Inside her single-roomed manyatta, Kaiduri has nothing to cook for her children, and she soon sets out to gather wild fruits.

"We harvest sagaram (wild acacia seed beans) which we boil and mix with milk or cooking oil," says Ms Kaiduri, walking feebly into the wild.

She adds: "We have nothing to eat and even butchers are not buying our livestock."

In the entire district, grazing grounds have turned bare. Watering points are dry too.

Most men and youths have deserted their homes with cattle in search of greener pastures and water leaving behind children and women.

Hunger and malnutrition is evident among school children who look weak.

Ngambolo Dam, about 12 km from Musul, is the only watering point, and hundreds of sheep and goats line up to drink water.

On one end of the dam, which a local investor in the tourism industry John Elias rehabilitated for treating water, scores of women queue as donkeys drink from a nearby trough.

Wild animals, especially elephants, frequent the dam as early as 11am. Thus the residents have to be cautious in case the animals attack them.

Livestock prices have decreased.

Noontare Lempoye, 27, a mother of four, says she had to sell a goat at Sh900 to raise money to feed her children.

Her husband, Mr Leitiko Lempoye, left home a month ago with cattle but she has not heard from him since.

"I do not know where he is, and I hope he is fine. He left after the drought threatened to wipe out our livestock," she says.

The woman has been left to care for her children and a flock of sheep and goats, which are weak because they lack pasture.

Food prices have risen, putting further strain on the hungry families.

"I was at Kimanjo shopping centre to buy unga (flour) and sugar. I bought five kilogrammes at Sh50 each, and sugar for Sh80. The unga will last five days," she says.

Lempoye says butchers from other regions who frequent Kimanjo, Dol Dol, Ol’Donyiro and other livestock markets take advantage of the drought to fleece locals of their livelihood — the livestock.

"They buy our stock at throwaway prices, while we have no option other than sell them to eke out a living. We have nobody else to rely on since all men have left with cattle, and children now depend on us," she laments.

In Laikipia North District that has 23 primary schools, pupil enrolment has dropped due to hunger as result of the famine.

Kaiduri’s daughter, Mercy, is a pupil at Musul Primary School, but she had to skip lessons and accompany her mother to gather wild fruits for food.

And at Lentille village, we found school going children in homesteads, while their parents walk weakly within the compounds with nothing to feed them on.

Mr Noolarami Meshame, a resident, says parents had resorted to mixing blood and milk from their cattle with herbs to feed their children.

"They will die if the Government fails to provide food to locals," warns Meshame.

In his compound, malnourished children gathered around him and his wife, when a child in uniform arrived and reported that one of his grandchildren had collapsed in school.

Local councillor, Mr Eric Kasana, says cases of children fainting in schools because of hunger have risen. He accuses the Government of neglecting the region.

"Children go to schools on empty stomachs and spend the whole day without food. The Government stopped school-feeding programme and that is why even the enrolment has gone down," says Kasana.

Local DC Amos Mariba says about 20,000 people require food urgently, especially in Kimanjo,

Ewaso, Il’Motiok and Mukogodo.

"Only 6,000 are covered by the Government and World Food Programme, and there is need to increase the help," Mr Mariba advised.

He says the Government would soon release funds for the supplementary food programme to benefit children in schools.