Environment

Drought brings misery to millions in Kenya

Kilifi (Kenia), 15 oct (EFE/EPA).- (Image: Daniel Irungu) Malindi, Kenya, Oct 15 (EFE).- Hardly a drop of rain has fallen in northern and coastal Kenya over the last year amid a fierce drought that has deprived two million people of food and water and killed thousands of farm animals.Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta last month called the drought a “national disaster” and ordered the treasury to free up 2 billion Kenyan shillings ($18 million) to purchase emergency food aid for the affected communities.The drought, which followed a drier than expected rainy season between March and May 2021, is most acute in the northern regions of Turkana, Marsabit, Mandera and Wajir, central Samburu and Isiolo, eastern Garissa and coastal Tana River, Kilifi and Lamu.“We are experiencing a disaster, a drought disaster, in the coastal province,” Hassan Musa, Red Cross branch coordinator in the region, whose office is based in Malindi, a popular beachside tourist destination, tells Efe.Over 400,000 people are facing water shortages in coastal areas. But it’s not just humans suffering due to drought, Musa said.“We have so far lost more than 6,500 heads of livestock in Kilifi and 4,000 more in Tana River,” he specified.Farmer Naomi Kaingu Ngolo from the coastal Kilifi region has watched ponds used by humans and animals for drinking water dry up.“We bring our cows here to take water. Currently, most of the livestock has died of hunger,” Ngolo tells Efe.Many locals in the region live in simple mud huts. The landscape has become more arid during the drought, which has killed trees and is threatening the cassava plantations.“I had 12 cows and I ended up losing 11 and now I am left with two. The second one was born recently,” Ngolo adds.The Kenyan government began distributing emergency food aid last week.“People must survive,” Musa, from the Red Cross, says. “They are skipping meals. Instead of having three meals, a number of them are having only one meal because that is all they have.”The second, shorter rainy season in Kenya is due to begin this month and last until December but the country’s meteorological department is forecasting that precipitation will be sparse once again.The drought situation in Kenya is complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic.“Covid has really affected in terms of exodus, again people moving from rural centers to urban centers to look for resources, to look for livelihoods,” Musa says. BROLL OF THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE DROUGHT IN GANZE, AND IN THE COASTAL COUNTY OF KILIFI IN KENIA. QUOTES OF RED CROSS DIRECTOR, HASSAN MUSE, IN THE HEADQUARTERS THE ORGANISATION IN MALINDI, THE BIGGEST CITY OF KILIFI (IN ENGLISH); AND OF NAOMI KAINGU NGOLO, RESIDENT RANCHER IN THE ZONE OF GANZE (KILIFI).Translation: NAOMI KAINGU NGOLO,RESIDENT RANCHER IN THE ZONE OF GANZE (KILIFI):(03'59- 04'09): "My name is Naomi Kaingu Ngolo, am of Gahaleni but live in Ganze, Kwangite". (04'09- 04'17): "we bring our cows here so that they drink water. At the moment, the greater part of the livestock has died of hunger". (04'17- 04'29): "I had 12 cows and lost 11 and now I only have 2. The second was born recently".(04'29- 04'49): "Even the residents no longer have food and the water is a problem. Regarding the livestock, I could sell them and, at the moment, I could feed my boys and family, but I dont have cows to sell because mostly are dead".HASSAN MUSE, RED CROSS DIRECTOR IN THIS ZONE (IN ENGLISH)