Rainfall characteristics, rainfall reliability and the definition of drought : Baringo district, Kenya

Monthly rainfall data for Kabarnet District Office, together with comments taken from the Baringo District Annual Report, are used here to examine the relationship between rainfall characteristics and agricultural drought experienced over the period 1915 to 1943 in order to establish the meteorological criteria for a definition of drought applicable to the former Kerio Native Land Unit, Baringo District, Kenya. The concept of reliable rainfall as a drought threshold is also examined. The analysis shows that the occurrence of drought was related to both the rainfall total and to the seasonal distribution. The meteorological criteria for drought and for reliable rainfall were found to differ between the upland cultivators and the lowland pastoralists, the latter experiencing a higher frequency of drought