Drought, livestock and livelihoods: lessons from the 1999-2001 emergency response in the pastoral sector in Kenya

The livestock intervention programme that took place during the 1999-2001 drought in Kenya’s pastoral areas was the largest the country had ever seen. Donors made more funds available than ever before, more types of intervention were carried out, more agencies were involved in implementing programmes, a larger geographical area was covered and coordination at national level was more extensive than ever before. This paper documents the experiences and lessons learnt from the livestock interventions in response to the drought. It focuses on the arid and semi-arid districts of Kenya, where the drought’s effects were most severe.