A million refugees urgently need shelter, food and water
Turkana, Kenya: five years without rain
The region of Turkana in the North of Kenya has gone for over five years without a good rain capable of making the grazing lands grow enough grass to feed the region’s livestock, its sole source of economic livelihood. Turkana is just one of many regions in the Horn of Africa that have been affected by the serious drought that has put more than 13 million people at risk.
The photographs speak for themselves. But the stories of the people of Turkana confirm the urgent need for food aid, and the necessity of developing long-term projects that will enable them to face catastrophic climate events, which are occurring with ever greater frequency.
Photos: Irina Fuhrmann/Oxfam
The camel – the animal best equipped to resist the effects of drought, the animal that nourishes families in the dry season, providing milk, meat, and fat – is dying. The cattle, the goats, and the sheep have already died. But when the camel dies, pastoral communities weep, for they know that along with it die all of their hopes for the future.
There is no water, and the earth is so dry that deep cracks open in the ground under one’s feet. Pastoral communities, which are traditionally nomadic, have nowhere to go to find grazing land, and their only option is to wait for the arrival of rain. This will not occur for several months, and in the meantime the few animals that survive will be so weak that they will no longer serve as objects of barter.
The local residents dig water wells in the dried-up river beds. At a certain depth, a brown, muddy liquid emerges, which will be consumed by both people and animals. It is the only drinking water available to the residents of many communities in Turkana, a marginalized region where no money has been invested to develop water distribution centers or to dig wells.
Created by the community to collect rainwater, these reservoirs have been empty for five years and they have now become a place where children play. Many of these children have never seen a true rainfall in their entire lives. Today they depend on the nutritional assistance they receive at school, where they show up every day in their green uniforms to receive their daily ration of porridge.
Many families have gone for weeks living only on wild fruits they find on local bushes. These fruits must be boiled for several days before they can be consumed. Dried animal skins are also used to stave off hunger for a few hours.
Traditionally, the men of Turkana marry after delivering a bride price to the bride’s family, consisting of a predetermined number of head of livestock. The drought and the loss of livestock have paralyzed all of these celebrations, which are an essential cultural component of pastoral communities.
WFP’s food distribution program, implemented by Oxfam, has been reaching only the most vulnerable families over the last months. But given the growing needs of the region this is no longer adequate. Thousands of families depend on the corn, dried peas, flour, and oil they receive each month from the distribution center. These supplies are delivered in large quantities and then distributed in small bags so recipients can carry them to their homes, which are often located in remote areas.
It’s unusual to find green leaves in Turkana, but in the village of Kaaleng, several family gardens are beginning to thrive. The village, which is supplied with water thanks to the solar-powered energy pump installed by Oxfam, has fertile soil and several of its residents, such as Benson Kore, have begun to grow vegetables. His family lost most of the livestock upon which they once depended. Benson still has five goats left, and they subsist on the waste materials from his vegetable garden.
The Akadeli school for herdsmen is a pilot project developed by Oxfam as a resource to allow herdsmen of Turkana to regroup in the face of the drought crisis. The majority of them have lost all of their animals, and so, with the help of a system of community microcredit, they try to find new solutions. One of these is the development of fishing in Lake Turkana. Thanks to these fish, the herdsmen have found new sources of income and have diversified the nutrients in their own diet as well.
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