ISIOLO, Kenya, Sep 3 — In 2010, as a devastating drought swept through Isiolo, Muhamed Hayota Dadable watched his wealth disappear one animal at a time.The cows died first. Then the goats.With every carcass left behind by the relentless drought, years of hard work vanished. At the time, there was little he could do but watch helplessly.Today, 16 years later, the 43-year-old farmer still reflects on that painful season. One thought, he says, never leaves him.“Had I known then what I know now, my life would have been completely different.”“I would have sold my livestock before they died. I would have invested the money, built a house or started another business,” he says quietly. “But I did not know any of that back then. All my livestock died. That belongs to Allah.”The lessons that came too late in 2010 now shape how he manages his livelihood.Muhamed joined Nasole Cooperative five years ago after observing the benefits his wife was getting from saving through the cooperative. Every year, she received a share-out, part of which supported the family while the rest remained in savings.Watching her financial discipline convinced him to join.“I saw my wife benefiting from the Sacco and I told myself I could not be left behind,” he recalls.At the time, his wife was saving Sh550. Once Muhamed joined, the family’s savings doubled.Today, both husband and wife are members of Nasole Cooperative, giving them access to loans when they need them.Last year, when their daughter was joining high school, Muhamed obtained a loan through the cooperative to secure her admission.For a farmer who once watched his entire herd disappear, access to savings and credit has become another form of protection against uncertainty.But his biggest change in outlook came in 2023, when Heifer International began working with farmers in the area through the Kenya Livestock Marketing and Resilience (KLMP) Program.“Through Heifer, I have learnt a lot,” he says.According to Dennis Ogaso, Veterinary Officer with Heifer International, the programme is intended to strengthen production and marketing among red meat producers and improve their livelihoods and resilience.The programme, funded in partnership with the Swedish Embassy, operates across Isiolo, Samburu, Laikipia, Kajiado and Nakuru counties.Its approach is based on partnerships, with Heifer playing a facilitation role and linking farmers to businesses and other service providers.One of the most important lessons Muhamed learned was livestock aggregation.For years, livestock ownership among pastoralist communities was largely viewed as a symbol of wealth. Muhamed now sees animals differently: as commercial assets that should generate income.Through aggregation, farmers combine their livestock before selling.“I may have 15 goats, another farmer has 10, another has 20. We combine them until we have around 250 goats,” he explains. “Once the herd is that large, buyers come to us and we have stronger bargaining power.”The model also helps farmers capture more value from their animals.Ogaso says pastoralists previously depended heavily on a chain of village brokers, secondary markets and traders before their livestock reached larger buyers.“There is value that is lost in between,” he says.He gives an example from discussions with women in Ngaremara.“You will find a goat at the village level at Sh3,500. By the time it reaches the secondary market or the main off-taker, it’s probably Sh5,000. So there is Sh1,500 in between. If you link this farmer directly to an off-taker, whatever is lost in between benefits the farmer.”For Muhamed, aggregation has changed both how he buys and how he sells livestock.The cooperative focuses on trading white goats aged between five months and one year.“A goat I buy at Sh2,300 can earn me a profit of Sh1,000 or even more,” he says.At times, members jointly buy goats from local markets and resell them at a profit.The model has also reduced one of the costs that previously ate into farmers’ earnings: transport.When local livestock markets collapsed, farmers sometimes had to transport their animals to markets as far away as Maua.“We were paying about Sh300 per goat for transport,” Muhamed recalls. “Then when you got there, you still had to buy grass to feed the goat so it would not look emaciated before buyers arrived.”Now, buyers come directly to the cooperative.“The transportation cost has disappeared,” he says.Ogaso says the programme has sought to establish links with private-sector players capable of buying animals from farmers, including businesses involved in trans-border trade and markets outside the country.But aggregation is only part of what has changed.For a farmer living in a semi-arid region where drought remains a constant threat, the ability to feed livestock during dry periods is just as important as knowing where to sell them.Heifer trained farmers to grow drought-resistant fodder, harvest it, preserve it as hay and produce seed for future planting.“They taught us fodder aggregation. How to grow fodder, harvest the seeds, replant them and even share the seeds with other farmers,” Muhamed says.Farmers were also trained to bale hay for storage and marketing.The harvested fodder is delivered to the Malka Community-Based Organisation hay store, where it can be stored and sold.Standing beside the facility, Muhamed points to an old wooden structure nearby whose roof is barely intact.“We used to store our hay there,” he says.He then gestures towards the newer store.“That is our new hay store.”A bale sells for approximately Sh500, creating another source of income. Even farmers without livestock are planting fodder because they can sell it through the aggregation system.For Muhamed, however, hay represents much more than an additional income stream.It represents the knowledge he wishes he had possessed 16 years ago.“If I had this hay during the 2010 drought, my livestock would not have all died,” he says.The lesson is now central to the way he thinks about farming.Had he known about fodder preservation, he says, he could have kept his animals alive through the drought. Had he understood aggregation and market linkages, he could have sold some of his livestock before the drought became severe.“I would have fed my animals with hay and still had extra hay to sell,” he says. “I would have sold some of the livestock through aggregation before the drought became severe.”He pauses.“I would not have stood helplessly watching them die.”That experience has also changed how he thinks about what to leave his children.“Passing livestock to your children is like passing on smoke,” he says. “It can disappear very quickly. Passing on land, a house or a business is much better.”The change reflects a broader objective of the KLMP programme: encouraging pastoralists to treat farming as a business, with manageable herd sizes, better care and stronger market links.“For us, the bigger picture, what we are looking at is to instill the idea of farming as a business,” Ogaso says. “We want them to have flock sizes that they can manage, they can take care of well, and sell and earn good money.”Muhamed has embraced that philosophy.After losing all his livestock during the 2010 drought, he has diversified his livelihood. Today, he keeps poultry and grows fodder, kale, tomatoes and other vegetables on his farm.He divides his income into three parts.“One-third goes to school fees, one-third supports household needs, and the remaining third goes into savings through the Sacco,” he explains.The cooperative has also become a platform for addressing some of the social challenges facing the community.Its gender desk, led by the chairlady and supported by vice-chairperson Asha Ali and committee members, handles cases involving gender-based violence and child marriage.Muhamed says community sensitisation campaigns have helped address such problems.“If a husband batters his wife, Asha and her team intervene. They can take her to hospital and help report the matter to the police,” he says.The community has also encouraged girls to remain in school.“Many Borana girls used to leave school early to get married,” Muhamed says. “Now we encourage them to stay in school.”Girls who become pregnant are also supported to return to school and continue their education while raising their children, he says.The cooperative is now preparing for another development: a new slaughterhouse, following training by Heifer on proper slaughtering procedures.“We are opening our slaughterhouse on July 26 in Isiolo,” Muhamed says.The facility is expected to strengthen the local livestock market by providing another avenue through which farmers can sell their animals and meat can reach consumers.For the KLMP programme, such interventions are intended to build a more resilient livestock economy.Now in its third year, the programme is approaching 20,000 participants across the five counties, up from 12,000 in its second year. It is scheduled to run until September 2027.For Muhamed, however, the numbers matter less than the change in how he thinks.The drought of 2010 cannot be reversed. His livestock cannot be brought back.But the experience changed what he values: savings over vulnerability, markets over mere ownership, fodder over dependence on pasture, and diversified income over reliance on a single source of livelihood.If another drought comes, he believes he will be better prepared.“The difference is that now I know what to do.”