Drought at the Coast has now been reported in Taita Taveta, Lamu and Kwale counties after sweeping through vast swathes of Kilifi County.
Government reports indicate the prolonged drought has led to famine for people and livestock in Kilifi and Kwale, and wildlife in the vast Tsavo conservation area of Taita Taveta. Authorities report that wildlife is straying out of its habitat to attack people and domestic animals and destroy crops in human settlements.
In Kwale County, the worst affected areas are Kinango and Samburu, semi arid areas on the Mombasa-Nairobi highway.
On Thursday, Lamu Governor Issa Timamy announced a Sh50 million famine and drought emergency fund to stem starvation in parts of the county where man and beast are fighting for scarce water and food.
He said the most affected areas are Mkunumbi and Hongwe, which have not had rainfall for many months, hurting farming and pastoralism.
Other areas are Pandanguo, Witu, Koreni and Basuba and Timamy said the dry conditions are stretching into Ijara and Garissa in North Eastern Region.
On the same day, the Kenya Wildlife Service announced that drought had dispersed wildlife from their traditional habitats in search of pasture and water in many parts of Kenya, including Kilifi, Meru, Narok and Tsavo. This has increased the risk of human-wildlife conflict.
Attacks on people
The KWS said there has been an increase in reported incidents of conflicts compared to past years, notable ones being attacks on people, property destruction, preying on livestock and crop raiding.
“Cases in point include recent sightings of elephants moving from the Tsavo conservation area to Mwingi Sub-county, while others were reported in Meru, Kilifi and Narok,” the wildlife agency said in a report.
The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) said due to rainfall failure for most of 2016, more than 72,000 people in Taita Taveta County are facing starvation and urgently need relief supplies.
The report says the lowland areas are most affected in terms of lack of pasture and water, dwindling household food stocks, human-wildlife conflicts and increase in commodity prices.
“Due to inadequate pasture and browse in normal grazing areas, livestock are currently walking long distances to ranches and parks in search of pasture. The situation has been worsened by increased livestock from neighboring counties coming into the county, increasing competition for the scarce resources,” says the report.
Surface water sources in the lowlands have dried and most communities now depend on water trucking, boreholes and major pipelines.
Trekking distances continue to increase, with residents of Kasigau location walking for up to 20-30km in search of water. Increase in cost of water has also been reported in all the four sub-counties of Taita Taveta due to increased demand and the hustle to get the commodity.
“The water situation has been worsened by forest fires, which have destroyed water catchment areas,” the NDMA report says.
Taita Taveta Governor John Mruttu and NDMA Coordinator Adam Ndamungu said food stocks are running low and most households in the lowlands now have only one meal a day. This has led to increased malnutrition cases reported in health facilities, he said yesterday.
“There has been an increase in wildlife invasions of human settlements in search of water and food. Wildlife has been reported to have killed people and damaged water infrastructure and property in various areas,” Mruttu said.
Most affected areas include Ikanga, Ndome, Ghazi, Kajire, Ndara, Rukanga, Marungu, Miasenyi, Makwasinyi, Bughuta, Mkamenyi, Zungulukani, Mwakitau, Mwachabo, Mengo, Mgeno and Kamtonga. Other hot spot areas are Kishushe, Paranga, Jipe and Challa.
The national government has so far distributed a total of 1,500 bags of rice, 650 bags of beans and 250 cartons of cooking oil in the entire county.
County Commissioner Josephine Onunga said relief distribution to the affected groups was still going on.
County and national government officials said response interventions are being undertaken in Voi Sub-county that is worst hit by drought.
In the rapid assessment report, more than Sh7.7 million has been disbursed in the region to undertake response interventions, with attention on peace and security, water, livestock and health.
Water trucking activities in drought hot spots are currently being undertaken by the county government in collaboration with TAVEVO, a water firm in the region.
Other response activities going on include enhancing feeding programmes in nursery schools and youth polytechnics by the county administration.
Mruttu said his administration will give all Standard Eight and Form Four candidates free meals during the examinations period. This is to ensure no candidate misses an examination due to hunger.
He said the Livestock Department is also supporting farmers who had conserved hay, especially in Kishushe, to sell to their needy colleagues.
“Land and aerial patrols are currently ongoing in parks and ranches by the KWS and Wildlife Works, with Wildlife Works providing water to wildlife to contain them in the parks and ranches,” the drought report reads.
Members of the drought management committee include county and national government officials, Red Cross Society, World Vision, TAVEVO, NDMA, Anglican Development Services Pwani and the Meteorological Department.
KWS said interactions between wildlife and the public are expected to increase up to the time the rains are experienced and the pasture lands regenerate.
According to an NDMA report, the water crisis in Lamu is likely to upscale to a drought crisis if it does not rain for the next three months.
According to the Lamu County Rapid Assessment Report, more people are becoming needy due to drying of their water sources.
Timamy said water scarcity in Boni Forest has led to the influx of wild animals in urban watering points.
Distributing food
“The national government and the Kenya Red Cross have begun distributing food to residents affected by the drought,” he said.
Lamu County Commissioner Joseph Kanyiri confirmed that the national government has been distributing relief food to areas such as Barsuba, Baragoni and Koreni.
Health and Environment executive Dr Kombo Mbwana said the looming drought crisis is likely to lead to an outbreak and spread of waterborne diseases.
According to an NDMA report on Lamu, competition between man, livestock and wildlife has led to contamination of water sources in Baragoni, Koreni, and Didewaride.
- Reports by Renson Mnyamwezi, Philip Mwakio and Benard Sanga
