Baringo villagers feed on wild seeds for survival

Gogo Sote Buret, 70, idly fingers wild seeds in the small polythene bag on her laps as she takes cover from the scorching sun at Kagir village in Kipsaraman, Baringo North District, Rift Valley province.

She seems lost in deep thought and in another world, but the frequent yawns shatter this reverie, bringing her back to the harsh reality of her world where hunger and thirst reign supreme.

The wild seeds, known locally as sorich, are plucked from “sirkwo” tree. For the granny, boiled sorich seeds have become part of the menu, supplementing the meagre monthly maize and beans ration from the government.

“This is what I will have to cook and eat today. Someone gave me boiled maize to eat last evening, but today, I have to rely on these,” she said displaying the seeds.

Speaking through an interpreter, Gogo Buret says the last time sorich seeds served as crisis food was 50 years ago when hunger of a similar magnitude ravaged the area.

Austere habits

About 30km away, at Loyamruk village deep in the harsh rocky terrain of Mondi Division, East Pokot District, three-year-old Celestine Lorik witnesses her own version of history unfold. Clutching a plate of boiled maize and beans, she munches away listlessly. For her and her five siblings, this is, in all likelihood, the only meal of the day.

The lack of food has forced her family to adopt these austere feeding habits in a desperate bid to ensure the once-in-a-month government relief donations they receive from the Red Cross Society lasts for as long as possible.

And just like Mama Buret, young Lorik too might many years to come, have the opportunity to pass this experience on to posterity.

The plight of these two Kenyans at both ends of the age spectrum mirrors the hunger ravaging villages in the dry districts of Baringo and East Pokot.

The Nation team that traversed the vast region on Tuesday came across families barely making it as they stand up to the ravages of hunger and thirst.

The team visited Barsuswa, Kagir, Tuluk, Kemweitio, Cheptesin and Karabata areas of Kipsaraman and Bartabwa divisions which are severely affected by hunger.