Residents of drought-stricken Tana River County are relieved after the government supplied relief food to them.
The long-awaited support will go to 9,000 affected and vulnerable people.
Residents of Kalkacha village, Galole constituency, noted that the intervention will save them from starving.
“Our stores were already empty. We had started slaughtering our animals for meals every day instead of watching them die,” Asha Bodhontu said.
The cost of living, she said, is high and families cannot afford two meals a day.
This has hit children hard, she said, leading to malnutrition and pushing many to drop out of school.
“None of my children attends school. They are all at home and some in grazing fields in the Tana Delta. This drought has disrupted our lives,” she said.
Roli Godana said that the government intervention was long overdue but noted the food will cushion families for a few days.
He lamented the portions supplied, saying some families of up to 12 people will have to share 30kg of beans and 25kg of rice.
“I understand the government has emergency funds that cater for such calamities. This time it seems they did not have plans for such disasters in their budget. We expected more. When we had floods they gave out a lot,” he said.
Residents appealed to the government to support local irrigation schemes by mechanising and expanding production to make the region food-secure.
“You can imagine there is no food in the government store and no food on our farms. That should not happen. They should empower farmers and support farming in our irrigation schemes,” said Jotham Komora.
Tana River County Commissioner Mbogai Rioba noted that the relief food support is just a fraction of the government intervention in mitigating the effects of the drought.
More than 100,000 people in the county, he said, were severely affected by the drought.
“Both the short and long rains failed, hence the severe hunger affecting farming and pastoralist communities,” he said.
Mr Rioba said more support is on the way, urging residents to share proportionately what was delivered.
Among the organisations supplying relief food are the Food and Agriculture Organization, the European Union and Kenya Red Cross.
Tana River County has also allocated Sh132 million for relief food. BY DAILY NATION