The worsening drought in Kenya’s traditionally arid areas, driven by the climate emergency, has pushed millions of people into food insecurity and led to the death of hundreds of animals living in the country on the East African coast.
More than 2.9 million Kenyans are in need of humanitarian assistance after coastal and southeastern areas of the country recorded the worst amount of rain in four decades, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The worsening drought has harmed agricultural and livestock production and has led more than 368,000 people to go hungry — the country has just over 54 million inhabitants. The numbers are gathered in a report published this Tuesday (14).
The humanitarian crisis intensified by the climate crisis particularly affects childhood and is gender-specific: 523 thousand children under 5 years old need treatment for acute malnutrition, and, in some places, families have started to adopt extreme solutions, such as child marriage , in an attempt to provide better economic conditions for their daughters.
With dry water sources, the country is also witnessing the death of hundreds of animals. The reality is not uncommon —in 2017, Kenya lost more than 400 elephants to drought—but it is aggravated. Garissa County in the southeast alone, which has just over 4,830 giraffes, according to national census data, is at risk of losing 4,000 of them to the effects of drought.
Local authorities interviewed by the Kenyan newspaper The Star claim that the situation has worsened because many families, in the absence of other sources of water, started to develop their agricultural activities on the banks of rivers, preventing wild animals from accessing the water. The giraffe population in Kenya is estimated at over 34.2 thousand.
The situation, which has been going on for months, led the country’s president, Uhuru Kenyatta, to declare the drought a national disaster in the first half of September. As a result, government areas such as the Treasury and the Ministry of Interior were urged to lead efforts to help affected families, particularly with food distribution.
The climate emergency, which is already transforming and harming the daily lives of African farmers and families, affects a region in Kenya that has historically had its dynamics altered by the climate. The so-called arid and semi-arid lands —known by the acronym ASAL— occupy more than 80% of the territory, especially the parts to the north and southeast.
Scattered in 29 of the 47 counties, they are home to about 38% of the national population, 70% of livestock and 90% of wildlife.
The livelihood and economy of the region were severely affected. According to the United Nations survey, 87% of the counties located in the arid and semiarid region are on the alert for drought and, in them, the population is forced to walk longer distances to fetch water. Cattle access to water has also deteriorated in 91% of counties. Milk production is below average in 74% of the territory, and corn prices have risen in 65% of the places.
According to data from the American organization Christian Aid, which operates in the country, Kenya is highly vulnerable to climate change, with projections suggesting that the country’s average annual temperature will increase by 2.5 °C in 2050, compared to 2000.
In 2020, Africa registered the third warmest year in the region. If this is done, in ten years the continent will have 118 million people — about 10% of the inhabitants — in extreme poverty and exposed to extreme events, and GDP will be reduced by 3% by 2050, according to projections by the World Meteorological Organization ( OMM).
Even though it accounts for less than 4% of carbon emissions, the continent sees average temperatures warming faster than the global average. In 2020, contrary to what was observed this year, floods were the source of disasters in Kenya — because of them, from October to December of that year alone, more than 40,000 people were forced to leave their homes and migrate.
Led by the United Nations, a fundraising campaign to help the affected population was launched in September. So far, however, the scenario is described as “extremely underfunded”. Of the US$ 139.5 million (R$ 798 million) identified as necessary, only 23% (US$ 32.3 million) were collected.
.
