Wild fruits fail to cushion Ganze residents during drought

Faces of desperation and despair is what welcomes you to many homes in Ganze subcounty.

Hunger and starvation has wiped the gleeful grin that always defines the area residents.

For the fourth day now, Sokoke ward MCA Thaura Mweni has foregone food in solidarity with his electorates.

Thaura has been camping at Mrima wa Ndege where he has been sourcing food aid from friends.

Last Monday, Tungule foundation donated 100 bales of maize flour to Mrima wa Ndege village that is hard hit by hunger.

In every homestead, you will either find dull faces occasioned by hunger or mourning faces after the mass loss of livestock.

During such times when hunger strikes, residents would rummage through forests in search of wild fruits and tubers for food.

However, they are no longer available.

But Mthunguru herb has kept many families going as they wait for food. Tubers from the Thylachium thomasii are hard to find.

Mapotea/Ndigiria assistant chief James Randu narrates how the tuber has helped residents.

“Mthunguru whose fruits are edible is a tuber from a plant called ‘maizu ga mrisa’ loosely translated to herders bananas (Thylachium thomasii),” Randu said.

“During hunger, people dig the tubers and grate them on a hard stick to make chips that are then boiled like tea until some foam is seen.”

Randu says, you then sieve to get the tea which is sweet with natural sugars.

“When you drink it, you can stay the whole day without feeling hungry,” he said.

However, when you take it after so many days, you are mostly like to experience a running stomach.

“Few people will not diarrhoea but the majority will frequent the toilet. This has always saved the people during drought. It used to grow in the forest but now you might not find it,” he said.

Morya (Sterculia Africana) which is hard to find in Ganze, is another shrub that offered solace to residents when food was scarce.

Julius Kenga, a resident says not so many people consume it but when things get tough, they turn to it. The seeds can however choke you.

The seeds are roasted like ground nuts then eaten.

Mkuha (Dobera Glabra) is another plant that is in plenty in many areas unfortunately it has no fruits.

The residents are not only suffering from hunger but also the loss of animals due to a lack of water and pasture.

Tabu Kahindi from Ndigiria in Sokoke ward, lost 20 cows.

She has given up on her flocks and now lets them graze on their own.

“In my 70 years of existence, I have never seen such kind of drought. In 2016, cows died but not at this rate. If the government will not do something, then we will remain destitute,” Tabu said.

Charo Gogo said many cows die in the grazing fields.

“The carcasses are for cows that die in the homestead. Many have died in the fields and no one bothers to pick them. The condition is dire,” he said.

Chengo Wanje lost half of his flock to the drought.

Wanje said hyenas are scavaging on emaciated cows.

“Some animals are dying on their own while others are killed by hyenas. There is no food and pasture for our animals,” he said.

“We can no longer take our children to school because we sell our animals to get fees but now no one is buying them.”

Currently, a bull that was sold at Sh30,000 now goes for as little as Sh5,000.

Edited by Kiilu Damaris