Famine: Malnourished children, mothers hospitalised in Taita Taveta

Iperi Nangordengo, with her 12-month-old, suffers from acute malnutrition. [Mercy Kahenda, Standard] Taita Taveta County has been recording severely malnourished children and pregnant and lactating mothers admitted to public hospitals. According to the latest county 2025 short rains food and nutrition security assessment report, over 600 children had been admitted to the Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP) compared to the same period in 2024. This is due to poor dietary intake from reduced food access caused by crop failure, reduced rains, and poor purchasing power among parents, said the report. "There has been an increase in severely malnourished children admitted to the Outpatient Therapeutic Programme (OTP) compared to the same period in 2024, due to poor dietary intake from reduced food access caused by crop failure and reduced rains. This trend aligns with under-five morbidity trends during the period. High malnutrition rates were being reported for children under the age of five years and pregnant and lactating mothers in Taita-Taveta County," said the report seen by The Standard yesterday. According to the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) drought early warning report for August last year, malnutrition cases had been reported at the Mwatate Sub-County Hospital and the Manoa and Buguta dispensaries. The report, which did not, however, give statistics, blamed dwindling household purchasing power due to skyrocketing food prices resulting from increased fuel prices, where the mixed farming, food crop/livestock livelihood zone has been severely affected since most households don't have food stocks, coupled with the failure of four consecutive seasons. "Unavailability of food at the household level, coupled with increased prices of staple food. Most households have reduced household purchasing power due to poverty and food insecurity occasioned by unreliable rainfall," stated the reports seen by The Standard. "We have so far recorded a total of more than 600 malnourished children in the region due to poor feeding," disclosed NDMA County Drought Coordinator (CDC) Kiragu Kariuki. The CDC revealed the report recommended early activation of contingency plans to avoid losses of lives and livelihoods in the long run. It also recommends the provision of food/cash to those in need of food, especially in the mixed farming food crop/livestock livelihood zone. At the same time, the NDMA report has asked relevant authorities to undertake screening, social mobilisation, and integrated outreaches in the far reaches of hotspots of the county. "Distribution of water treatment chemicals/purifiers to areas experiencing water stress," said Mr Kariuki yesterday. Further, the Supplementary Feeding Programme (SFP) showed a similar increasing trend towards November, reflecting morbidity and reduced food access to a variety of foods among the children. "Acute malnutrition cases reported were mainly from Mwatate and Voi sub-counties, each reporting over 100 Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) cases per month," stated the report. The main hotspots needing close follow-up include Voi Sub County: Kasigau, Marungu, Ngolia (Mbulia, Ghazi), Kajire, Kirumbi, and Mbololo wards; and in Taveta Sub County areas include Mata (Salaita and Orkung), Mahoo (Lessesia), Chala (Njukini, Machungwani, Nakuruto), and Bomeni (Bura Ndogo, Chachewa, and California wards). In Mwatate Sub-County, the worst-hit areas are Chawia, Mwachabo, Msisinenyi, Modambogho, Mgeno, parts of Landi, Maktau, Mwashuma, Kwa Mnengwa, Godoma, Rong'e, Msau, Kighombo, Mwachawaza, and Mpizinyi. In Taita Sub-County, affected areas are Nyache, Paranga, and Kishushe. Despite the county's programmes targeting early screening at facility and community levels, the reduced disease burden noted during the period, reduced access to food, morbidity cases, and poor infant and young child feeding practices played a key role in deteriorating nutritional status. These factors, the report said, highlight the need for continued efforts to improve sanitation, healthcare services, and community education around proper nutrition and caregiving. The report further said ongoing monitoring and targeted interventions in these at-risk areas are critical to sustaining progress in reducing malnutrition and enhancing children's health and well-being throughout the county. It said immunisation and vitamin A supplementation performance in 2025 is below the national target of 80 per cent, currently standing at 63.9 per cent, a reduction from 76.9 per cent in 2024. This drop indicates deterioration and is concerning, given the reported measles cases among adults (from 14 to 16). The poor FIC uptake is also attributed to resistance to the new vaccines (TCV and IPV), which are required before a child is declared fully immunised, said the report. Additionally, avoidance of SHA registration affects clinic attendance. Ongoing community outreach aims to improve messaging on vaccine importance and SHA registration. Vitamin A supplementation for children aged 6 to 59 months increased to 83.7 per cent during the July to December 2025 period, the report said. The report, however, said the county's efforts through routine vitamin A supplementation programmes through outreaches to ECDEs and households during the Malezi Bora period have effectively raised coverage above the national target of 80 per cent. In addition, data from DNHS registered acute malnutrition cases, mainly from Mwatate and Voi sub-counties, each reporting over 100 severe acute malnutrition (SAM) cases per month. The rest of the sub-counties had nil results, reflecting effective community-level screening and nutrition interventions by Community Health Promoters (CHPs). The TCV vaccine faced resistance, affecting the performance, with health indicators showing a decline in morbidity cases (upper respiratory tract infections - URTI, diarrhoea, and malaria) among children under five and diarrhoea and malaria among children under five and the general population.

Famine: Malnourished children, mothers hospitalised in Taita Taveta

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