In Turkana, they live at the mercy of the elements

The day is Tuesday, May 26. Ms Esther Ekuru is seated under a large acacia tree feeding her four-year-old son, Ekamais, with wild fruits locally known as mukomo. She is among nearly 7,000 men, women and children who had walked long distances to Locherikery, 70 kilometres north of Lodwar Town, after word went round that relief food was on the way.

As the Kenya Red Cross vehicles approached, Ms Ekuru and the other women turn to song and raise their hands in prayer. They had been anxiously waiting since the previous night when some of them arrived at the food distribution point.

“I have not eaten a decent meal in days. The best my family has eaten are these fruits. The promise that today some people would bring us some food brought me here, 10 kilometres from my home,” Ms Ekuru tells the Nation through a translator.

Her story is not unique, as rains remain scarce for the second year in a row. On this day, 6,882 people from five villages – Locherikery, Lobolo, Loyoro, Lokipe and Nasura – gather to receive rations of flour, maize and beans in what has now become routine.

Bird’s borehole

Locherikery, which means a bird’s borehole, contrasts the environment in which the villagers are gathered and whose only green pigment are the leaves of the acacia trees. But it gives hope to them because now, like birds which can fly in search of water and return to that dry place, they are assured of living an extra day after getting the relief food.

On this day Fly540 had on its maiden flight to Lodwar, brought in 10 tonnes of food donated by Jain Mumuks Mandal temple. The Lodwar branch of Kenya Commercial Bank also donated four tonnes of food.

The airline has pledged 10 cargo flights to help the Kenya Red Cross speed up distribution of famine relief food to areas in desperate need, including Garissa, Mandera, Moyale, Turkana and Wajir.

Apart from the donation to Locherikery, a total of 15.5 tonnes of famine relief food has been delivered to Wajir Hospital, Makoror and Bulla Isiolo villages in Wajir and to Kalokol Division in Turkana Central.

Hunger in these marginalised areas tells the irony that is our country. In Nairobi, the big worry is the dramatic slowdown in the economy, the loss of jobs and the impact on Vision 2030, the ambitious development plan meant to propel Kenya into the ranks of industrialising countries.

But in Turkana and other far-flung areas, however, such heady plans are far from the mind. People sit around waiting for relief food as drought takes its toll.

The tragedy is that there are no concrete plans to alleviate the seasonal hunger.

This explains why dependence on relief food has become the lot of Ms Ekuru and fellow villagers. The land remains dry and bare. The men just sit in groups chatting as there is nothing much for them to do here.

Fifty metres from where Ms Ekuru and other women are seated, teenage girls chat while plaiting each other’s hair. They have never been to school. They shyly explain through a translator why they are gathered here.

“The whole family has to be here so that each of us gets a ration of the food. That way our stock is larger and will feed us for a slightly longer period,” one girl, Ekutan Eroalan, explains.

They usually rely on relief food from World Vision charity, which they last received in April. She notes that as the dry spell persists residents have continued to lose their animals in their thousands as there is no vegetation and all water points have dried up.

“I have lost 3,000 goats over the last two months. It is hard to get food for them and for us here. Water is also a big problem. The nearest point that we can get water from is the lake which is 30 kilometres away,” Ms Enyaman Ewoi, a widowed mother of 10 says.

The people fear they may soon start dying of starvation. Temperatures stand at 37 degrees centigrade, but it becomes drier and hotter from July towards August.

The Turkana District Red Cross chairman John Nakara says that access to water is the long-term solution.

The electricity generation project on River Turkwell has done more harm than good as water does not flow in large amounts, he says.

“If this water was to flow normally, it would encourage the residents to engage in irrigation, thus increasing food security,” says Mr Nakara.

According to area chief Moses Lokala and councillor Joseph Oke, it is time the government designed permanent solutions to hunger in the country.

“The people in this area heavily depended on livestock but most of it has died due to drought. Even Lake Turkana is drying up as farmers in Ethiopia drain water from it to irrigate their farm,” says Mr Oke.

He reckons a Kenya Meat Commission factory in the expansive Turkana area would serve the various pastoral communities. A fish processing factory would also help create employment for the Lake Turkana fishermen.

For now, however, the locals are at the mercy of the elements.