People Dying of Hunger in Kenya As 3.5 Million Face Famine; World Aid Badly Needed, Christian Leaders Say
People are dying of hunger in Kenya amid a devastating drought that is causing disastrous famine in the country.
The Christian Aid Mission reported that some 3.5 million people in northern Kenya and the Rift Valley are facing famine and starvation.
"Both the livestock herds and the people who are pastoralist in the Rift Valley have been affected so much," the Rev. Elijah Wafula of Life Missions Ministries said, adding that, "several people have died of hunger."
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What is even more tragic is that the starving people are getting little attention from Western media and little help from aid donors. While the World Food Program (WFP) and partner agencies have planned a $30 million program of supplementary food in northern Kenya, only 10 percent of the funding has reportedly been pledged.
Native missionaries said more than 2.6 million people in Kenya have been in urgent need of food aid since February when the government declared the drought a national disaster.
Justus Okoth of Evangelistic Outreach Africa told Christian Aid Mission that many people are starving to death. "It is so sad to see these nomadic people dying," he said.
In late March this year, a team from the Sunday Mirror visited a drought-hit area in Kenya and came back with a harrowing account of the sufferings being endured by the victims.
The report said people have to "hike miles and miles in search of food and water in a daily struggle to survive."
A photo showed children scooping dirty water from a waterhole that has dried up.
Other photos showed hungry mothers and befuddled children, with dust covering their faces, huddled in a hut awaiting malnutrition tests.
"Many of the children are too thirsty even to cry," the Mirror said.
Recent reports of rain and flooding in Kenya may cause some people to believe that the drought has subsided. Experts said this is not true, according to Christian Aid Mission.
They said what happened was that the flood just flowed away rather than seep into the soil because of soil degradation and the lack of vegetation.
Director Timothy Kinyua of Cornerstone Evangelistic Ministry said half the country is now suffering from drought, with many families reportedly surviving on just one meal a day.
"The drought in the country is displacing people from their homes, especially in northern Kenya," he said. "Some churches have been left with no or few members," he revealed.
