Some Mwingi women have been spending cold nights selling acacia pods to camel herders from Northeastern to feed their families.
They urged President William Ruto to hasten the distribution of relief food, as well as animal feeds to save them from famine.
"We wish to go back to our families, but the drought has pushed us to spend nights in the cold waiting to sell our pods," Mwikali Mwaziu, a pod seller, said.
Mwende Kimanzi, a pods seller from Kandwia, Mwingi North, said she has spent a whole week selling the pods without going home.
She hopes she can sell enough pods to raise money to feed her seven children.
Kimanzi decried tough economic times saying buyers have been hard to come by.
"We are here trading to raise money for our children's school fees and also buy food for them, but times are so tough, we rarely make sales," she said.
Mwende said they are currently selling a 90kg sack at Sh500, unlike other seasons where the same will fetch at least Sh1,200.
Mbuvi Mande, a seller from Mwingi Central, said the business is facing a lot of hardships because brokers have made it difficult to sell.
"We have not sold much because brokers have made it difficult to do business forcing us to sell at a very low price," he said.
Mande added that when the buyers buy directly from them, they pay Sh700 for a sack but now the brokers are buying from them at Sh500.
He also added that collecting the pods is very challenging as the acacia trees are very thorny making the exercise time-consuming.
The pods are only found during dry months of the year, especially in the months of August and September.
When they are due, residents camp under acacia trees to collect the pods that are food for goats, cows and even camels.
During drought, the pods are in high demand as animals are left with nothing to eat.
Ibrahim Swaleh, a pods buyer from Garissa, said the ongoing drought has left his camels with nothing to eat and he is afraid that some might die.
"Our cattle are dying and residents are also staring at death for lack of food," he said.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
