• Mbogho says the number of those facing food crisis is set to balloon to at least 187,000 by December.
• He said more than 75,000 families are vulnerable and will need food support.
Image: SOLOMON MUINGI
More than 51,000 people are facing starvation as drought ravages Taita Taveta county.
Some 136,000 residents are food-stressed, while another 153,000 have minimal food.
An acute hunger occasioned by four consecutive failed rainy seasons has also catalysed the perennial human-wildlife conflict in the region.
Taita Taveta National Drought Management Authority coordinator Gabriel Mbogho says the acute hunger is a result of failed March, April, and May rain seasons.
“The region received depressed rainfall in both December and May and this highly contributed to crop failure and poor vegetation,” he said.
Mbogho says the number of those facing food crisis is set to balloon to at least 187,000 by December.
He said more than 75,000 families are vulnerable and will need food support.
Mbogho said farmers should be encouraged to embrace modern farming technology even as they prepare for the October-December short rains.
“There is a need to enhance food production through planting of drought tolerant crops and harvesting rain water. Such crops are high yielding even when rain is minimal,” he said.
The authority’s county drought brief has also indicated that the drought has affected livestock production.
In areas bordering the Tsavo East and West National Park, cases of elephants straying in homes in search of water have reportedly increased.
The most affected areas include Kishushe, Mbololo, Mwatate and Sagala.
Residents in the affected areas are now calling out the Kenya Wildlife Service to tame the wild animals and find a lasting solution to the menace.
Hedrita Kitatu, a farmer in Kishushe said her moringa farm was totally destroyed by the stray jumbos.
“We are totally devastated by the frequent invasions. All my moringa that I was expecting to sell has been destroyed. As a result, we are now languishing in poverty,” she said.
Kitatu said the thirsty elephants have also destroyed their plastic tanks.
She said the government should be compelled to compensate them for the losses incurred.
The perennial human-wildlife conflict has been attributed to climate change that has diminished water and forage inside the protected area.
Tourism and Wildlife CS Najib Balala said the biting drought in the Tsavo ecosystem has not spared the elephants as deaths have been recorded.
Recently, Balala said Kenya lost 78 elephants between July 2021 and April this year, due to drought.
This comes even as the weatherman has warned of a strong chance of drier than average conditions across most parts of the Greater Horn of Africa, during the October, November and December season.
A regional forecast by IGAD’S Climate Prediction Applications Centre has revealed the region is headed to a fifth consecutive failed rainy season, thus being on the brink of an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
The drought affected regions of Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia are expected to receive very little water until the end of the year.
These poor conditions are also likely to extend to parts of Eritrea and most of Uganda and Tanzania.
ICPAC also estimates that the start of the rainy season is likely to be delayed across many parts of Eastern Kenya.
ICPAC is a designated Regional Climate Centre by the World Meteorological Organisation.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)