By Editorial | Mar 23rd 2022 |
Standard Group
More than 28 million people across East Africa are at risk of extreme hunger if the March rains fail again, an international development charity warned on Tuesday. Oxfam International said the global food and commodity prices spiking in reaction to Ukraine crisis will worsen hunger for 21 million people already in severe food insecurity in the region. Oxfam further said areas of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan and beyond are experiencing an unfolding full-scale catastrophe.
In Turkana and West Pokot, the National Drought Management Authority has reported a rise in malnutrition in children due to prolonged drought.The March rains are already late and farmers are worried that the planting season might come too late. Coupled with the astronomical increase in prices of farm inputs, the hunger situation could soon escalate into a full-blown catastrophe if it hasn’t already.Coming in an election year when rogue politicians usually look for the slightest opportunity to provoke the masses, this hunger crisis is a perfect recipe for chaos.
Already, banditry attacks in Baringo and Kerio Valley have escalated and they can be traced back to scarcity of resources — a situation worsened by the drought.
The Kenyan government must therefore move with speed and arrest the situation before it gets out of hand.
Being a regional problem, countries in region, including Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan and Uganda, can work together to find common solutions.
The region can start by facilitating farming when the rains come by subsiding prices of farm inputs to make them affordable.
The price of fertiliser has more than doubled, from Sh2,500 last year to Sh6,000 for a 50kg bag.
In Kenya, the government is currently advancing cash transfers to the vulnerable populations to cushion them against the extreme effects of drought and famine.
For instance, 1,550 vulnerable households in Turkana Central receive Sh6,662 each every month.
However, this cash transfer programme needs to be revisited as there have been cases of some deserving families missing out. In addition, what about those who get the cash but can’t find food to buy.
Food prices have also spiked and Sh6,000 is barely enough to feed an entire household for a month. The cash transfer programme should therefore be complemented with relief donations, and we call upon charity organisations to also join the cause.
Beyond the cash transfer programme and relief donations, finding a lasting solution to the perennial drought, especially in northern Kenya, is a song the government is only too familiar with.
With climate change worsening the situation by causing erratic weather even in areas that are traditionally not associated with droughts, the government can no longer afford to ignore this situation if it really cares for the well being of the citizens.
This senseless and utterly bloody conflict has to end and end it now. The youth on both sides needs a lasting break from being hauled away and marched into awaiting inferno. Nobody should be proud of this bloodletting because at the end of the day brothers are killing brothers. This conflict will go down in the modern history of that gem of the colored as its most shameful chapter. I wish everyone who toils to bring the warring factions to the dialogue table that will lead to a lasting peace will succeed. Then both sides should be ready to be left with thousands who will suffer from the inevitable consequences of bloody conflict, post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD). This is evident already. You hear stories of groups of young people carrying out horrendous crimes on their own fellow countrymen and women. You see photos and videos of individuals hanged upside down after being savagely lynched and others being burned alive at the stake while begging for mercy. You hear stories where houses torched to ashes with the elderly being locked inside. You hear stories toddlers being used for target practice. Such barbarities were unheard of in our lifetime until now. We should all remember that every one of those who carried such gruesome crime were once to be normal citizens. They are normal people who committed such barbarity under abnormal situations where normal life as we know it has departed. But still they have to be held accountable to the savage crime they committed without going as far as claiming that they were born as such.