Bringing Health Home: Revisiting North Horr, Kenya
The Human, Environmental, Animal health and Livelihoods (HEAL) project's ‘One Health’ approach recognises the close connection between the health of pastoralists, their animals and their environment.
Public health specialists and vets travel together in mobile clinics to hard-to-reach areas, bringing essential health services to people and the animals they rely on.
The mobile clinics make health services accessible to communities that would otherwise have no support.
Bringing Health Home: Revisiting North Horr, Marsabit County, Kenya
In 2023, generous supporters raised an amazing £81,000 through the Big Give Christmas Challenge. This helped to extend Amref's life-saving health and nutrition outreach projects to isolated communities on the frontline of the climate and health crisis.
Read on to find out how critical this support was over a year filled with challenges for the pastoralists of Marsabit County.
Catastrophic weather has increased demand
From March to May 2024, heavy rains bombarded Kenya. Crops were destroyed, infrastructure damaged, and more than 200,000 people had to flee their homes. More than 200 people died.
The floods came immediately after the worst period of drought in 40 years. The deluge of water on hardened ground caused flooding and landslides. Many animals died, devasting livelihoods. Families were forced to move from their homes to temporary settlements even farther away from healthcare.
For the One Health mobile units, it meant travelling further to reach those in need of health services. Before the floods, the outreaches spent 15 days a month visiting communities. In the aftermath, demand increased significantly, and the clinics now travel every day. Our One Health clinics are the only source of health services for these pastoralists. In the past year they have provided tens of thousands of preventative services for animals and people.
Listen here to Anthony Odhiambo, HEAL project manager, talking about the impact felt by the pastoralist communities in Marsabit County.
Heavy losses from floods
"Quite a number [of goats and sheep] died in the first rains because of hypothermia," says Anthony Odhiambo. And this was after the livestock losses the community sustained through the drought. The same pastoralists are now facing immense challenges because heard of several hundred animals are now reduced to just five or 10. "The community has been highly impacted [by the floods of early 2024]," Anthony confirms.
Pastoralists are highly reliant on their livestock for income and for milk. Without a herd, pastoralists must now consider other forms of livelihoods which are more climate resilient. Amref is supporting these communities to build their skills in alternative livelihoods to reduce their reliance on livestock.
Supporting communities with alternative skills and livelihoods
The integrated weather monitoring and data collection in the HEAL project means that communities are already well-versed in gathering and reporting information on weather patterns. The analysis helps to drive early-warning systems which are essential for these communities to predict extreme weather, build their resilience and adapt to these changing contexts.
Yet for these communities to survive, and to thrive, they urgently need to reduce their reliance on the livestock farming that has always been their traditional practice.
"It is necessary for [the communities] now to start thinking of other alternative ways of survival," says Anthony. Through the HEAL project, communities are exploring the possibilities of hydroponic farming - an agricultural method that grows crops without soil, using water and nutrient solutions.
Listen here to Anthony explain how this alternative farming method could help the pastoralists of Marsabit County.
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Amref uses a One Health approach, which integrates knowledge and information about animal, human and environmental health, and how they intersect.
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