Northeastern Counties In Kenya Facing The Worst Drought

The worst drought in decades is gripping Kenya’s Northeastern region; parching landscapes, killing livestock and creating a humanitarian crisis. Driven by climate change, it’s also leading to civil strife, as shepherding communities battle each other for scarce resources.

The impact of the persistent drought in the region continues to bite people, their livelihoods, and wildlife following the failure of the short and long rainy seasons in 2021.

The Northern part specifically, Marsabit, Isiolo, Wajir, Samburu, Baringo, Turkana, and Mandera, has been hit hard by the drought and the people are now calling for support

Since September, much of Kenya’s north has received less than 30 percent of normal rainfall. Droughts have always afflicted the region, but, since 1999, have doubled in frequency due to climate change. Now there is a drought every two to three years.

In March 2022, the Kenya Red Cross warned that over 3.5 million people are at risk of being affected by the ongoing drought situation in the country by June 2022.

Although the counties, which are largely dependent on agricultural cultivation and livestock keeping, were hopeful for the Long rains in April 2022, the situation might even get worse in case the Kenya Meteorological Department projections that the April rains will not be optimal work right.

But even if the rains do arrive as they should this month, full recovery will be near impossible unless urgent action is taken today.

The Crisis that has since caused hunger, has also led to other negative impacts such as school dropouts, early marriages, malnutrition, gender-based conflict, and mental health since 2021.

The Northeastern region which is a semi-arid part of the country, unlike the more fertile and greener south, is forecasted to be sunny and always receives below-average rainfall in the rainy seasons.

According to the US government data, temperatures in Northern Kenya have climbed by 0.34°C per decade from 1985-to 2015 and have been rising even further over the years. Heatwaves in the coming five decades are likely to increase in length by between 9 and 30 days.

The blazing sun is now ravaging every single life.  For the pastoralists of northern Kenya who hold their savings in livestock, a drought can wipe out a life’s work.

The value of their livestock is quickly falling while the food prices are fast rising above average in the region.

With the unfolding crisis in Ukraine taking the attention of African countries, there is a real danger that the international community will not respond adequately to the escalating hunger crisis in Kenya until it is too late.

Covid – 19 had already shaken the economy of the heavily indebted Kenya and the country was in the process of resolving the mass hunger facing her people. However, the crisis in Ukraine will have catastrophic new consequences as it has already pushed up food and commodity prices beyond what the country can afford.

East African countries import up to 90 percent of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia. Now with the ongoing disruptions affecting the global trade in grains, oil, transport, and fertilizer, food prices are beginning to skyrocket. Most commodity prices in Kenya for instance, have hit an all-time high.

In 2010-11, similar spikes in food prices pushed 44 million more people worldwide into extreme poverty, and indications are that the food-price inflation happening now will be even worse.

The humanitarian response has not met the expectations till now. Only 3 percent of the total USD 6 billion UN 2022 humanitarian appeal for Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan, has been funded to date. Kenya has only secured 11 percent of its UN flash appeal.

Kenya and the whole of East Africa cannot wait. The hunger crisis, fueled by changes in climate, COVID-19, and now increased cost of living due to the European Nations war is worsening by the day.

Most families in Northern Kenya are stranded at the moment. For those who are still surviving and have families, questions such as what will my family eat?  where will it come from? And will I get the daily jerrican of water, cannot skip their minds. Some are not even sure that they will live to see tomorrow.

And as the country continues to jubilate on political grounds, the government should start taking action as early as now to ensure the lives of both people and animals in northern Kenya are sustained.

Read More: Over 25 Million People Likely to Be Affected if Drought Continues