Low food production threatens jobs

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By Dedan Okanga and Peter Mutai

Declining farming in the North Rift threatens thousands of livelihoods.

The situation was made worse by post-election skirmishes, and the recent bickering over maize prices between the Government and farmers.

The semi-arid regions of Pokot and Turkana are the worst hit by famine: People are starving and livestock dying.

Mr Ken Wafula, a rights activist, says: "Hunger has kept children out of school. They are now getting into the streets of Eldoret and other towns to beg for food."

Wary of the declining production, some farmers in the agriculture-rich region have held back on their stocks for fear they too could starve if they sell.

The biting famine has forced slum residents to go to IDP camps to beg for food. Mr Robert Murambi, a local politician, says: "People pose as IDPs just to access food. But the problem is that food donations have been stopped."

Hungry families

The collapse of agriculture has forced residents of Kerio Valley to turn to charcoal burning, resulting in increased environmental degradation.

Mr Kipkorir Menjo, a resident, says: "People are destroying forest cover in the region, and soon we won’t have rains to sustain farming. The future could be worse."

The Government has introduced camel rearing in the dry parts of the valley to provide residents with alternative sources of food.

Meanwhile, more than 10,000 families in Kericho and Kipkelion are in dire need of food.

Kenya Red Cross Society requires more than 4,000 bags of maize, 500 of beans and 500 cartons of cooking fat for famine victims, branch chairman Richard Barchok said yesterday.

He singled out Soin and Chilchilla divisions in the two districts as the worst hit: "A large number of people in the two divisions face starvation."

Mr Barchok was speaking in his office when he received a Sh20,000 cheque from the local Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) to buy food for hungry families in the region.

The official thanked the institution, saying the donation would alleviate the residents’ suffering, and called on other well-wishers to help.