levels. Public-private partnerships can also address some challenges by stabilizing the hay markets, providing storage, and maintaining good-quality hay. In addition, the strategic feed reserve should include hay for pastoral livestock systems under drought risk reduction programs. Thus, targeted, relevant projects are critical if private hay enterprises are a sustainable drought risk reduction strategy.