Turkana residents want cash instead of relief food

Turkana residents have urged the government to give them money instead of relief food to cushion them against worsening drought. 

The hungry residents said the food being distributed by Turkana county government is too little and it can't cushion them from effects of drought.

They called upon the county and national governments to emulate the cash transfer strategy used by Kenya Red Cross to reach the families affected by drought.

Turkana county government said more than 640,000 people are in dire need of food as the drought persists.

Alice Tukei, a resident of Kanamkemer in Turkana Central, said the food being distributed by Turkana county government is too little and of poor quality.

She said they would prefer the cash instead of relief food that is a drop in the ocean and doesn't help them keep hunger away. 

"We have been ravaged by drought that started late last year. The authorities have done little to cushion us from effects of drought and Covid-19 pandemic," she said.

"Last week we received relief food from the Turkana county government but that wasn't what we expected. We are still hungry because we got poor quality food and too little to feed our families," she said.

Tukei urged the government to move from the custom of  relief food to cash transfer to help them access food and other necessities. 

Esther Atabo, a resident of Kanamkemer, said last week when county government was distributing food they queued under the hot sun to only receive a little quantity of maize, beans and cooking oil. 

"Last week, we received food aid from county government but it was too little. We had queued under the hot sun expecting to get enough food that would sustain us for some days but what we got was too little and of poor quality," she said. 

Atabo said the maize, beans and cooking oil they received could be consumed in a day.

She decried the poor quality of beans distributed, saying they do not cook despite boiling them from dawn to dusk.

"The beans that we were given can’t be cooked. I thought I was the only one facing that challenge but other people have also complained of the same. I started boiling beans from morning to evening but it could not be cooked. But due to hunger pangs we had to eat it," she said. 

She called the government to scrap the programme of food distribution and give them the cash that will enable them budget for their needs.

Leah Emase, a resident of Kapua, Turkana Central, said it was time the government changed the strategies for curbing the effects of drought.

"The system of food distribution is a scam because there is a lot of corruption in the process. The corruption causes affected families to get poor quality and too little food," she said.

She said recently they received cash from Kenya Red Cross that helped them buy food.

"The strategy Kenya Red Cross are using is good. The government should emulate the cash transfer method. We have acquired food and other items with the cash that we recently got from Red Cross and that has never happened," she said.

According to Lazurus Eyanae, a former councilor of Lodwar, the food distribution system is a plot meant to benefit a few individuals. 

He said there is a need for the affected families to be given cash instead of spending a lot of money on relief food distribution. 

"Turkana is a very vast county and I don't know why the county government is not digitising its services to the people.  There is no way we still spend so much on relief food yet we can send the cash to the affected families directly to their phones," Eyanae said.

He said transporting relief food to the furthest regions like Turkana North and Kibish subcounties is costly and giving people cash is easy with modern technology.

The Kenya Red Cross in collaboration with USAID launched a cash transfer programme to cushion residents from the effects of drought.

The USAID-funded programme targets 11,082 households, which is equivalent to 66,492 people in Turkana, Baringo and West Pokot counties.

The programme also targets 31,940 people in Turkana, 16,335 in West Pokot and 18,217 in Baringo counties.

Red Cross deputy secretary general Annette Msabeni said the programme will benefit 5,323 families, which is equivalent to 31,940 residents in Turkana.