Improving drought response in pastoral areas of kenya. Kenya arid and semiarid lands asals asal areas have suffered years of economic and political marginalisation together with inappropriate development policies, rendering them the most underdeveloped areas of kenya in asal region, drought is the single most important natural hazard in terms of shattered livelihoods, hunger, deaths and nutritionrelated diseases. On july 14, kenyas president, mwai kibaki, announced that poor rainfall caused at least a 60percent crop failure in five of kenyas seven provinces. The project supports the counties of marsabit and turkana in northern kenya with developing and implementing the initiated droughtresilience reforms and strategies. Kenya is improving in its early warning to drought. Impact of drought on food security in west pokot county. The severe drought has led to food shortages in kenyas eastern, coastal and central provinces, and the situation may not improve soon. The challenges of managing drought in mandera county, kenya fatuma daudi university of eldoret, p. Thousands are fleeing somalia to seek food in kenya and ethiopia, according to catholic relief services, which is responding to the disaster but what is causing this severe drought and the looming threat of famine. Drought conditions and management strategies in kenya.
Head of programmes, actionaid kenya share on facebook. As drought grips parts of kenya, cattle theft has taken a more violent turn, with some people forced to take refuge from the guntoting bandits who steal livestock. More than 3 million people in kenya are impacted by the drought across east africa, with the worst affected living in the arid and semiarid lands across the country. For the people of kenyas mwingi district, the keeping of livestock including cattle. By anthony langat contributor june 21, 2017, at 11. Kenya is generally a highly drought prone country with only 20 percent of the country receiving high and regular rainfall, with the remaining 80 percent being arid or semiarid. The 2000 drought emergency affected the central, eastern, rift valley, coast and north eastern provinces, with 4. The kenyan national drought management authority had declared alarm stage in 15 counties, and alert stage in 7 counties ndma, 2017. Kenyans living through drought in pictures the guardian. Kenyas drought disaster could be just getting going. The drought in east africa is reportedly the regions worst in six decades, and it threatens the lives of millions of people with food shortages. We work with partners in assessing the situation to inform response, participate in joint meetings to develop a response plan. Review and analysis of existing drought risk reduction.
The team surveyed 1400 respondents in 175 locations across kenya, asking if they had relocated either permanently or temporarily because of drought, if. For the period 1889 2010, kenya had 11 drought events affecting 39. Whilst kenya has the largest gdp gross domestic product in east africa, there are currently three million people who do not have access to food. Frequency and severity of drought in the lake victoria region. The findings show that drought is an extended period in which there is. We will spend a few days in nairobi my wifes work, then she goes to zimbabwe for a week and i head for mombassa and lamu, then we join back up in nairobi and on sept. Kenya mnn people in northern kenyas turkana county have endured a severe drought for about two decades. Female elephant loxodonta africana squirting water at a olive baboon papio anubis waiting its turn to drink at a water hole dug by the elephant in the dry ewaso nyiro riverbed. The causes of drought in ea are diverse in nature, as this.
Natural causes of desertification drought is one of the major natural causes of desertification in the drylands. Towards the end of 2016, kenya was facing a growing threat of drought. Consecutive droughts spell disaster and hunger for kenya. Fighting the impacts of drought in kenya actionaid uk. Scenarios for building resilience in the asals elizabeth carabine, marieagnes jouanjean and josephine tsui technical report series no 2 strengthening the evidence base for resilience in the horn of africa building resilience in. Lessons and recommendations catherine longley and mike wekesa the impact of recurrent droughtrelated crises in the horn of africa is rapidly escalating, with more and more people being affected each time a drought occurs.
Oxfam is very grateful to the women and men affected by the drought in the kenyan counties of. This image, from frances spot satellite, shows severe drought in somalia, kenya, and southern ethiopia. The drought threatens health and local food security. Understanding the causes of drought, how it affects the community and how we can stop it down is the first step to dealing with this year in year out menace. Kenya, and water shortages more severe, the lives, livelihoods, health and wellbeing of rural subsistence farmers and their families are at greater risk. These effects include economic, environmental and social effects. Vogt 1 executive summary of part i western cape province in south africa is going through a severe drought, affecting in particular the. Farmers and herders found their resilience tested to the limit last year. The paper also briefly gives some coping strategies that can be put in place to mitigate the impacts of drought.
Taken during the worst drought 20082009 in more than a decade. It is the worlds largest humanitarian organization and its millions of volunteers are active in over 181 countries. The drought cycle in kenya dates back to more than three decades ago. The drylands cover over 40% of the total land area of the world, and in africa most areas may be arid and semi arid lands asals. Its affecting people, particularly the young and elderly, even more than it has in the past. More often, drought and famine situations degenerate into dire humanitarian crises before the government takes substantial action. Pdf causes and management of vulnerability to drought in. Drought ranks as the most significant hazard affecting more people than any other and resulting to losses of billions of dollars throughout the world. The cycle of drought in kenya a looming humanitarian crisis. These determine the performance of different livelihoods. Its the worst humanitarian crisis the country has faced since a major drought scorched the horn of african region in 2011, and an emergency likely to persist well into 2018. Agriculture supports up to 75% of the kenyan population and generates almost all the countrys food requirements. Enhancing resiliency to drought in kenyas arid and semi.
Oduor at the government of kenya, national drought. Second, kenyas maize policy remains problema c and is partly responsible for the current food crisis. Kenya faces worst drought in 38 years daily nation. Kenyas uhuru kenyatta declares drought a national disaster. Impact of the ongoing drought on the kenyan economy.
Foreword natural disasters disrupt peoples lives through displacements, destruction of livelihoods and property, deaths and injuries. More than 360,000 people living in north east kenya. A new drought means 2017 could be just as dire, throwing an additional 5. Kenya s disaster profile is dominated by droughts, fire, floods, terrorism.
In january 2014, the government of kenya declared an impending drought with an estimated 1. A report from the who kenya reveals that the measles an eventual opportunistic infection linked to malnutrition coverage is low in some districts despite the last emergency campaign in october and november 2005. The stakeholders work together to create and support structures for a better exchange of knowledge between the counties, the national government and other decisionmakers. Consecutive droughts spell disaster and hunger for kenya in 2018. Pdf the effects of droughts on food security in kenya. The government of kenya has declared the countrys current drought a national emergency. In the last decade alone, drought periods in 9192, 9596, and 982000, and devastating floods in 199798 and again in 2002 in different parts of. The agency has warned that about 541,309 children under five in kenya are. In 2019, theyre encountering some of the worst conditions to date. This is linked to the nomadic nature of the population see table below. How kenya responded background document and overview kenya march 2012 introductionintroduction the kenya red cross society operational response to the 2011 drought has been documented in their operational updates in july, august, september and november and will be assessed in detail next month for the midterm evaluation. World vision kenya response on current drought in kenya.
Immunization coverage in drought affected districts. Drought 4 february 2005 the federations mission is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity. The indices in the preceding text were analysed for suitability in practical monitoring of drought in kenya. This research has been done to investigate the characteristics of drought in kenya from the year 1964 to 2015. Its effects have been on the rise in the recent past. The maps in this report were produced by gfdrr, the world bank for the kenya postdisaster needs assessment.
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