March 13, 2024 (MACHAKOS, Kenya) The IGAD Centre for Pastoral Areas and Livestock Development, with the financial support of the European Union, held a two-day Kenya policy makers meeting on the signing, ratification and domestication of the IGAD Protocol on Transhumance.

In physical attendance were 35 national stakeholders from the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group (PPG), the Committee on Agriculture and Livestock, National Land Commission, Attorney General’s Office, and various ministries: Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs; Ministry of Internal Security, State Department of ASALs, State Department of Livestock, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

During the opening of the meeting, Dr. Dereje Wakjira, ICPALD Director, said “The Transhumance Protocol is a system by which we support the food system of people producing food in harsh conditions. In it, the rules of engagement for both host and guest are supported in a structured way”.

He reiterated IGAD’s support for the ASALs where pastoralists reside, citing IGAD’s continuous lobbying at international level which has attracted donor investments in these marginalized areas through EU, AfDB, WB and USAID funded projects. He called for more resources to be channeled to pastoralist areas so that vulnerability to climate change is managed.

Representing H.E. Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, IGAD ES, Dr. Fatuma Adan, IGAD Head of Mission to the Republic of Kenya, noted “it is paramount for the IGAD Secretariat and the Member States to start laying decisive strategies for the implementation of the Protocol, to actualize the foreseen socio-economic benefits in its implementation”.

Emphasizing Kenya’s position on the IGAD Transhumance Protocol Ambassador Joseph Vungo, Director Registrar of Treaties, Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs said, “The Government of Kenya has taken very keen interest and commitment in this protocol and in principle we have no problem with signing this Protocol”.

The Director of the State Department for Livestock, Dr. Christopher Wanga, noted that there are existing instruments in use that control movement but enforcement is the challenge. “We want to support and ensure we ratify this Protocol that will serve the citizens of Kenya”, he stated.

At plenary, presentations were made on: Status Update on IGAD Protocol on Transhumance by ICPALD, Kenya’s Position on Signing, Ratifying and Domestication of the IGAD Protocol on Transhumance by Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and the Livestock Sector in Kenya (economic agenda and livestock production) by the State Department of Livestock.

Having engaged in lengthy deliberations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture & Livestock Development and IGAD agreed to hold public participation meetings, centered on the Protocol between March and April 2024. The public participation exercise is necessitated by Kenya’s parliamentary procedures of ratification of international instruments and enacting bills/laws.

###