Desperate herders lose hope in Kenyan drought

BANDARERO, Kenya — Loko Kalicha Junno says she trekked for a week to save her 10 cattle from dying of thirst and hunger. But none survived.

Now, at one of the last watering holes in this remote village, she fears for herself.

“If this water gets finished I am going to die,” said the 64-year-old single mother of four.

The scorched earth and scrubland in this semi-arid region of Kenya are littered with livestock carcasses. Vultures wait patiently for nearby humans to leave.

Kenya has declared the drought that affects nearly half of its counties a national disaster.

The prices of livestock have plummeted as buyers take advantage of herders’ desperation. A cow that used to sell for $150 or more now sells for $20, and a goat that used to sell for $35 goes for $2.

Some areas have reported inter-community fighting and land invasions as pastoralists push their search for limited water.

The U.N. humanitarian chief, Stephen O’Brien, toured Bandarero village Friday and called on the international community to act to “avert the very worst of the effects of drought and to avert a famine to make sure we don’t go from what is deep suffering to a catastrophe.”

He pointed out that famine was declared last month in parts of neighboring South Sudan.

In Kenya, more than 2.7 million people are severely food insecure, O’Brien said.

“Crops are failing, food prices are rising and families are going hungry. The specter of hunger and disease is haunting East Africa again,” he said.

After a severe drought hit East Africa in 2011, Kenya and donors put in place measures to lessen the impact of future droughts on parts of northern Kenya that government reports have called vulnerable. The measures include a Hunger Safety Program that provides $24 for more than 100,000 households every month, plus a school feeding program.

But Junno and other pastoralists said cash safety net services have not reached them.

The UNICEF country director for Kenya, Werner Schultink, said an estimated 180,000 children had dropped out school at the beginning of the year in the 10 regions worst affected by the drought. The agency anticipates more than 100,000 children will need treatment for severe malnourishment by the end of the year.

BEN CURTIS/AP Camel herders scoop up water in plastic buckets from one of the few watering holes in the area to water their animals near the drought-affected village of Bandarero, Kenya.