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2m risk starving as drought bites
Vata Mbwika recieving her ration of (mwolyo) famine relief food in Athi location Mbooni. Nearly two million Kenyans face imminent starvation following crop failure in parts of Eastern and Rift Valley. PHOTO/ FILE
In Summary
- Some farmers said their children would have to drop out of school because they have nothing to sell to raise money for fees
Nearly two million Kenyans face imminent starvation following crop failure in parts of Eastern and Rift Valley.
In Eastern, maize and bean crops have withered due to a long dry spell, while in Rift Valley Province, the shortage has been attributed to the delayed effects of the election violence, which caused delays in planting last year.
Moyale, Marsabit, Isiolo, Mbeere, Embu, Machakos, Kitui, Kyuso and Mwala districts in Eastern Province are hardest hit, with the lives of 1.6 million people at risk.
Provincial crop development officer Patrick Maina said about a quarter of the six million people in the region had been affected and that demand for relief food has shot up.
In Pokot, a similar fate awaits more than 120,000 people.
Councillors in the area said there was a severe shortage of maize, beans and water, and asked the Government to provide them with the subsidised maize flour through the National Cereals and Produce Board depots at Makutano, Sigor and Kacheliba.
Councillor Simon Loitapela said hunger-stricken people were living on porridge and wild tubers after herdsmen migrated with their animals in search of pastures and water near the Uganda border.
Livestock disease
Investigations by the Nation showed that a 90-kilogramme bag of maize was selling at Sh2,400 while a bag of beans cost Sh8,000. The prices of animals were low because of a Government ban on sales due to a livestock disease in the region.
Mr Maina said 3.4 millions bags of maize and beans were needed urgently.
The Eastern provincial monitoring and evaluation officer, Ms Eve Kiara, said there was continuous monitoring of the situation to ensure no-one died of hunger.
However, residents said quick Government intervention was needed.
“The Government should act before it is too late,” Mr John Kaguambi said.
An Embu farmer said that in a normal season, he harvests 30 bags of maize and beans on his five-acre farm but would have to rely on relief food this year.
“All my crops have withered,” he said.
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While Kenyans are dying of starvation, both Raila and Kibaki are busy doing what they know best: playing politics. If Kenya was a serious country, this kind of issue would have been declared a state emergency. Then the daily politicking could have been put aside until Kenyans have enough to eat. Oh, ooops, I forget that we IDPs in this country, never mind. Let's hope that rapture happens soon.
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Kivuitu and his team of fired commissioners are still demanding shs 500 million as gratuity from Treasury when many IDPs are still in camps and millions in Ukambani are literally starving. Where is moral leadership in Kenya? Can Kibaki and his ilk like Muthaura please allow Raila some room to address these issues instead of proposing to lease fertile Tana River land to Qataris. If we address land reforms, our food production automatically will increase.
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We are in the 21st Century, are planning to make Nairobi a metropolitan city, make it pretty and why lie it is pretty right now...and here guys are dying coz the rains refused to fall! The government, rather than plan for things like drought/ famine...would rather make the city, One city pretty for the tourists and visitors...
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