Ankole Longhorn, a cattle breed native to Africa, are seen in Lake Mburo National Park in western Uganda on Oct.15, 2011. (Xinhua/Yuan Qing)

NAIROBI, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Lingering drought in many parts of Africa has decimated cattle, drained reservoirs and led to implementation or warnings of water rationing in cities.

In Tanzania, officials and farmers blamed the dry spell for the deaths of over 3,000 herds of cattle in the hard-hit eastern region of Morogoro over the past two months.

Stephen Kebwe, Morogoro Regional Commissioner, said that for the past two months a total of 3,829 herds of cattle died due to lack of pastures and water.

"Always the district gets the first rains in November but, this time no single drop of rains since last April," the official said, attributing the situation to climate change.

The official urged pastoralists to change the way they use pasture in the country by adopting sustainable ways instead of decimating one area and moving to another.

One of the local herders, Lekule Mutusi, said tens of his cattle had died.

"The situation here is bad. I tried to save the lives of my cattle by feeding them with husks but in vain," he said, noting that pastoralists in the area were in a state of despair as all their attempts had failed.

"When our animals die, our very own lives are threatened," he said.

Residents of the Kenyan capital Nairobi will also feel the pinch of the drought as water rationing will be put in place until late March when the "Long Rains" season is expected.

Philip Gichuki, the Managing Director of the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company, said the rationing that will be conducted at intervals was occasioned by the escalating dry spell.

"In view of the declining water levels in our main reservoirs, we have decided to roll out a rationing program that will affect residential and industrial premises in Nairobi and its environs," Gichuki said in a statement.

He revealed that Ndakaini Dam that provides 80 percent of clean drinking water to Nairobi was operating below 50 percent due to suppressed Long and Short Rains in 2016.

Kenya's meteorological department and humanitarian agencies in early December warned of a looming dry spell that may disrupt water supply in cities and rural towns.

The Nairobi water utility currently supplies 546,000 cubic meters of water daily to its customers against a demand of 760,000 cubic meters.

Gichuki said rapid population growth in Nairobi and its satellite towns had exerted huge pressure on existing water sources.

"The existing surface water sources cannot sustain a rising demand for the commodity in Nairobi hence the need to invest in underground water exploitation, waste water recycling and rainwater harvesting," Gichuki said.