The Committee on Implementation of House Resolutions said 275 beneficiaries in Wajir County were paid Sh12,824 per livestock, which is 18.32 per cent of the Sh70,000 sum insured.
The amount of forage cover is determined using satellite imagery where payments are triggered by levels falling below 20 per cent.
The MPs argued that the devastation caused by perennial drought in most parts of the country had occasioned heavy losses to livestock farmers.
A parliamentary committee wants compensation under the livestock insurance programme increased, saying payments to affected farmers are negligible.
The Committee on Implementation of House Resolutions said 275 beneficiaries in Wajir County were paid Sh12,824 per livestock, which is 18.32 per cent of the Sh70,000 sum insured.
“The committee notes the progress towards the implementation of the resolution, but is concerned that the amounts paid out are negligible,” said chairperson Soipan Tuya in an end-of-term report.
Due to inadequate rains in March to June 2016, there were payouts made in Diff and Bute insurance units of Wajir County.
The payouts were triggered by forage cover falling to 18.32 per cent and a total of 275 beneficiaries were each paid Sh12,824.
The amount of forage cover is determined using satellite imagery where payments are triggered by levels falling below 20 per cent.
The government pays insurance premiums to contracted private insurance companies which are required to make payouts to livestock farmers in times of drought.
The government rolled out a livestock insurance programme on a pilot basis in Wajir and Turkana counties during the financial year 2014/2015.
Agriculture secretary Willy Bett told the committee that the Kenya Livestock Insurance Programme (KLIP) was being implemented through the index based model.
The committee, which visited Wajir and Turkana to assess the programme, said each county has 2,500 registered beneficiaries and the sum assured is the cost of fodder to keep a Livestock Unit (LTU) alive at Sh14,000.
“LTU is equivalent to 10 goats or sheep, or one cow or 0.7 of a camel,” the committee said.
The MPs said that the programme was expected to have covered Wajir, Turkana, Marsabit, Mandera, Isiolo, Tana River, Samburu, Garissa, West Pokot, Baringo, Kajiado, Laikipia, Narok and Lamu counties by March 2017.
The committee said the government had budgeted Sh156 million in the financial year 2014/15, Sh300 million in 2015/16 and Sh500 million in 2016/17.
“The total amount projected for the programme in the medium term period up to 2017 being Sh2.3 billion covering 230,000 households,” Ms Tuiya said.
The committee made the report following a resolution of the House on a motion asking the government to establish a livestock insurance fund.
The MPs argued that the devastation caused by perennial drought in most parts of the country had occasioned heavy losses to livestock farmers.
They said many farmers lost almost all their livestock and were reduced to paupers.
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