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Drought in Kenya: Three stories
Desiccated cattle carcases lie where once there was grass for grazing in El Wak, Mandera district, northern Kenya. Here up to 60 percent of livestock has already died in the choking drought that has racked the region since the rains failed in late 2005.
Photo: Kirsten Engebak, NCA-ACT
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By Caroline Waterman, ACT International
- Kenyan farmer: 'I have never seen anything like this before'
- Water tankers begin distributing water in northeastern Kenya
- Thousands in camps in northeastern Kenya in need of assistance
Kenyan farmer: 'I have never seen anything like this before'
Kajiado, southern Kenya -- Dead animals lie rotting in the fields, the farms, the markets and along the roads. The cattle farmers of Kajiado in southern Kenya have lost everything to drought.
Moses Ole Yiare is one of many farmers whose livelihood has gone. His farmyard lies littered with dead cows, goats and sheep.
All of the neighboring farmers left with their cattle to look for better land for grazing earlier this year. Moses is not sure if they will have fared any better than him.
Moses was not a poor farmer. He used to own 230 cattle and 400 goats and sheep. He paid for all of his children to go through school and supported his two daughters through university.
Now he does not know how many cows he has lost. He says he is too afraid to count.
"In the past, there were droughts that would affect my sheep but not my cows or my cows but not my sheep - but this drought has killed everything," he explains. "This is historic - I have never seen anything like this before."
Farther south, toward the Tanzanian border, hundreds of Maasai herdsmen have also lost most, if not all, of their cattle. They have no income because they have no cows or milk to sell. Now they are chopping down trees to make charcoal to sell along the roadsides.
Even though the rains have come in some parts of Kenya, for most Maasai it is too late. They have already lost everything.
Pastoralist communities, such as the Maasai, are among the poorest in Kenya. A lack of investment in water, roads, education and health has left these communities with very little to protect them from the devastating effects of drought.
Members of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International in Kenya are responding to the drought. ACT issued an appeal for US$2.4 million to its members around the world on February 2 to fund the responses of five of these members. The ACT members' work includes addressing the immediate food and water needs of the most-affected communities, distributing food, bringing water in by tanks for human and livestock consumption, and drilling boreholes.
This work is vital if farmers like Moses and the hundreds of other farmers who have lost their livelihoods across Kenya are going to have anyway to recover from the current crisis they face.
Caroline Waterman is communications officer for U.K.-based Christian Aid, a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International.
Water tankers begin distributing water in northeastern Kenya
Mandera district, northeastern Kenya --Dirib Mandera's baby had not had any water to drink all day. When the water tankers arrived, before she could give the baby anything to drink, she first had to wet the baby's head. Otherwise, the cool, clean water might have sent the baby into shock.
Dirib lives in the Mandera district of northeastern Kenya. After two years of drought, most of the boreholes and wells in the region have run dry.
Dirib now depends on the water delivered by a local partner of U.K.-based Christian Aid, a member of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International.
Five other ACT members in Kenya are responding to the drought under a US$2.4 million appeal sent to ACT members around the world on February 2. These other ACT members are offering similar assistance in life-saving efforts by providing access to water and food as the situation reaches a crisis stage.
Seven water tankers set off from El Wak town every morning. The water tankers visit small settlements throughout the district.
Most people have dug pits near their homes and lined them with plastic. These pits are large enough to hold enough water for approximately 20 families for 20 days.
When the pits are filled, a scene of orderly chaos unfolds. Anxious to get the pits filled as fast as possible, people quickly peg in the plastic sheets to line the pits. As the pit fills, many people fill their cups and bottles with water to drink.
Any livestock nearby is also thirsty and the people have to work hard to stop the donkeys, goats and sheep from drinking from the pit and contaminating the water.
Within minutes of the tanker arriving, 20 to 30 people have gathered around with jerry cans and gourds, waiting to collect water.
"Without this water, we would have to leave our homes and go to the towns where there are boreholes that still work," explains Dirib.
Thousands of people have had to move to camps outside of the main towns and villages in search of water. Dirib is among the more fortunate in that at least she is able to stay in her home.
Yet for Dirib and for most of the other members of her community, the future looks difficult. She has lost all but four of her cattle. The remaining livestock are weak and need fodder.
People urgently need help to not only cope but also recover from this emergency.
Caroline Waterman is communications officer for U.K.-based Christian Aid, a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International.
Thousands in camps in northeastern Kenya in need of assistance
El Wak, northeastern Kenya --Outside the town of El Wak, on the Kenya-Somalia border, more than 200 families are living in makeshift camps, waiting for assistance. Four months ago the camp did not even exist.
Everyone in the camp is there for the same reason. They are all pastoralists, and after two years of drought, all of their cattle, sheep and goats have died. Without their livestock, these people have no food or source of income.
The conditions in the camps are terrible. There are no sanitation or health facilities, and the makeshift huts provide little shelter from the sun and dust clouds that sweep across the town.
"We have nothing here," explains Abdia Mahat, one of the camp's residents. "We only came here because there is some water, and now we just sit, waiting for someone to help us."
Abdia walked for three days with her husband and seven children to reach the camp. They arrived in El Wak with what they could carry. They had to leave most of their belongings behind because their donkeys, which would normally carry their things, have died.
Her family used to have more than 100 cows - now they have only three.
When she first moved to the camp, she was able to earn a little money by making and selling charcoal, but now so many people have done this that the women often have to walk for days to find enough wood.
Camps like this one have formed outside of every town and village in northeastern Kenya, and the numbers are increasing everyday.
On March 4, on a visit to El Wak, James Morris, director of the World Food Program, said the situation in this region was as bad as anything he had ever seen.
ACT members in Kenya are responding to the drought through life-saving efforts by providing access to water and food as the situation reaches a crisis stage. They are also addressing longer-term needs to help communities survive future droughts.
Caroline Waterman is communications officer for U.K.-based Christian Aid, a member of Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, of which Church World Service is a member.
Contributions to support Kenyan drought recovery efforts may be sent to:
Church World Service
2006 Kenya Drought Appeal # 641-G
P.O. Box 968
Elkhart, IN 46515
Contributions may also be made online, or by calling: 800-297-1516, ext. 222.
Media Contact:
Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676;
Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526;
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