Garissa is a County in the Northern Kenya with a population of 841,353 people according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) 2019 census, and a land area of about 44,753 km2 . The Northern part of Kenya, like any other arid or semi-arid regions in sub–Saharan Africa, has greatly suffered lack of sufficient pasture for livestock. The pastoral communities in Garissa County continue to experience drought which results in animal death. In 2022, the County lost over 2,ooo,000 livestock from lack of pasture. Pastoral communities in the County depend on cattle keeping as both source of income and prestige. Farmers with large numbers of livestock are considered rich, powerful and prestigious.
With water shortage, the communities move from one place to another, meeting with other pastoralists in charge of large and small herds but all in search of pasture. For women, this pastoral culture has sometimes led to sexual and gender-based violence as most of them are raped and sexually abused trying to fend for their livestock. For school boys who are young and energetic, they are forced to drop out of school to herd cattle. To mitigate these negative effects, the County Government of Garissa in partnership with Marifa Conner is using bones from slaughtered animals and Prosopis Juliflora tree (locally known as Mathenge tree) products to make animal feeds.
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