Kenya to extend livestock insurance to 14 counties

A boy herds cattle. FILE 

By JAMES KARIUKI @kamaukariuki_ jkariuki@ke.nationmedia.com

In Summary

• She said the 5,012 pastoralists who insured animals last year received Sh15 million compensation after their region suffered drought leading to livestock deaths.

The government will roll out a livestock insurance to all fourteen arid and semi-arid counties to help safeguard cattle during drought.

Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu said the uptake of the product had hit 11,800 households with an insured premium of Sh 5.3 billion since the beginning of the year.

She said the 5,012 pastoralists who insured animals last year received Sh15 million compensation after their region suffered drought leading to livestock deaths.

The CS spoke at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Kabete in Nairobi when she joined ILRI staff in honouring Andrew Mude with a Sh1 million Norman Borlaug Award for Field Research and Application.

The economist was hailed for championing development and actualisation of the Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) product, which has been in the making for the past eight years.

Announcing the 2016 winner, World Food Prize Foundation President Ambassador Kenneth Quinn hailed Dr Mude’s work saying time had come for Kenya to appreciate innovators’ works that touch the lives of the lowest in society.