The number of people suffering from acute food insecurity in the Horn of Africa – southern Ethiopia, northern Kenya and Somalia – has risen to 23 million. This is up three million since Rosamond Bennett’s, CEO of Christian Aid Ireland, last visit in June.
A person dies of hunger every 48 seconds in the Horn of Africa as the region is experiencing its worst drought in forty years. In an interview with Agriland, Rosamond has shared first-hand information on the crisis in northern Kenya.
A total of 4.46 million people are affected by the drought and 150,000 children under the age of five suffer from severe acute malnutrition, according to the United Nations (UN) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Five failed rainy seasons with a sixth one predicted for March to May 2023 have resulted in severe food shortages affecting already vulnerable people in rural areas who rely on the land for survival.
Rosamond has been working with Christian Aid Ireland for the past 10 years, and as a board member of Christian Aid in Kenya she travels to the country every year, particularly Marsabit county.
The region has been classified as in a “state of emergency” using the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, which determines the severity of acute food insecurity and malnutrition in a country.
Following a two-year gap from 2020-2021, the Christian Aid Ireland CEO witnessed a pronounced impact of climate change during her most recent visit to the region.
She recalled how crops have either not grown at all or shriveled and died. Heat-resistant acacia trees were the only green in the landscape, which was also defined by dead livestock.
Over the last couple of years 9.5 million livestock animals have died in the Horn of Africa with devastating impacts for the people in the region who depend on their animals for access to milk and meat.
The rate at which livestock – goats, donkeys, cattle and even camels – are dying due to heat exhaustion and insufficient availability of water is increasing dramatically.
Describing the severity of the drought, Rosamond said: “Every few meters, everywhere you went there were carcasses of livestock.
“When you are seeing camel carcasses around you, you know things are really bad because camels are designed to be able to cope with those conditions.”
Without livestock, which raise a family’s status in the community, food security has been wiped away and people are left at rock bottom, Rosamond said.
Without the impacts of climate change and the following drought and food shortage, Rosamond believes Kenya would be a self-sufficient country in terms of food production.
Northern Kenya
In order to reach the rural community in Marsabit, Rosamond flies into the capital Nairobi and drives for 12 hours. The drought is not affecting everywhere in Kenya, she said, describing how the landscape changes during the journey.
In the immediate area of Nairobi she sees crops, however the scenery changes quite dramatically, getting drier and dustier. Rosamond described little dust tornados and how the wind blew everything planted away.
“When we were driving along you would get young boys and men herding a couple of goats and they were running up towards the car making drinking gestures.
“Everybody was trying to get any support they could from anyone driving past,” Rosamond said.
The climate crisis has led to a situation where people have to walk further to try and get water, and every year Rosamond has seen more fields of dead crops and dried up riverbeds.
She recalled meeting a woman who had walked 20km in flip flops each way to get water pumped up from the river bed in exchange of a little bit of money to wash her clothes and bring water back to her family.
Coming from a beef and sheep farming background in Co. Down, she said farmers here say they know the impact the weather has on crops, but not to the same extent as people in Kenya.
“I know what it is like when the crops don’t do well but it has never meant that there is no food on the table and we have nothing to eat – this is what it is like for people in Kenya.
“These people already bear the brunt of poverty. What they grow determines what they eat, how they feed their family and how they pay for their children’s education and healthcare, and medical emergencies,” she said.
At her last visit people were eating kale mixed with a little bit of onion and tomato. There was no access to meat, limited access to milk and fruit has shriveled.
“They had watermelons of the size of few grapes,” she added.
‘Livestock prices were profitable’
People in the region would be growing food and sell their extra produce at markets. Food suppliers, merchants and wholesalers would normally all be part of the local supply chain.
The effects of the war in Ukraine, food price inflation, and higher costs of inputs such as fuel and fertiliser have also been felt by the people, who Rosamond said will never make a living from anything other than farming.
She added that 1.3 million people have already abandoned their homes in search of food and water, which has led to fights over resources trying to secure land for grazing.
To reduce conflict in the area and prevent livestock ruffling, the people in Marsabit county are subject to a curfew from 6:00p.m to 6:00a.m.
“You are in such a difficult situation that you would do anything for your family to provide food and water, that you go and try steal cattle or go on other land and just try and find water there.
“They are driven by desperation, what else can you do? There are no other solutions,” the CEO of Christian Aid Ireland said.
Living in one of the worst-hit areas of Kenya where one in three people are severely malnourished, 38-year-old Kubo Chamuset’s herd of goats, sheep and a camels fell from 21 animals to nine.
Kubo lives in Laisamis with her husband and nine children. She solely survives by rearing livestock, however there isn’t enough food or water now, resulting in all animals in a poor condition and at a low market value.
Prior to the drought, livestock prices were profitable, she said. The family’s water source is 5km away from the village and people are forced to carry water on their backs.
Kuba is among the people who have received cash support from Christian Aid with funding from Irish Aid, which is managed by the Development Cooperation and Africa Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Kuba said the support through Christian Aid’s local partner Pastoralist Community Initiative and Development Assistance (PACIDA) helped her family afford a full dinner, but she fears they will need further support to survive until the next rains.
International support
Christian Aid Ireland provides cash to around 1,000 families to help them buy food immediately, as well as hygiene kits containing items including soap and sanitary towels, and jerrycans for collecting and storing water.
While seeds can also be provided to help grow more drought-resistant crops, Rosamond emphasised that crops take time to grow; however support is needed immediately.
She added that despite providing better ways of growing crops and improving farming methods, which has made a huge impact over the past number of years, people can’t survive after two years without rain.
The Irish government recently approved €30 million in humanitarian aid to support UN and civil society partners active in the Horn of Africa, including €5 million to seven Irish NGOs such as Christian Aid.
Ireland’s response to the crisis, which amounts to over €100 million in 2022, will provide immediate support to get access to food and water and will make a huge difference to people’s lives – a difference of living and dying for many, Rosamond said.
Image source: Norah Rotich
Highlighting that funding can’t reverse climate change and that the people who contribute least to the crisis are suffering the most, Rosamond said:
“Ireland and other countries have to meet their climate targets so we reverse the damage being done, otherwise this will happen year after year and we will be continually dealing with famine and drought.”
In August this year a new government and president, William Ruto was elected in Kenya. While Rosamond said the situation is out of scale, she does not believe the government itself is in a position to respond and is uncertain what support will follow.
Rosamond expects to travel back to northern Kenya with her team for a couple of weeks next June to provide emergency humanitarian support. “Even when the rains come, it will take time to build up sustainability and to recover,” she said.