West Pokot women reap big from agribusiness amid cattle rustling
By AGGREY OMBOKI
A plaintive, but distinct welcome awaits visitors to Ms Jane Chepchumba’s home.
She is a proud owner of 19 goats at Cheptor Village, Sigor Sub-county, West Pokot County.
Ms Chepchumba belongs to the Cheptor Mother to Mother Support Group.
She is one of the 314, 213 women out of the 621,241 residents of the county as recorded in the 2019 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) census.
In August 2020, she joined 24 other women in the village in forming an agribusiness collective.
“Together with other members of the group, I took a loan of 15,000 and bought four goats,” she says. Ms Chepchumba is now the proud co-owner of 19 goats.
She is almost clearing the loan, and is optimistic of expanding her goat rearing enterprise.
“Action Against Hunger’s (ACF) intervention has changed our prospects for living a productive life,” says Jane.
According to Atiko Bernard, a Community Health Extension Worker (CHEW), insecurity due to criminals targeting livestock herds causes displacement of people in the border regions. Natural disasters also drive people from their homes.
Some of the group members were his clients in the neighbouring Chesegon, which was abandoned in the wake of a mudslide on April 20, 2021. Over 4,000 people were displaced following the disaster that also killed nine people.
“Some of the mothers in the group moved from Chesegon after the mudslide,” says Atiko.
He sees the frequent cattle raids in the area as “an activity carried out by criminal elements,” on either side, refusing to attach any tribal label or attribute to it.
“The cattle raids are criminal activities and should be seen as such. It would be beneficial to both communities if such acts were abandoned in favour of other economically rewarding activities like agriculture,” says the health worker.
Out of the ashes of the mudslide and the ever-present threat of recurring livestock-related violence, Naomi Murkechir continues to blaze a trail in Kaipogh village- on the hilly Pokot-Marakwet border.
Murkechir has gone into onion farming with other group members.
“We took a loan from the ACF and they provided us with seeds. They also linked us to agricultural extension officers who trained us on best farming practices,” she says.
Murkerchir who is a community health volunteer (CHV), says the ACF programme has improved the children’s health.
“We have learnt the importance of exclusively breastfeeding babies for the first six months. To raise healthy children, we must nurture them on 10 recommended food groups,” says the CHV.
On her part, Ms Franscica Tiamare suggests the education of youth at the border and religious instruction as the solution to perennial conflicts at the border.
“People should learn to believe in God, and live in peace. The young people should be taught technical skills in vocational institutions,” says Tiamare.
She has set up a maize supply business at Kaipogh Village, courtesy of a Sh15,000 loan from ACF.
“The interest rate for the loan is 10 percent. I hope to clear it in a few months and also expand the business,” she says.
Sometimes, the area is a flashpoint for violent skirmishes between members of the community and cattle rustlers.
A November 19, 2020, a landslide killed 52 people, livestock as well as significant property loss.
The disaster displaced more than 22,000 households in Tamkal, Nyarkulian, Parua, Batei, Muino and Sebit.
On April 20, 2020, the heavy rains that had been pounding the region from the beginning of October finally exacted their terrible toll.
A mudslide began in the hills overlooking Chesegon, and soon covered the small but flourishing urban centre that was the nearest border town before the Marakwet County border. The nearest town is Tot, which lies some 15km away.
“The destruction caused by the mudslide was enormous. Even the police post was not spared by the fury of the deluge. We lost nine lives, including an expectant woman and two police officers,” says community health volunteer Solomon Matale.
Despite this setback and the threat of future violence, a group of women in the village have come together to forge a brave new future.
The Kaipogh Mother to Mother Support Group was formed in August 2020.
“We were contributing Sh100 every month to enable members buy household items and meet other minor needs,” says group member Jane Benjamin.
In September 2020, the group met with ACF officials who provided seed, loans, and financial skills training.
“Some of our group members are from the other community, while others are locals. Our siblings and other relatives are also married on the other side,” says Ms Benjamin
Still, the violence rears its ugly head in the normally placid valley, robbing of some of the young women of their husbands.
“We have a number of young widows in our beneficiary groups. The violence has impacted the family structure in the region,” says Lucas Odhiambo, who is the AFC Food Security and Livelihoods assistant.
According to Isaac Loitangiro, the economic empowerment of households will provide an alternative to cattle rustling and the stockpiling of illegal firearms.
“Most of the young men that get involved in crime are pushed by the pressure to provide for their families. Getting involved in mixed farming is a way to make extra income and stay off crime,” Loitangiro says.
Slowly, but surely, the green revolution is taking root in the lives and families of the support groups. According to Mr Odhiambo, the progress is remarkable.
He, however, notes that the challenge remains sustaining the project momentum once the funding cycle ends. The ACF official is optimistic that the women will push on by themselves.
“We will still be monitoring the programme to see how the group beneficiaries run the projects. In addition, there are pending loan payments, which the five beneficiary groups in the region are still making,” says Odhiambo.
