ALTERNATIVE LIVELIHOODS IN SEMI ARID AREAS

For a start, I must confess that I have a soft spot for cattle keepers, particularly the African Zebu,  in the the semi arid regions of this country, often referred to as pastoralists, because my own father had a small herd that financed my education. So you now see why I have to write this article!
Anyway, we are all aware that people living in the semiarid regions have for a long time kept large herds of livestock as the only means of livelihood because it was a well paying occupation and  there wasn't a better alternative available to them. However, because of population pressure, dwindling land space, recurrent droughts due to climate change and general insecurity, there is need to avail alternative livelihoods to these vulnerable communities  so that they may lead comfortable lives as is expected of all citizens.
History shows that the colonialists carved large swathes of land in the semiarid areas particularly where there were permanent sources of water  which they fenced off as ranches where they kept livestock and game animals. The new political elite after independence joined them and they still continue as shareholders in those enterprises. The local people were left to fend for themselves on the fringes of these ranches without the necessary intervention by the government which continues to date. However, because of the problems cited above, this is facing threat and is no longer sustainable.
The Tiania and Igembe communities are well known large scale keepers of the African Zebu in the lower areas bordering Isiolo and Samburu from where they supply beef to the entire Meru region and even to Nairobi. However, this business is now threatened by the growing population, lack of grazing pastures due to frequent droughts and cattle rustling particularly from the neighboring Samburu community. In fact I can count several families who have been left destitute due to this insecurity. In the recent past they have had to move their cattle to the Meru National Park and sometimes to neighboring Tharaka and Chuka in search of pasture. This is definitely a veritable case of  inevitable conflict  that will escalate border conflicts within these communities and therefore not sustainable.
It is well known that the mighty US, China, India, Israel and Australia have large semiarid areas but they have now tamed them through the use of modern technology and put them to good agricultural production. This is what we need to do as a country in our semi arid areas, other than the present talk of leasing them out to foreigners, when our own people are starving. Any move towards leasing out these lands is like an insult to the indigenous communities who still are kept out  in the share of the lucrative ranches, some of them, run by foreigners. There is,  however, nothing wrong with foreigners investing in proper land utilization in this country so long as it is well regulated and doesn't deny the citizens their rights and perpetuate colonial mentality.
The way to go is  to support the pastoralists by providing credit schemes to restock and destock as necessary,  providing water, introducing new and better breeding stock, providing feeds and marketing linkages. Those who wish could  also engage in other agricultural activities like beekeeping and irrigated commercial agriculture. That's the way to stop cattle rustling and make our citizens happy and more productive. Arming home guards  or occasionally disarming others is simply outdated!