Drought Situation & EW Phase Classification
Biophysical Indicators
The month of October was predominantly dry across all the livelihoods with few areas recording depressed showers.
The county recorded showers amounting to 30.1 mm as measured by three rain gauges.
The 3-month average vegetation cover for the county further declined to 19.85 from 27.2 recorded in last month as measured by Vegetation Condition Index (VCI). This depicts severe drought situation for the entire county.
The VCI for Samburu East was 13.48 indicating severe drought situations.
There was scarcity of water particularly in lowlands where water sources have dried up dry due to sunny with maximum daytime temperatures conditions.
Socio economic indicators details
Livestock are still concentrated in dry season grazing areas salvaging the little available pastures left.
Milk production during the month decreased to 36 bottles compared to 41.5 bottles produced in the month of September.
Significant deaths were reported due to drought in Samburu East.
Grazers had fair to poor body conditions while browsers had fair to good.
This month, Terms of Trade (ToT) was 0.63 kg of meat in exchange for a kilo of cereals.
The proportion of sampled children at risk of malnutrition declined to 18.37% compared to last month rate of 17.5%.
The current CSI stands at 2.5 against 2.65 recorded in the previous month.
Drought risk
The current drought risk is high and medium across the county with the county already in severe drought stage. However with onset of short rains, most indicators will improved positively impacting on food security.