GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past nine years, it has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
For GivingTuesday this year, we are encouraging donations towards drought relief at Loisaba and the surrounding communities. Low rainfall during both ‘rainy seasons’ this year in northern Kenya means both wildlife and people have started to suffer.
With food prices rising and the value of malnourished livestock falling, the United Nations World Food Programme says 2.4 million people in the region will struggle to find enough to eat.
© Ami Vitali. Sakakei Naiptari moves his cows out of the boma before they milk them and take them out for grazing at Loisaba
At Loisaba, we offer dry season relief grazing to community cattle in order to support community members where there is little grass outside of protected areas for their livestock. We also run a community livestock fattening programme, where community livestock are looked after by Loisaba’s herdsmen and provided with veterinary care and supplementary feeding in order to increase their value when sold to market. Currently, 5500 community cattle are being supported by Loisaba. In order to maintain this, and to ensure wildlife also have enough to drink and graze, we need to purchase hay and high protein range cubes for the cattle.
Children at Ewaso School © Ami Vitali
According to the U.N, more than 465,000 children under five are malnourished in Kenya’s northern region. In addition to the grazing programmes, Loisaba provides school meals for 570 students at two schools neighbouring Loisaba.
Help by donating here.
$30 will provide 50 head of cattle with high protein range cubes for a month
$50 will provide a child with school meals for a school year
$100 will fund purchase and delivery of 25 bales of hay to help support grazing for both cattle and wildlife
