Relief food yet to reach the hungry in Taita

• Traditional brews badly affected by maize shortage and absence of patrons

Most family members, and worse, the orphaned children in parts of Mwatate the survey revealed, survived on wild plants.

Traditional liquor trade is also badly affected, with brewers abandoning their business for lack of customers and maize germ, which is the major ingredient in brewing. Consumers of the traditional brew, mbangara, cannot go to the drinking dens when their families are starving.

A brewer, who declined to be named for fear of giving herself away to the police, said many of her customers had suspended drinking.

“For the 10 years, I’ve been in this business, I have never come across such a devastating food crisis that has killed my business, leaving me penniless and dependent on relief food which I’m not used to,” she said.

Indeed, one can hardly come across the usual ugly scenes of drunken men and women. Scenes of drunkards lying flat by the roadside as early as 8am are no longer witnessed.

It was also evident that the raging famine, coupled with the teachers’ strike had turned schoolchildren into roadside traders, hawking mangoes and other wares.

At Godoma village in Maktau Location, for example, six orphaned children who had gone for several days without a meal were picking cactus that local residents have turned to for survival.

“We feed on these wild fruits since there is nowhere else we can get food, especially at this time when schools are closed. We don’t get our food rations from the school feeding programme,” they said.

Godoma Primary School, which they attend, is among the few schools that have been benefiting from the programme that has enabled disadvantaged pupils get at least one meal a day.

Since the teachers’ strike started last week, several such children have been feeding on wild fruits. Community volunteer counsellor Beatrice Marura said the fruits were unfit for human consumption, but people had to quell hunger pangs for lack of an alternative.

“We have in this village taken four children to hospital suffering from abdominal complications after eating the unsavoury fruits,” she said.

She said four people had so far died in the area from hunger-related complications, claims government officials deny.

Mwatate district officer Wilfred Sigei said he was not aware of the deaths but confirmed that Godoma, Msorongo, Mwachabo and Kishamba were the areas worst hit by the famine.

Vulnerable children

Ms Marura accused the Government of neglecting the plight of orphans and vulnerable children, saying they were at highest risk of dropping out of school and engaging in anti-social activities like prostitution.